Article: Best Practices: Candidate Experience by Snapdeal

Talent Acquisition

Best Practices: Candidate Experience by Snapdeal

Snapdeal made investments on Candidate Measurement tools and analytical systems to gain a factual understanding of the loopholes.
Best Practices: Candidate Experience by Snapdeal

Snapdeal has devised succesful strategies to enhance the candidate experience right from the moment they express their desire to work till on-boarding. Snapdeal intended to make the process smooth, and radical changes were required to revamp the process, fixing loopholes.

The challenge

To be the industry leader, enhancing ‘candidate experience’ had to be a top priority as this augments the company brand. The Snapdeal Talent Acquisition team had to think of a strategy that took into consideration the candidates’ emotional quotients. Emotions are often overlooked but a successful Candidate Experience strategy is incomplete without an in-depth understanding of the candidates’ psychology. Upon identifying the best practices, the next step was to implement them in a planned manner. Consistency in efforts, and checks and balances that ensured long term results were imperative. Snapdeal’s ability to attract and hire top talent was dependent on the execution of the planned practices. Policies had to be aligned as per industry standard, and certain guidelines had to be put into place. Mobile readiness was identified as a key challenge, and the process had to be quick and efficient. A poor candidate experience not only affects the quality of hire and employer brand image, but it also has an impact on the revenues. A limited talent pool may not be capable of delivering desired results. The stress level increases, and the customer experience is impaired and ultimately the revenue suffers. The company ends up paying competitive salary packages to staff that may not be at par with the competition. The ineffectiveness was affecting the overall quality of hiring. For a rapidly growing company like Snapdeal, it is critical to not lose out on potential candidates as they may form a percentage of the customer base. 

The approach Snapdeal chose and why

Focused teams were created to hire different aspects of the hiring process. A dedicated Employer Branding team was created to address issues related to Employer Branding and to initiate activities to enhance the Employer Brand aggressively. The business case was built on the basis of a research which highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of processes in place –  Snapdeal’s Candidate Experience as per feedback, and analysis and strategy based on best practices worldwide. Snapdeal made investments on Candidate Measurement tools and analytical systems to gain a factual understanding of the loopholes. Surveys were built into it and these were utilized to gain insights and analyse areas of improvement.  Detailed job postings were done on paid advertised accounts for better reach and visibility. A good amount of money was also allocated for having the best on-boarding experience through training and induction. Teams were built and work was streamlined in order to improve the candidate experience. 

Impact of the policy

It brought about a significant improvement in the overall quality of hire. Top talent became interested to be part of Snapdea,  and recruitments were up. Senior level positions were getting filled without lags. Potential candidates had clarity about the work culture and value system of Snapdeal and successes helped create a positive company brand.Various benefits and employee friendly policies won the trust of employees. In surveys, Snapdeal emerged as one of the most preferred organisations to work for. The direct impact was increase in employee productivity. Apart from the direct impact, the peripheral benefits included word of mouth publicity, increase in the number of candidates who were willing to work with the company, improved pipeline, unsuccessful candidates are most likely to apply again if their experience is positive, increased referrals by candidates, customer loyalty, and word of mouth publicity. 

Next Steps of this policy:

Snapdeal is also looking to leverage this policy with regular feedback surveys, tracking Systems, to gathering in-depth understanding of best practices, improve the interview process.

 

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Topics: Talent Acquisition, #TAWeek

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