CandE Benchmark Research Case Study – D2L

Welcome to the 2024 CandE Winner Case Study series. 

Each year, the CandE Benchmark Research Program collects case studies from CandE Winners – the employers with above-average candidate experience ratings in our research. These CandE Winners answer the following questions:

• What recruiting and candidate experience improvements have you made?
• How did you build support and commitment to make these improvements?
• Which improvements were the most innovative?
• How will you use your CandE Award in your employer branding?
• Do you use any of your CandE data to quantify business impact?

These are the employers from our 2024 CandE Program that invested in improving their recruiting, hiring, and candidate experience, reaping the ultimate benefits of a positive business impact – candidates more likely to apply again, to refer others, to be a brand advocate, and to be a customer for consumer-based businesses. 

This case study was from D2L. D2L is a global learning innovation company helping organizations reshape the future of education and work. They’re leading the way into the era of personalized learning, driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to high-quality education, regardless of their age, ability, or location.

If you’re interested in participating in the 2025 CandE Benchmark Research Program, you can learn more about it here. 

1. What recruiting processes and candidate experience key improvements have you identified and completed in the past 6-12 months? What data or evidence prompted you to make these changes? (Be as specific as possible with examples for each.)

Within the past 6-12 months, D2L and our Talent Acquisition team have implemented a variety of positive changes and key improvements that resulted in heightened candidate experience. These evidence-based adjustments ensure that every candidate enjoys a positive and seamless experience when they apply to D2L.  

Improvement 1: Pay Transparency
In December 2023, we implemented standards ensuring that the expected pay range for base salary along with our pay transparency statement is displayed on all open roles across North America featured on our public website. Clearly defined pay ranges help us build trust among potential candidates.

What makes this unique:

• While pay transparency legislation has been introduced in some states and provinces, we decided to roll it out across all states and provinces, going above and beyond the required legislative standard.  
• We advertise a narrow base salary range, such as $66,000–$82,000 CAD, rather than a wide range, to provide an accurate representation of what to expect. This sets us apart from other companies that either do not include pay transparency in their job postings or those that present a wide pay range. 
• This applies to all role-levels such as co-op, entry-level, and senior positions. 
• This allows candidates to choose us as much as we choose them from the start, ensuring alignment without misleading anyone. 

Why we made the change:

• Evidence shows that pay transparency improves candidate experience, with studies indicating that 67% of job seekers value salary transparency when considering job offers. As a result, we were motivated to take important steps to ensure every candidate feels informed, valued, and confident in their decision to pursue a role with D2L, from the get-go.  
• This pay transparency change reduces the likelihood of mismatched applications because candidates can better assess their salary expectation at the onset of application. 
• One notable improvement that we have noticed since implementing pay transparency is a reduction in offer declines due to compensation. From February to December 2023, we had 11 compensation-related offer declines, whereas we have only had six compensation-related offer declines in the same time period this year (post-implementation).  
• While we were only required by law to introduce transparency in some regions, we wanted to elevate the experience for current employees and candidates when it comes to understanding how they are paid.  

Improvement 2: HQ Video Tour 

We recently produced a video for new hires, combining storytelling with a tour of our stunning HQ office. This video highlights the amenities and spaces that enrich our vibrant employee culture. It is sent to every HQ-based new hire before their first day. Our tour video reflects our dedication to making our candidates feel welcomed, informed, and excited about joining the D2L team from the very beginning. Additionally, we produced a candidate-focused video that provides directions for both walking and driving to our HQ office and reception, catering to various modes of travel. HQ-based new hires receive this video before their first day alongside the HQ Tour Video.

What makes this unique:

While many companies are mandating their employees to return to the office, D2L continues to adopt a flexible hybrid model. For some candidates, working in an office is their preferred work location. D2L’s HQ offers a variety of perks, such as a gym, a yoga studio, standing desks, free coffee and snacks, a games room, lots of collaboration spaces, etc., so we took this opportunity to enhance our employer brand by showcasing the office while reinforcing our commitment to creating an environment where everyone can thrive and feel excited about being part of the D2L team. 

Why we made the change:

The decision to create a new hire video tour was rooted in evidence that visual storytelling enhances engagement and helps new employees feel more connected and familiar with their workplace from the very start. Additionally, it contributes to a positive onboarding experience for new hires so that they feel prepared, know what to expect, and where to go when they come into the HQ office.  

Improvement 3: Employee Blogs

We have increased the frequency of our “Life at D2L” blogs, enhancing visibility into our culture by regularly featuring blogs from D2Lers on our website. These blogs cover impactful themes such as D2L’s employee value proposition (EVP), employee career journeys, employee resource groups (ERGs), overcoming challenges, volunteering, and more.

What makes this unique:  

Our blog page is designed to give potential candidates a glimpse of “Life at D2L.” We are actively sourcing a variety of topics to ensure our content remains fresh and relevant. Similarly, we have added more content to our website based on feedback from candidates who expressed a desire to learn even more about our culture, such as featuring employee testimonials.

