Applicants now expect a five-star service. How does your recruitment measure up?

Job seekers increasingly expect the same level of customer service they experience in any other aspect of their life. Instant gratification, real-time updates, total convenience. But when they come to apply for a job in social care, the process can feel archaic.

The most common challenge for busy social care managers is to respond to applicants promptly. There is no doubt that replying quickly improves your chances of hiring them and enhances your employer brand reputation locally.

Especially for online applications, delays longer than twenty-four hours can be interpreted as disinterest, and if you don’t make contact within 30 minutes, you risk losing the applicant to competitors. You might even attract negative comments on social media if you keep people – as they see it – waiting too long.

Offering twenty-four-hour recruitment hotlines, out of hours’ interview slots, and keeping applicants informed of the status of their application are best practice techniques that will become increasingly expected.

Take interviewing as an example. If you only allow candidates to interview in office hours they must find a way of taking time off work and may well lose pay for the time they are not there. By offering interview slots outside of those core hours, it makes it much less stressful to attend – and may improve your no-show rate.

So, take a fresh look at the experience your organisation gives future care staff. Is it really a five-star service?