Why Modern Hiring Centers Matter in Today’s Competitive Job Market
With thoughtful, strategic design, a hiring center or interview suite can be a valuable asset to attract top talent.
As India continues its rapid economic transformation, the demand for skilled professionals is growing exponentially. India’s workforce is expected to grow by 24%, with over 500,000 new jobs projected across leading sectors. In such a highly competitive job market, a strategically designed hiring center or interview suite can be a valuable asset to attract top talent.
With the return to a more physical presence in the office, one debate regarding talent attraction continues — whether to conduct hiring processes in person or virtually. One factor influencing this conversation is the infrastructure for a hiring center/interview suite that companies would need to invest in as part of their workplaces. With a focus on optimizing real estate, companies are wondering if investment in such a space is worth it.
Key takeaways:
- Strategic design attracts talent: A thoughtfully designed hiring center can serve as a powerful tool to attract top candidates, especially in competitive markets like India.
- Empathy and journey mapping matter: Understanding the candidate’s mindset and planning their experience throughout the interview process are essential to creating a welcoming and effective space.
- Interview suites can be amenity ecosystems: Reimagining hiring centers as multifunctional spaces—with lounges, coffee shops, and digital media walls—can enhance comfort and showcase company culture.
Typically, a traditional hiring center includes a combination of seats for waiting, along with interview rooms. In some cases, the candidates need to be escorted through rigorous security barriers to access the interview space, and candidates are typically just given access to the main cafeteria during mealtimes if the process extends over a period.
It’s time to reimagine these spaces so they aren’t merely functional; when strategically designed to enhance the user experience, these centers can leave a lasting, positive impression on potential candidates.
Enhancing the user experience
A well-thought-out, dedicated space can yield immense value in attracting desirable talent, quietly projecting the organization’s brand and values.
Here are two key considerations for designing a compelling hiring center or interview suite:
Empathy: Coming into a hiring center or other workspace for an interview is a daunting task. A candidate comes into an unfamiliar environment where they know no one, to essentially be evaluated and judged. Understanding the potential hire’s mindset is important.
Journey Understanding: While a potential hire may come for the interview, multi-step processes may require them to spend up to a full day in a limited space. It’s critical to map out what those potential spaces or journeys could be at the beginning of the design process.
Reimagining the interview suite as an amenity ecosystem
Gensler’s design team implemented these strategies for a project we completed for ADP in Hyderabad, India. We designed the interview suite as an amenity ecosystem, which includes an amphitheater space used for town halls and training rooms. These programs are all anchored centrally by a transition space, which is accessible from the ground floor reception on the same level, reducing the need for lengthy security protocols. The central transition space features a comfortable lounge seating area that makes candidates feel at ease and facilitates productivity during the waiting process.
Within the central space, a coffee shop is accessible to employees and candidates throughout the day. A large-scale digital media wall, which is also used for town halls in the amphitheater, highlights the company’s brand and values.
Using space as a canvas, the interview suite showcases the company’s culture and collaborative spirit and gets candidates excited about the community they would have an opportunity to join when hired. Ultimately, these physical hiring centers communicate a company’s scale of impact and aspiration, something that a Teams/Zoom call cannot achieve.
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