Driving into the future: How Volvo upgraded their Candidate Experience

Key takeaway from this testimonial:

• Volvo sought to improve their recruitment processes to become the most admired employer in their industry with high satisfaction rates among candidates.
• Talenthub provided Volvo with the means to take a granular perspective on their hiring process, to oversee all aspects of the recruitment process and understand how candidates saw them.
• With increased qualitative data, Volvo can better analyze their performance and break it down on a more team and individual level to improve the consistency of the candidate experience.
• Volvo aims to take the Talenthub tool global to better understand how their recruiting activities are perceived across the market and to factor in internal feedback to improve the process further.
• Volvo is committed to strategic follow-ups to learn from the insights acquired through Talenthub's work and action recommendations to provide a stellar candidate experience.

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"With a 360° view of all involved parties, Volvo can make holistic improvements to the entire hiring process. Managers can engage with recruiters, see how they are tracking their engagement with candidates."

Stefan Begall
Global Head of Recruitment at Volvo

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What did Volvo want to learn?

For Volvo, people are their strength. Businesses must attract, retain and develop the right people to shape a working culture dedicated to positive engagement and performance. Volvo wished to learn what they could to improve. For example, to become the most admired employer in their industry with high satisfaction rates among candidates.

So, Stefan Begall, the Global Head of Recruitment at Volvo, set out to learn more. First, to understand what was the perception of Volvo among those interested in working for the company. And what could be done to grow this relationship further?

What do the candidates think?

After focussing primarily on quantitative data regarding the candidate's experience, Stefan wanted something more qualitative to balance out their findings. Volvo wanted to know:

• Were their candidates happy?
• What was their experience with Volvo's services?
• What was good about the recruitment process and what could be improved?
  
  

Why is this so important for Volvo?

Volvo makes around 4500 internal and external recruitments per year and receives 200 to 300 applicants per job. That's a lot of interest. And when you consider the fact that the majority of applicants don't end up with the job, companies must cater to the contrasting experiences of acceptance and rejection.

For Volvo and all businesses, it is imperative candidates walk away with a good impression and feelings. Otherwise, it could cause damage to their employer branding and impact whether they would wish to apply again or buy Volvo's products.

Therefore, Stefan wanted to learn more by interacting with all candidates. To get their insight into how to improve their processes to make them more candidate-friendly. And in the process, improve the performances of Volvo's recruiting teams and individuals.

Whereas previously they had no opportunity to gauge this type of specific feedback from applicants, Volvo came across Talenthub. And intrigued by the innovative product they offered, they ran a pilot to see what Volvo could learn about their candidate's experience.

What did Talenthub help Volvo to do?

Volvo now had the means to take a granular perspective upon their hiring process. They could oversee all aspects of the recruitment process and understand how candidates saw them.

With increased qualitative data, they could better analyze their performance and break it down on a more team and individual level. In addition, managers could now speak to recruiters to discuss their performance in interacting with applicants to improve and build a more consistent quality of candidate experience.

What are the next steps for Volvo?

Volvo and Stefan are not looking to rest on their laurels or brand name. Instead, they seek to continually improve how they work and the processes that make up the organization.

And so, when it came to refining the recruitment process so they could listen to candidates better and receive a more representative range of feedback, Stefan sought to extend the relationship with Talenthub.

The future of the Volvo and Talenthub collaboration

For Volvo, they wish to take the tool global. To better understand how their activity and recruiting is perceived across the market. A broader perspective and range of data to work with will allow them to address any issues and make appropriate changes when needed.

That's not all, and Stefan is eager to see how they can repurpose Talenthub's tool with other goals in mind. For example, they wish to factor in an internal voice into the data they are collecting and learn more about the manager and recruiters experience as it is essential to know about this too!

What Volvo can learn about themselves

With a 360° view of all involved parties, Volvo can make holistic improvements to the entire hiring process. Managers can engage with recruiters, see how they are tracking their engagement with candidates. The analysis of the internal activity can capture pain points and room for improvement.

The people in the middle are often forgotten and often sidelined by the sole focus on the candidates. But with the workforce aware of how to improve and the areas to focus upon, it will help to increase candidate satisfaction.

Moving towards a better future

With strategic follow-ups planned, Volvo will learn further from the insights acquired through Talenthub's work. Hungry to learn more, they will discuss trends from the data they have received and action recommendations to improve their recruitment process and provide a stellar candidate experience.

Stefan and Volvo are excited to build a more comprehensive partnership with Talenthub and use the tool for various purposes. They know that it has never been more critical to engage and listen in the battle for the best talent, so extending their collaboration sees Volvo moving in the right direction.