In the past, the focus on creating a positive work environment and retaining employees often started only after hiring. But times have changed. Today, companies realize that retention strategies must begin from the very first interaction with potential team members—during the recruitment process.
Recruitment has become a critical phase where companies must not only find the right talent but also sell themselves and provide an outstanding experience to candidates. A poor recruitment experience can lead to candidates ghosting recruiters or choosing competitors who offer a more engaging and appealing process. Research found that 53% of job seekers have had at least one negative experience in the hiring process in the past 12 months. And 52% of job seekers had declined a job offer due to poor experience.
In this fiercely competitive talent market, creating a memorable and positive candidate experience from the outset is essential.
So, how do we guarantee an exceptional candidate experience? What strategies can we put in place to make our recruitment process not just smooth, but also irresistibly attractive and highly effective?
In this insightful conversation with Tony Silva, Talent Acquisition and Development Manager @ Monarch Casino, we’ll explore the best practices for crafting a candidate journey that not only draws in top talent but also sets the stage for long-term employee satisfaction and retention. I was particularly curious to understand if and how this approach differs in the hospitality industry.
Q: To start, can you help me understand where the candidate experience actually begins?
Tony: Before recruiters even contact a candidate, the employer brand plays a crucial role. In today’s recruiting landscape, employer branding might be one of the most talked-about elements. Your brand is doing the marketing and recruiting for you.
Think about it—branding starts the moment a candidate interacts with your company, even if it’s just through a commercial. That first impression, whether it’s about buying a product or not, also ties into the employer brand. Take Geico, for example. When someone says they work for Geico, most people immediately think of the gecko. That’s the power of marketing and branding at work—it’s all connected.
Candidates want to be part of companies with strong, positive cultures. A well-established employer brand can make it easier to attract top talent.
But once you get their attention, how do you seal the deal? Recruiting is challenging because we’re dealing with people, the most unpredictable “product.” You can have an amazing candidate experience, but things can still go awry. Maybe a candidate drops out at the last minute due to a personal issue, or they just ghost you. It’s unpredictable, so you need to understand what drives each candidate—why they’re making moves, what’s important to them.
During the interview phase, it’s not just about vetting; it’s also about selling. We want to dig into why candidates are leaving their current roles and what they’re looking for in their next move. We’re transparent about both the strengths and challenges of each department here. No company is perfect, and it’s important to be honest about that.
Given our workplace location, which is in a town with just 187 people and a property with 1,500 team members, far from the main city of Denver—making our workplace attractive during the interview phase is just absolutely crucial. This is what drives candidates to show up on orientation day, complete their onboarding, and stay engaged through training. It’s all about building momentum from the start, getting them excited to be here, and maintaining that excitement as they become part of the team.
Q: How has the candidate experience evolved over the past 15 years?
Everything has changed, right? The biggest change I’ve noticed is the increased focus and effort from companies during the hiring process.
I remember the days, and I still see it sometimes today, where hiring managers, especially those with 30-plus years in the industry, struggle to let go of the old mindset. They used to think that the candidate should do all the legwork—coming to the manager, writing thank you letters, and so on. Back then, when unemployment was around 4-6%, it was harder to find jobs, so candidates had to do everything they could to stand out.
But now, the situation has flipped.
Shift in Mindset: We’re heading toward a future where, for every one person, there could be two or three jobs available. This shift has leveled the playing field. Now, interviewing has become a two-way street; it’s got to be conversational and mutual. Our values need to align with the candidate’s values.
Focus on Personalization: Personalization is key, and while I don’t believe AI will replace recruiters, it can help us personalize interactions more effectively. Time is the biggest enemy in recruiting—there’s so much to do, from interviews to sourcing and vetting. I wish I had more time to make those personal calls, or to coach candidates on why they didn’t get the job. But with only three recruiters handling everything, it’s tough.
Importance of Personal Connection: Where we can, I want to ensure that candidates and recruiters have the time to really connect—to talk about everything from what we offer as a company to the candidate’s background and what makes them unique. It’s crucial for my recruiters to build that connection because people are attracted to other people, not just jobs.
A great example is when an internal recruiter applied for a promotion and had three different interviews. One was personalized and conversational with my HR director, and the other was very structured with my slot director, who’s more numbers-focused. When asked which one he’d rather work for, he chose the HR director because she made him feel welcome and important.
Q: What is the connection between designing an effective candidate experience, or the recruitment process in general, and employee retention?
I think it’s huge, I see it as the foundation. If I can get them off to a strong start, keep them motivated through training, and help them feel comfortable in the building, I can see long-term retention. This is what drives a candidate to become a great team member.
It’s challenging to use data to prove this since our new tower was built in 2021, and the casino has been around since 2014, so the data sets are different. But I can tell you that last year, our casino had a 35% turnover rate, which is fantastic for the hospitality industry, where the average is about 80%.
When we weren’t putting as much focus on these foundational elements in 2021 and 2022, our turnover was between 80% and 120%. So the change has been huge—going from those numbers to where we are now is remarkable. I’m really proud of what we’re doing here. We’ve made history, and it’s exciting to see the progress.
Q: Can you share some examples of feedback you’ve received from candidates about your recruitment process? How did you act on that feedback?
I’m obsessed with building the right processes, and feedback is crucial for that. We emphasize feedback heavily. I make it clear that feedback on candidates is mandatory—if I don’t get it, I’ll track you down to make sure it’s provided.
- We send out a quick five-question survey to anyone we’ve had contact with—two of those questions require detailed responses. I review these surveys regularly and share them with the recruiters when they come in. If there’s any negative or average feedback, we have a quick discussion to figure out what happened and how we can improve.
