SIME 2024: Embracing Hyper-Personalisation in Recruitment

The SIME 2024 conference, held in Stockholm, featured a thought-provoking breakout session led by Sara Dalsfelt, Adway's CMO, and Charles Sinclair, Head of Employer Branding @ Oddwork on the future of recruitment: hyper-personalised recruitment marketing. This concept mirrors the customer service strategy of companies like Starbucks and Klarna, suggesting a shift towards treating candidates as customers.

The Risks of Ignoring Personalisation

A Gartner study highlighted that brands risk losing up to 38% of their customer base due to poor personalisation efforts. This stark statistic is a wake-up call to industries beyond retail, notably to those involved in talent acquisition and HR. Personalisation in recruitment should not be an afterthought but a pivotal part of the strategy to maintain and attract top talent.

The Candidate Experience

Today's job seekers demand transparency and a deeper insight into the company's culture and workflow before even applying. The traditional formats of job advertisements and career pages, unchanged for decades, fail to meet these expectations. Job seekers look for an experience that mirrors real customer journeys — dynamic, informative, and personalised.

Simplicity in Personalisation: The Starbucks Model

One of the most effective yet simple forms of personalisation is the use of a person's name — a strategy famously utilized by Starbucks. When baristas call out a customer's name with their drink order, it creates a sense of familiarity and personal connection, despite the high volume of customers they serve daily. This principle can be directly applied to the recruitment process to enhance candidate engagement significantly.

Adway’s Convert product incorporates this simple yet powerful tactic within its automated communication features. By addressing candidates by their first names in emails and text messages, Convert mimics this personalised approach, making each interaction feel more tailored and direct. This not only improves the candidate's experience but also builds a positive perception of the brand, making candidates feel valued from the outset.

Incorporating a candidate’s name is a simple change that does not require overhauling existing processes. Yet, it can significantly impact the candidate’s engagement and perception of the company and boost conversions rates by 32,1%. It demonstrates that the company sees them as individuals rather than just another applicant, which can increase their interest and investment in the role.

Embracing Efficiency and Accessibility: The Klarna Model

Klarna's approach to customer service, powered by advanced AI, serves as an exemplary model for hyper-personalised engagement. By handling two-thirds of customer service interactions within its first month of deployment, Klarna's AI assistant demonstrates how technology can efficiently manage high volumes of interactions while maintaining a personalized touch. This model is particularly relevant for recruitment, where the volume of applications and queries can be overwhelming.

Key Features of Klarna’s Model Applicable to Recruitment:

• 24/7 Availability: Klarna’s AI assistant is available around the clock, offering immediate responses to customer inquiries. This feature can be mirrored in recruitment processes to provide candidates with constant support, answering questions and guiding them through the application process at any time, reducing wait times and improving the candidate experience.

• Language Accessibility: The assistant supports multiple languages, making it accessible to a diverse customer base. This capability is crucial in recruitment, especially for global companies, as it allows candidates from different linguistic backgrounds to interact seamlessly with the organisation.

• Fast and Efficient: Klarna’s assistant can resolve queries in less than two minutes, a significant reduction from the previous average. In recruitment, this efficiency means quicker responses to candidates' applications and follow-up queries, which can enhance the perception of the company and increase candidate satisfaction.

• Scalability: Powered by AI, the model scales to handle a growing number of interactions without a corresponding increase in human resources. This scalability is beneficial in recruitment during high-volume periods or for large-scale recruitment campaigns, ensuring every candidate receives timely and personalized communication.
  
  
  

What's in a name, it's the little touches that make big waves

Blending tech with a personal touch to reshape how companies connect with future employees doesn't have to be over-complicated to be effective. Sara Dalsfelt from Adway and Charles Sinclair from Oddwork really drove home how crucial hyper-personalisation is in the world of recruitment. Using Adway’s Convert, companies can make each interaction with a candidate feel more personal and direct. This isn't just about being nice; it's smart business. It boosts candidate engagement, builds a stronger connection to the brand, and ultimately helps companies stand out in the fierce competition for top talent. 

Interested in adding a personal touch to your candidate journey?

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