As a committee member or hiring manager bogged down in a seemingly endless search process, it is easy to forget that the numerous documents you receive and review from applicants represent real people —professional colleagues eager to share their skills and experiences with your organization. You are exhausted from performing double duty of your regular, already-packed job as well as those duties of the vacant position.  You want an employee in place as quickly as possible and are working hard to remain objective.

Losing perspective of applicants’ viewpoints, however, can be costly to your organization.  Your interactions with them during the search process speak volumes about the corporate culture, the respect given employees and the relationship between board and staff … in other words, the experience they would have as your employees.

An organization that poorly presents itself to applicants can ruin existing and potential relationships, and interactions that respect applicants can strengthen the organization’s standing in the community resulting in a more successful search.

Feedback solicited from colleagues about their own recent professional transitions demonstrates how a hiring organization can manage its image through these interactions.  Many of the strategies may seem like common sense, but they’re important reminders of their value.

Activities hiring organizations undertook that helped applicants understand the roles and organizations and made them feel positive about the employment opportunities included:

• ­Providing a clear outline of the process and hiring timeline early in the search
• ­Following-up on next steps, additional appointments and the applicant status in a regular and timely manner
• ­Ensuring friendly, helpful individuals make the appointments and send updates
• ­Demonstrating consideration of the applicant time, current professional roles and genuine interests
• ­Engaging in sincere and honest conversations about organizational goals, needs and opportunities
• ­Encouraging appropriate staff and board member engagement and participation in the process
• ­Offering opportunities to meet other staff/board members and to visit and tour offices to get a feel for the work environments
• ­Presenting written offers of employment including information about benefits and organizational plans
• ­Demonstrating respect for applicants’ professional interests, goals and needs in the offer negotiations

Activities less than helpful for applicants that diminished perceptions of the organizations included:

• ­Not providing feedback or updates throughout the process even by email
• ­Poorly communicating offers — over the phone with little information and either no written follow-ups or a vaguely written letters
• ­Being unable or unwilling to answer questions or provide concrete information about benefits or the organizations
• ­Hearing predominantly negative comments or receiving only scripted feedback about the organizations from current employees
• ­Not allowing opportunities for applicants to learn about organizational culture, overall staff personalities and job demands prior to asking for job offer decisions

Employees choose their employers as much as the reverse.  The impression potential employees have of your organization impacts their willingness to accept your offers, their considerations to donate to you and their communication with friends and colleagues about their experiences.  Use the search process to your benefit beyond the more narrow focus of hiring the right person for the role.

Bottom Line: What applicants experience during a search impacts the quality of the search and reflects the way employees are treated.  Respect your candidates, and they will respect you even if you do not offer them jobs.

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About the company: Capability Company provides search services and consultation for nonprofit organizations to help them hire the best team members to fit their needs and fulfill their mission. To find out more about our services and to see how we can help you, visit www.capabilitycompany.com or call (919) 791-3700.

About the author: Sherry Heuser is President of Capability Company, following a career of more than 15 years on the staff of multiple nonprofit organizations.  She continues to serve on Boards of Directors and is an active volunteer and supporter in her community.  Sherry can be reached at Sherry@CapabilityCompany.com.

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Last updated on April 12th, 2010 at 12:20 am