Once upon a time, there was a candidate, she passes through many workplaces and interviews, and from each one, she learned a little more. In the end, when she had finally arrived at her dream job she knew what she had to do.

Sounds like a fairytale right?

Well, It doesn't have to be. As a candidate, you get so much insight. You just have to have the sensitivity to appreciate what is good and what can be improved, and then, if it's your role, you bring about the change.

I am lucky because my position is employee experience and I can tell you a lot of the things I experienced over the years and the insights and processes I implemented after that, so here goes:)

Once I arrived for an interview and I realized that I didn’t know which floor I had to go to, so I had to call from the lobby and speak with the reception to find out, not a great candidate experience right?

At that same interview, they took my phone and I had to wait with no info or knowledge of what to expect or what the time was.

Could the company have acted differently?

Yes- If they had emailed me before the interview to let me know on which floor the interview would take place, told me that they would confiscate my mobile for security reasons, and placed a clock on the wall, the experience would have been very different.

All they needed to do to prevent this type of ordeal was to act like a candidate, experience the same process, and implement changes in an organized document.

What else could they do? They could have asked me about my experience.

Have you ever tried asking your candidates what is most important for them in an interview?

If you have, I'm sure you'll get one of these answers:

Time - how long is it going to take?

Knowledge - what can I expect from the process? How should we communicate during the process?

Transparency - how will you notify me about my progress in the interview?

So How Does It Work Here at Torii?

Let me tell you all my secrets from the first contact and beyond.

Here are our milestones:

1. Personal communication
2. Transparency in the recruitment process- THE CHEAT SHEET
3. Employee onboarding - first-week onboarding plan
   
   

Personal Communication

I believe in phone calls/Zoom meetings and regular updates about the process.

When I was recruited I was approached on Linkedin and then I received communication on WhatsApp. That was the easiest way for me.

The personal email containing my name also helped to personalize the process, making me feel like an individual and not just another candidate.

Find out the best way to communicate with your candidate.

How? Ask them at the beginning of the process.

And don't forget to update them!

The Cheat Sheet

This is a document that our candidate receives at the beginning of the process. The candidate can find all the relevant info about the process- next interview, times, frequent questions and meet the team (you can find all the Israeli employee pictures and Linkedin profiles on the cheat sheet).

Everything is clear and transparent.

Employee Onboarding

A few days before the employee joins the company send him a welcome email/onboarding guidebook. It’s not just a plain email with a "We happy you’re joining us" greeting. It contains a lot more, we could actually call it "all the info you wanted to ask but were too afraid to ask ".

What does this mean?

Info about the company, pertinent questions like “What purchases will be reimbursed?” and a lot more like what to expect on your first day, who you will meet, and which forms you have to fill out.

Always think about how you, yourself, would like to be treated and consult with other team members. In this way, you will always improve and help your next onboarding hire.

For example: after the first day at the company I had to present myself at the daily meeting. If I had known about it before I would have felt more comfortable. So, yes - it is very important to let your new hire know that he's going to have introduce himself on his first day 🙂

Bottom line

The personal communication, and transparency during the recruitment process and the clear information about the onboarding and first week is our way of easing the new recruit into a smooth transition into the company and we are improving it all the time by asking new employees what can we do better next time.

In the end, we'd like to give our employees an amazing experience, making sure their onboarding encounter is one that they will never forget, and hopefully, we are on the right track.

My belief is always: "People will never forget how you made them feel" (Maya Angelou) and this is what we are doing here at Torii- creating an experience and making new recruits feel special.