C
Catalyst | Comment
Two-headed people
W
hen I was 16,
I applied for
three summer
jobs in retail:
one at Safeway,
one at Burtons, and one at Iceland. The
first two went as expected: application
received, interview offered, and
outcome given within a few weeks.
Iceland was different. The company
went quiet. Very quiet. After handing
in my application, I heard nothing. I
phoned to find out what was happening.
They didn’t answer my call. I went into
the store to ask the manager, and he
was too busy to see me – even though
they were still advertising. A year later,
the manager of Iceland phoned to offer
me the job.
Nearly 20 years later, I (and my
family) still recall that experience
and have a poor impression of Iceland
because of it. As a company, the only
thing that really matters is how you
make people feel — whether they’re a
customer or an employee. That means
that every interaction a person has with
a company is part of their customer
experience, including experiences they
have as a potential employee.
Yet in most organisations, the
customer experience team and HR
team are rarely on the same floor,
let alone in the same meeting room.
They’re focused on broadly the same
things: building a good reputation
with the public and providing a great
experience so that people feel good
about interacting with them and share
this with others. Yet they rarely share
their knowledge, skills, and approaches
with each other.
Too often the money and time spent
perfecting the customer experience
is undermined by the recruitment
experience. CVs and applications go
unanswered, people are left waiting to
find out what’s happening, and receive
John Sills
“As recruitment grows more automated,
there is a temptation to standardise the
approach and forget about the human at
the receiving end”
cold, automated responses. It can have
a tangible commercial cost too; for
example, 6% of rejected Virgin Media
candidates cancelling their contract –
to the tune of around £4.4m per year.
But the same principles that create
a great customer experience apply to
recruitment, too. First, people crave
certainty – as customers and potential
employees. So do what you say you’re
going to do, when you say you’re going
to do it. Second, displaying genuine
empathy and understanding helps the
person know you really do care. This
means communicating in a human
manner rather than via cold and
confusing scripted paragraphs that
delight the legal team but disappoint
the receiver.
And third, people want to see
personality — the humanity within the
organisation, not a faceless corporate
machine. Careers fairs, interviews, and
assessment centres are all brilliant
opportunities to act in a way that brings
your brand to life for people.
This can even be done during the
most mundane parts of the experience.
For example, web-based list-making
application Trello has shown that it’s
quite possible to create elegant and
wittily scripted auto responses.
As recruitment grows more
automated, there is a temptation to
standardise your approach and forget
about the human at the receiving
end. But while this may make things
more efficient, it may be affecting your
business in ways you haven’t realised,
too. Just ask my mum, who hasn’t
shopped in Iceland for over 20 years.
John Sills is managing director
a t The Foun da t i on , w hi ch
helps organisations to achieve
customer-led success.
Issue 3 - 2019
57