How to Successfully Implement a Video Interviewing Strategy
Implementing changes into a process and shaking up the norm can be daunting sometimes. It’s not always quick and simple to get everyone on board – but with all the benefits that using video interviewing brings and the demands of a candidate driven market, there’s no better time than now to implement a video strategy. There are a few key stages to getting your new strategy up and running once you’ve decided that video is right for you:
Know your video interviewing goals:
Understanding what it is exactly that you want to achieve by implementing video interviewing into your process means you can work with your provider to ensure you can achieve these goals. There are a number of benefits that come from using video, and a number of reasons to implement it, too. Whether you want to reduce your early stage screening, or you have a high-volume recruitment campaign you need to complete in a short time period – understanding this from the beginning is key to using it successfully.
Video interviewing platforms are so rich in features and functionality that for many organisations, some parts of that might not be the key to success. For example, organisations that have a strong commitment to tackling bias and diversity may make use of the blind reviewing features in the Shine platform, whereas others might focus on an in-depth sharing and shortlisting process to improve collaboration between recruiters and hiring managers.
Being able to communicate your goals means you’ll be able to make full use of the functionality that will help you achieve them.
Clearly define each stage of your new process:
For many, video interviews will replace telephone interviews, meaning that they sit relatively early in the screening process. Using asynchronous video interviews instead of telephone interviews speeds up the screening process while allowing you to see even more applicants, hence it’s popularity at this stage.
That’s not to say that this is the only way to use video – this is down to your preference and how you want to operate with them. There’s also live interviewing, which can be used at varying stages in the process. For example, if used in conjunction with asynchronous video interviewing, it can be used as a stage between this and a face-to-face interview if additional screening is needed. For many it can also be used as a replacement for face-to-face interviews, which comes in useful when hiring across multiple locations.
Other considerations include aspects such as integrations, if you’re using another service like an applicant tracking system. Video interviewing platforms can integrate with an ATS at varying different levels depending on your needs, so this is something you’ll have to clarify before moving forward.
Map out how you would like your new process to work step-by-step, to help you get a clear understanding of how and when the process will change.
Understand how you’re going to measure ROI:
When you know what goal you’re working towards, you can then think about how you’re going to measure its success. Data is key to proving return on investment, and luckily, you’ll have plenty of options.
For example, if you were aiming to reduce the early screening process, you could measure the change in time between application to interview to make sure your new process is actually shortening early stage screening. Other ROI metrics you can track include:
- Time-to-hire
- Reduced interview time
- Number of candidate no-shows
- Conversion rates
- Cost per hire
Match your video interview requirements to the requirements of the role:
A popular strategy for video interviewing is setting up interviews to closely match the strategy used for face-to-face interviews, meaning that you would be asking candidates the same type of questions that you would ask in person. Other considerations include aspects such as if you’d prefer candidates to think on their feet, for example, you wouldn’t set any re-tries for each question.
This stage is about understanding exactly what it is you want from your candidates. That way, you can set up your roles accordingly. Video interviewing will give you the option to use aspects such as reading times, re-tries, text or video questions – so think about what it is that will help you achieve your goals.
It’s also worth thinking about how well your organisation is reflected during this part of the process, too. While video interviewing is primarily used as an early stage screening tool, you don’t want to compromise your candidate experience in the process. Ensure that the way you set up the role requirements is fair and engaging to all candidates, while offering them a smooth experience which is branded to your organisation’s standards.
Thinking about each of these aspects will help to ensure you’re getting the right candidates through this stage in the process.
Client success:
You’ll get a dedicated account manager when you use a video interviewing provider, meaning they’ll be there to help you during set up, and keep you running smoothly from there onwards. This is where you will truly see a difference. The level of support you receive from your dedicated account manager can make or break how successful your video interviewing roll-out is.
The purpose of having a dedicated account manager is to have expert advice at hand when needed. Remember, they will have worked with an array of different organisations with varying different goals – so their expertise will come in useful.
You can also utilise this support for your team, too. Your provider should be capable of providing either online or in-person training sessions, to make sure you’re getting the most out of the platform. It’s important to consider the training required to get users of the new platform up to speed, to make sure that everyone is using it effectively. Rolling out new technologies isn’t always easy, and how we choose to introduce them can make or break their success. This is where you should have an abundance of resources and help from your provider, so consider arranging training sessions with the whole team.