Thinking of going mobile? Don’t just check off the “I’ve got an app” box. Build an experience that matters.
It’s become pretty clear to staffing firms that adopting a mobile candidate experience of some sort is going to be vital to staying competitive. The workforce has been speeding into increased mobile usage for some time, and COVID accelerated this even more.
But before you go out and purchase the option you think has the lowest barrier to entry (be it low cost or the promise of a rapid rollout), consider that just checking off the box that you “have an app” can actually hurt you more than help you.
It’s become pretty clear to staffing firms that adopting a mobile candidate experience of some sort is going to be vital to staying competitive. The workforce has been speeding into increased mobile usage for some time, and COVID accelerated this even more.
But before you go out and purchase the option you think has the lowest barrier to entry (be it low cost or the promise of a rapid rollout), consider that just checking off the box that you “have an app” can actually hurt you more than help you.
Setting a technology experience live that is not thought through or thoroughly vetted by your team can have negative effects on your employer brand and candidate trust. Launching an app with questionable security, long load times, poor integrations or limited functionality can lead to negative reviews and more churned candidates. And isn’t the goal of this kind of technology to do the exact opposite – create a better, stickier candidate experience and more brand loyalty?
So before launching your mobile experience, consider the following about your candidate experience:
Make sure you aren’t just recreating another dreaded candidate black hole
We’ve heard it time and time again from candidates: they hate being left in the dark. They want to know where they are at in the application process with your agency, and introducing technology that puts you in the palm of their hand is only going to intensify this desire.
So make sure that your team and technology is prepared to handle the real-time interactions that mobile apps inherently promise. Does the platform have engagement automations (like automated messages) built in, or guaranteed content for the users to interact with once they download the app (like a curated job board)? If not, are you prepared to be on the ball to make sure these candidates feel seen?
If not, you risk them getting frustrated at being redirected to yet another black hole.
Pro tip:
ActivateStaff’s automated welcome message helps engage candidates without a recruiter needing to be involved.
Whenever a candidate downloads the app, they are sent a list of instructions (completely customizable by the agency) so they know what to expect and can see value from the app right away.
Keep an eye on reviews. And listen to what they are telling you
We know that people who’ve had a negative experience are much more likely to leave a review than those who’ve had a positive one. And having a lot of negative reviews on your app can hurt adoption because future users will be less likely to download it.
Take some time to read reviews of apps similar to yours that are in the store to get a sense of things users have said. Since we’ve obsessed over reviews for awhile (of both our own apps and similar) we have some examples to share:
- Users care a lot about how their data is being used and want options
- Users want to control notifications, and you need to make it clear what the value is for them to enable them
- Users want access to geographically relevant jobs (if they input their location, they want that to matter)
- Users want fast load times
- Users want an easy way to reach out to someone if something goes wrong
These are of course only a fraction of user desires, but ones that we’ve seen come up time and time again. You need to fully understand how your user base intends to interact with the app before launch, so make sure either you or your software provider are partaking in regular user testing sessions.
Pay close attention to your adoption and address any drop-offs
This applies to both your internal team and your candidates. Make sure that you’ve got access to rich analytics (either sourced yourself or through your technology provider) that give you a comprehensive view of app usage. Make sure you have a clear idea of the ideal candidate journey and how people are moving through it.
For example, are 100s of people downloading your app, but only a fraction of them making it all the way through onboarding? This is an indication that there’s too much friction before users get to the value. Is there a particular stage of onboarding where users refuse to continue? Make sure you’re considering the relevance and possible sensitivity of all information collected.
And make sure to keep an eye out other other key metrics, like DAU and WAU (Daily Active Users and Weekly Active Users). Are they declining, meaning less and less people are coming back to your app? This is a clear indication that they are not finding the value they were promised when they decided to download the app.
Keeping an eye on these metrics and doing the appropriate research when you notice friction in the process is key to keeping users happy and adoption up. Feel free to reach out to us for a comprehensive list of the app metrics we track for our customers.
