The Talent Board Announces Winners of the 2011 Candidate Experience Awards

Overwhelming Response to Inaugural Competition Underscores Importance of Providing an Exemplary Candidate Experience


LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - Oct 4, 2011) - 14th Annual HR Technology Conference & Expo -- The Talent Board, a non-profit organization dedicated to the elevation of the candidate experience, today unveiled the winners of the inaugural Candidate Experience awards at the 14th Annual HR Technology Conference & Expo. At a session held at the event, the winners were awarded the official 2011 Candidate Experience Awards distinction, which represents their excellence and contribution to setting an industry standard in candidate experience.

The 2011 Candidate Experience Awards are based on a survey-based evaluation process that included three rounds. Round one consisted of a comprehensive employer survey that addressed how companies produce their candidate experience. Round two of the competition was a candidate survey of the company's 2011 employment candidates administered by the Talent Board. Round three consisted of evaluation by a panel of expert judges. Fifty-eight corporations applied to the award and more than 11,500 candidate surveys were collected in the process.

The following 24 organizations are recipients of the 2011 CandE (pronounced "Candy") awards:

  • Adidas Group
  • Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
  • Bozzuto Group Inc.
  • Cliffs Natural Resources
  • Covenant Health
  • Crowe Horwath LLP
  • Deloitte
  • Deluxe Corporation
  • General Mills
  • Harris Interactive
  • Herman Miller Inc.
  • InfoReliance Corporation
  • Intuit Inc.
  • Ontario Systems LLC
  • PepsiCo
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Principal Financial Group
  • Rex Healthcare
  • RMS Inc.
  • Sage
  • State Farm Insurance
  • SunTrust Banks, Inc.
  • W. L. Gore & Associates
  • Whirlpool Corporation

"We are proud to announce these worthy winners who are setting the market standard for candidate experience. Through their practices and candidate surveys, these companies demonstrated their solid commitment to candidate experience," commented China Gorman, a judge for the 2011 award.

"For us, the CandE awards weren't about seeking recognition. It was about taking part in a collaborative exercise that allowed us to better understand the experience we deliver to our job seekers and how we can improve on that no matter how the results came back to us," said Christopher Hoyt, Talent Engagement & Marketing Leader, PepsiCo. "We're anxious to compare the responses of this year's participation to that of what we'll hope to see from job seekers in the 2012 CandE awards process."

"The core goal of the Candidate Experience Awards is to elevate the value of the candidate as a true partner in the recruiting process. We believe that organizations that embrace this paradigm flourish, in part, because their transparency in the recruiting process leads to more engaged employees and a more competitive recruiting brand," said Gerry Crispin, the Chief Architect of the 2011 survey for the Candidate Experience Awards.

He continued, "The Candidate Experience Awards are dedicated to helping organizations improve by shining a light on a market standard. This is not an award to recognize a small, elite set of corporations. All the companies that meet the standard win the award. In 2011, the standard is defined by two characteristics. First, the companies that systematically gather candidate experience data in their process and second, the companies that are committed to providing status updates and feedback to candidates in process."

In addition to the opportunity to vie for a CandE award, each of the participating companies will receive a report that benchmarks their practices against the broader company applicant group. The Talent Board, in collaboration with Bersin & Associates, will be issuing a white paper on the aggregate trends, practices, and case studies from the C&E Award winners before the end of the year.

The 2011 Candidate Experience Awards would not have been possible without the donations and sponsorships from the following forward-thinking companies: HireRight, HireVue, Jobs2Web, Kenexa, Monster and Startwire.

"The Talent Board was formed as a result of collaboration between Talent Function, CareerXroads, and The Accidental Entrepreneur," shared Mark McMillan, the organization's Executive Director. "We're looking forward to the continued improvement of how organizations address employment candidates. There is more work to be done and the standard is constantly evolving. As a result, we expect next year's award to attract twice the number of companies in 2012."

Companies interested in the 2012 Candidate Experience Awards can learn more at www.thecandidateexperienceawards.org. The 2012 Candidate Experience Awards program is scheduled to begin in March 2012.

About The Talent Board
The Talent Board is a non-profit organization focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience. The organization, awards program and its sponsors are dedicated to recognizing the candidate experience offered by companies throughout the entire recruitment cycle and to forever changing the manner in which job candidates are treated. More information can be accessed at http://www.thecandidateexperienceawards.org