- Another method we use is having lunch with new team members every Tuesday. This gives us a chance to get face-to-face feedback about their experience, how orientation is going, and how things are overall. We’ve discovered some important issues this way, like team members not getting their work schedules until their first day. During one of these lunches, I asked a new team member, “Where are you working this week?” and they replied, “We don’t know yet.” That’s obviously a negative experience, so we realized we needed to reach out to hiring managers to get those schedules ahead of time.
Q: What are your thoughts on AI applications in recruitment? Can it help with building personal relationships with candidates?
AI is moving incredibly fast, and companies are investing heavily in it.. In just a year and a half with my current company, I’ve seen how quickly AI has become integral.
- Initially, we used AI for simple tasks like editing emails, but now it’s evolved to help with more complex tasks, like creating job descriptions. Crafting a job description can be incredibly time-consuming, especially when you have over 500 different positions to fill. Our ATS system even has an AI bot that allows me to tweak job descriptions with just a click. It’s now built into the system, and I use it for big, time-consuming projects.
- I use Merlin for writing and Boolean searches. It’s pretty versatile and integrates with a lot of other websites too. For example, I’ve used AI to create Boolean searches—like if I need a spa director for a luxury spa, I just ask it to generate a Boolean search, and I plug it in. Sometimes it works really well.
- AI is also integrated with LinkedIn now, so I can reach out to more candidates in a way that feels tailored, rather than using a generic, universal template that most recruiters rely on. That’s a big deal because candidates can easily tell when they’re getting a template versus a personalized message. That personalized touch is huge.
Apart from that I use AI primarily for big projects, anything that requires a lot of writing or takes a significant amount of time. Until AI can be truly personable and indistinguishable from a human, I don’t see it fully taking over those tasks.
The number one thing that makes a great recruiter is relationships. AI is the opposite of that. It’s useful if you’re using it to free up more time to build relationships, but if you rely on it to create those relationships, that’s where the problem lies.
So, the question remains—can AI truly capture that personal touch without the human element? We’ll have to wait and see.
Q: Can you share some key points from the training sessions you developed for recruiters and hiring managers?
When I bring on a new recruiter, I actually start them in operations. I have them spend about two weeks with our hotel team, spa team, casino team, and restaurants. We’re a luxurious property known for great guest service, and it’s crucial that our recruiters understand this firsthand. By immersing themselves in the operations, they learn what great guest service looks like so they can effectively convey that to candidates.
On the flip side, this approach also helps them learn the positions by experiencing the highs and lows of the job. So, when they’re discussing a chef position, for example, they can talk through the details of a typical day, just like someone who has worked in that role.
I also rely heavily on metrics to ensure we’re productive and hiring the right people. I review 90-day and 180-day turnover reports, track how many interviews recruiters are scheduling for hiring managers, and look at the hire rates from those interviews. If we’re scheduling 20 interviews but only making one hire, something’s off. We might need to revisit resume reviews, interviewing techniques, or even how we’re selling the property. These metrics help us identify weak points so we can work on them together.
Q: Diversity and inclusion are becoming increasingly important in recruitment. How do you ensure that your recruitment process at your company promotes these values?
While DEI is a big topic now, it’s actually been around for decades. What’s exciting now is the technology available to support DEI efforts. I have a lot more tools at my disposal to create a bigger candidate pool for each department. For example, I use AI to screen job descriptions for language that may lean masculine or feminine—something I might not catch on my own.
That’s what DEI is really about—expanding the candidate pool to find more qualified candidates. DEI is definitely a huge value for us because it’s not just about meeting quotas; it’s about truly expanding our reach and finding the best talent out there.
Q: What’s your approach to managing candidate ghosting?
Ghosting is often the result of a lack of personalization. It’s easy for candidates to ghost an organization when they don’t feel valued or connected. Building a genuine connection with candidates is key to avoiding ghosting, especially with millennials and Gen Z, who value authentic communication.
At our organization, we strive to provide every candidate with some form of response. Our ATS system allows candidates to track their application status live, and while we can’t personally reach out to all 30,000-40,000 applicants a year, we ensure every candidate receives an email. For higher-level positions or those involving interaction with hiring managers, we encourage making a personal call to deliver the news, even if it’s not the outcome they hoped for.
Q: Do you have any anecdotes to share where you dealt with a particularly challenging or even amusing situation during the recruitment process?
One of the craziest experiences I had was with a candidate who had been hired and was on her way to her first day. She sent me a voice text saying she had just gotten into a really bad car accident and wouldn’t be able to make it to orientation. The voice text even included her saying, “Call 911,” as she was trying to dial emergency services at the same time. I remember thinking, “Is this really happening? Is she actually stuck in her car on the freeway trying to text me, or is this just a way to make it seem more believable?”
Needless to say, she never showed up to work. It’s a reminder that in recruiting, you can think everything is perfect, and then suddenly, it all falls apart. Recruiting is an emotional rollercoaster, and you really have to be able to handle the highs and lows.
Q: Looking ahead, what trends or changes do you anticipate in the candidate experience, especially with advancements in technology?
AI is going to bring big changes to almost every business, and it’s exciting to see where that leads. Maybe we’ll even see a four-day workweek become the norm, especially with AI streamlining operations. They’re already testing it in Denver.
The recruiting industry has evolved significantly, particularly in the past four years during COVID. Companies are starting to realize that having a strong talent acquisition team is crucial if they want to stay relevant as the workforce ages and more people retire. It’s going to be competitive out there, and recruiters will be at the forefront of that battle.
