KFC's recipe for recruitment success is communication

The recruitment success for fast-food chain, KFC, has been revolutionised by improved communication with candidates, according to its head of British recruitment.

The chain's HR manager for UK and Ireland, Sarah Beauerle, told a gathering of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) that the company had amended their recruitment process after the issue of a lack of communication "had come up time and time again".

She said that the feedback had prompted them to move their previously wholly paper-based recruitment system to an online set-up, allowing them to interact with the potential employees much more efficiently.

"Candidates weren't getting enough communication from KFC," Beauerle told the conference in Manchester.

She explained that they had started to move the system online in 2007, at a point where the candidates would only receive one email from the company to let them know that their application had been received.

Now, the candidates receive four or five emails from the company, letting them know of the application's progress through the system: one when they apply, one within seven days to let them know where they are in the process, one after seven days to say whether they have been successful or not and whether their application is being shared with other branches, and then another if there are no further vacancies available.

Beauerle said that the system had been very well received by candidates: "We have had a lot of really good feedback that candidates enjoy knowing where they are in the process."

Geoff Newman, chief executive with web based recruitment agency RecruitmentGenius.com explained how important candidate communication is.

"Job seekers are literally making hundreds of applications with no response. Not only is this hugely demoralising, it’s very damaging to consumer brands. Hence it doesn’t take a lot to stand apart from the competition and is a key reason why candidate communication is crucial. We’ve found even a ‘thanks but not thanks’ is sufficient to give closure and show that you have respect for candidates."