Every candidate and how they are cared for matters in an accountancy landscape beset by skill shortages. According to data published in Accountancy Today, around 74% of businesses in the accounting and broader finance sector struggle to engage and build their teams in such a changing workplace.
In the “great resignation” age, where team turnover is greater than ever, companies can’t afford to miss out on the best candidates. The Society of Human Resource Management says most businesses will need to replace up to 20% of their workforce every year, even without considering turnover trends.
If you miss out on good candidates or have a disengaged team, your business will suffer.
This is why candidate care, a method of delivering exceptional support for candidates through every stage of the employment cycle, is crucial to any company’s future success.
With the right strategy, you improve your chances of finding the talent you need while convincing them to develop and build their career with you rather than someone else.
Today, we’ll look at why you should prioritise candidate care in the accountancy space.
What is Candidate Care?
The term “candidate care” simply refers to how you treat candidates before, during, and after the hiring process. This initiative begins from the moment you start writing your job descriptions and highlighting your employer value proposition.
It also continues through the selection of candidates, the interview process, your onboarding strategy and how you develop candidates into their next role with you. With the war for talent now greater than ever, candidate care is one of the most important tools any business can use to ensure they don’t drive the best potential candidates away from their critical roles.
Let’s look at why candidate care is so essential.
1. It Builds Better Employee/Employer Relationships
The relationships companies have with their employees play a more significant role in the success of every business today. With candidates now searching for greater empathy and respect from the employers they work with, candidate care can set the stage for a better employee relationship.
When you work on building a trusting relationship with a candidate from day one, you strengthen your chances of hiring a team member who feels comfortable in your workforce and committed to your organisation. You’ll showcase what company culture is like, which helps to attract more like-minded employees, and set the foundations for good communications.
A good candidate care strategy can even build rapport between you and your team members, which makes it easier to strengthen relationships moving forward.
2. Improve Your Chances of Hiring Great Accountancy Talent
Accountancy companies need to work harder than ever to attract great talent today. Outside of using a specialist finance recruitment company to help you pinpoint the right candidates for your team, you’ll also need to think about how you can “sell your business” to potential team members and generate excitement about the idea of working with you.
Highly skilled professionals in the accounting space have many options to choose from. Even if your recruitment team manages to bring great professionals to your door, you still need to convince them to pick you over competing brands.
Great candidate care makes candidates more likely to want to work with you by showing applicants the kind of support they will get in your team. If your recruitment and hiring process is streamlined, personalised, and transparent, most employees will assume the workplace will share these values. Because the relationship you create with your hires is stronger, they’ll also be more likely to stay with your business long-term.
3. It Helps to Create Brand Ambassadors and Referrals
Your candidate care strategy can help create a sense of loyalty in your candidates, which makes a huge difference to your hiring potential. If you provide your candidates with a streamlined interview experience, regular feedback, and constant support, they’re more likely to form a positive impression of your business.
This attitude towards your company can help to form brand ambassadors. These are people who advocate for your company when sharing their experiences with other professionals. Employees who end up joining your team can help to guide you to other talented team members with referrals.
Even the people you don’t end up hiring can expand your company’s reach by leaving reviews online about their experiences with your business. They may even be able to suggest equally talented professionals you can add to your pipeline.
4. You Can Minimise Hiring Disruptions
Providing exceptional candidate care doesn’t just mean making your candidates feel comfortable and supported through the hiring process. By managing expectations in everything from the job description to the interview process, you can give your potential team members a clear idea of exactly what their accountancy role will entail.
With regular communication, you can help your staff prepare for their role, and even advise them where they might need to brush up on their skills and what they might need to learn before the onboarding process begins.
During the onboarding process, you can also provide your employees with the guidance they need to connect with colleagues quickly, boost collaboration, and aid productivity. This means your new staff members find their place in your business much faster.
5. It Provides Useful Insights
Excellent candidate care opens an avenue for communication between your brand, your recruitment team, your new employees, and the candidates you interview. This landscape is often brimming with useful data points to mine about how you can improve your hiring strategy.
Even if an applicant you interact with decides not to take a job, they can provide you with useful feedback on how you might be able to make the role more appealing in future. You can also talk to your new recruits to learn more about what they liked and disliked during the recruitment process. This creates an opportunity for constant optimisation and improvement.
Candidate care paves the way for an informed strategy for better talent acquisition, hiring, and long-term retention.
What’s Next?
A strong candidate care strategy begins with the support of the right recruitment team. A specialist accountancy recruitment agency can help you to target the best possible talent, improve your job descriptions and enhance your interview process.
At Rebus, we have years of experience helping business leaders to find the best professionals for their workforce. We can help you not only find the accounting experts you need but also make the most of the hiring experience.
Reach out to us today via email or on 01282 930 930 to get started.
About Rebus Financial Recruitment
Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, which historically range from various organisations, including SMEs, to large PLCs.
We strive to offer both the client and candidate a seamless recruitment experience. Using our expertise, we get to the heart of employer and employee needs, and, in doing so, we match the two perfectly. To find out more, get in contact with one of our team today, or you can call us on 01282 930930.
