How multinationals can turn their recruitment process into a revenue stream?

According to the World Bank’s GCC Economic Update, April 2021, heavy gross domestic product (GDP) losses have occurred across all MENA countries. The GDP level in 2021 for GCC countries is forecast to be 7.7 per cent below the GDP level without the pandemic, with the sharpest declines in Government revenues in 2020. While GCC countries are expected to recover at an average rate of 2.6 per cent over the course of 2021, this still leaves many of the multinationals with a compound loss of over 5 per cent and proactively seeking ways to recoup these losses.

The Phillips Group (TPG), an Executive Search and HR Consulting Firm, is providing clients with a way to boost revenue. After being named the official career partner of Bupa Arabia, TPG released its new Candidate Care service into the GCC market. TPG is looking to turn recruitment into a positive experience for potential candidates which in turn can help companies build brand loyalty, retain existing customers, acquire new ones and ultimately create an untapped revenue stream.

The recruitment process, which is a critical part of the employee experience, is also one of the most overlooked aspects and has left companies unknowingly losing customers. In an article by Keenan Steiner, Virgin Media discovered a lost revenue of $6.2m per year due to poor recruitment experiences. Thousands of those candidates were also customers. Strategically, the company decided to strongly invest in a better candidate experience and turned the loss into more than a $7.5m profit.

“This case is just one example of why placing candidates at the centre of recruiting is compulsory in today’s candidate-driven market,” argues Shane Phillips, CEO at TPG “There is no room for companies to deliver a poor candidate experience. Besides missing out on great candidates, a bad candidate experience reflects negatively on your company and can result in poor reviews. Even if a candidate isn’t the right fit for a position, they should still come away from the interviewing process with a positive view of the company and feel like their time, energy, and effort was valued. It’s also important to think of the long-term implications of a bad experience, as without quantification, senior executives don’t see the millions of dollars of lost corporate revenue resulting from a poor recruiting function.”

Multinational companies across the GCC have thousands of job candidate applications each year. Emirates Jobs alone attracted as many as 400,000 applications in 2015, it has since grown 26 per cent equating to 504,000 applicants in 2020 as of March 2020. Nils Hamsa, Head of Talent Acquisition at flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, added that in 2018 the airline received as many as 2.2 million job applications.

The Boston Consulting Group found recruiting ranked number one, among 22 different Human Resource functions, as having the highest impact on revenue and profit margins. Phillips argues, now is the ideal time for organisations to capitalise on this hidden opportunity. Bupa Arabia has taken advantage of TPG’s latest program to ensure every single person who applies to the company gets best in class candidate care. Its new partnership with TPG delivers a career page with free coaching, tutorials, CV template, interviewing E-Book and much more.

“The candidate journey is full of touchpoints with your company. Remember that each job candidate is your brand ambassador. Talents should be left with a good impression of the application process and your company as a whole. Build relationships with them for life. Use our Candidate Care package to turn your recruitment process into a world class journey that leaves your applicants as your brand ambassadors.” Phillips concludes.

TPG offers prospective employers the often-hidden opportunity for companies to create a new revenue stream. CareerBuilder Data, reported on May 12, 2021, that it can be as much as 33 per cent of candidates who had a bad interview experience will never use that brand again. Candidates also influence another nine per cent of people with whom they talk, who will also stop using the brand. The impact can be millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Bupa Arabia Careers page: https://ownmycareer.com/bupa/