Why we made the change: 

In 2022, we made an intentional effort to start updating and contributing to our blogs, which had always existed but had gone stale. Based on feedback from candidates, especially in our interviews, we heard that these blogs inspired individuals to apply for our open roles and provide insight into our culture. The continuous positive feedback serves as direct evidence, motivating us to maintain and even increase the frequency of our blogs over the past 6-12 months.  

Improvement 4: Lego Program
D2L has used Lego as an employee recognition program since 2015. However, this year we launched a revamped version of our program with two notable improvements. First, we have partnered with a new employee recognition company to enhance our culture of recognition and improve the candidate experience through new personalized mini-figure packages. Every new hire receives a personalized mini-figure kit, which includes a customizable figurine of themselves with a selection of features such as skin tone, hair and head coverings, and accessories that represent their hobbies and interests.  Second, we centralized the program to be run by one sole department, (rather than by each individual department), to ensure every employee receives the same experience with Lego and that the program runs seamlessly from a People and Culture perspective. 

What makes this unique:
We consistently hear feedback from candidates about the Lego program as it relates to a positive employee culture and how they want to join D2L and get their own Lego. Many employees have shared their Lego mini figures on social media, highlighting the positive impact it has had on their experience. One employee expressed, “Thanks for making me feel so welcome in my first few weeks at D2L,” while another said, “One of the things I love most about working at D2L is the culture. Look at what they gave me for working here!” And another shared, “I love working for a company that sprinkles fun into our culture in so many ways.”

Why we made the change:
We heard feedback from employees that they wanted to receive Lego that more accurately represented their unique features. We also heard feedback that the program was not uniformly being applied across the company, team, and departments (some employees would get Lego while others would not, and they would receive their Lego at different points in their employee journey). This initiative is grounded in evidence that companies utilizing recognition programs experience a noticeable improvement in workplace culture, employee happiness, and engagement levels. By providing Lego at the hiring stage, it makes the end-to-end recruiting experience more engaging and inclusive, allowing candidates to express their individuality while fostering a sense of connection and community from the very beginning. 

Improvement 5: TikTok
We have ramped up our TikTok content to attract top talent, focusing on how we blend business with fun through initiatives like our Town Halls, events, and “Day in the Life as a D2Ler” videos.

What makes this unique:
TikTok fits our recruitment strategy to target early talent while elevating our culture of “fun.” Our TikTok account allows us to showcase this.  

Why we made the change:
We have received feedback in interviews indicating that our TikTok’s serve as a valuable resource for candidates, helping them understand our culture and what it’s like to work at D2L through seeing others. By utilizing TikTok, we aim to engage a wider audience and create a more dynamic and relatable candidate experience. Like our blogs, we had content, but it was stale. Through ramping up our content, our TikTok data shows that we are reaching our target audience. We have had over 34,000 views in the past year and 57% of our audience are 18–24-year-olds representing a large chunk of our candidates, which makes up most of our Early Talent demographic (co-ops and new grads). 

Improvement 6: Clear Communications and Inclusive Language
We continually strive to provide candidates with clear information about our recruitment process, expectations, and post-interview communications. This is done by carefully curating the information presented to candidates via standardized emails, along with all the information available on our careers site and the Interview Resource Hub. On these pages, candidates will find information about each department, testimonials from employees, leadership and more. Post-interview, we are always willing to provide feedback to candidates about their interview process if requested.

What makes this unique:
This sets us apart as an organization that values transparency and respects candidates’ time, ultimately fostering a positive experience that reflects our commitment to open communication and support throughout their journey with us. Examples of this include recognizing every applicant with our “thank-you-for-applying” emails, (featuring employee videos and social media links), and timely rejection emails. While we receive many applications, we are committed to making the candidate experience a priority through our clear and receptive communication.

Our commitment to inclusive language greatly improves our candidate experience, distinguishing us from other companies in the recruitment process. We invite candidates to share any specific accessibility needs they may have and emphasize our priority on confidentiality regarding accommodation requests. If candidates require accommodation during the recruitment process, we specifically let them know that we will strive to create a barrier-free environment that allows them to thrive.

We consistently hear that many candidates experience “ghosting” or being dispositioned with no explanation by other organizations. By providing feedback to candidates and ensuring each one is notified in a timely manner with clear closure on the process, we aim to enhance the candidate experience and foster a sense of respect and transparency throughout our hiring journey. 

Why we made the change:
While both of these are things we have done for years, we have made improvements to better communicate who we are to candidates and provide them with more information and empathy. We continue to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) efforts with specific initiatives, including: providing instructions to request an interview accommodation, which is also something we have done for years; and with the help from one of our community partners, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, we have updated our accommodation request wording to feel more inclusive and reduce anxiety from candidates about requesting accommodations.

We continue to make updates to our Careers website based on changes in the company and feedback. For example, we recently changed our technical hiring interview process based on feedback to make it more efficient. This change was quickly updated on the Interview Resource Hub, so candidates had the most up-to-date information.  

We noticed that we were receiving a lot of questions from candidates about what it meant to be moved to the Reference Check stage of our hiring process, so we implemented an automation that sends candidates information about what to expect and next steps when they are transitioned to that stage in our ATS.  

Improvement 8: Employee Value Proposition (EVP) Video
Our new EVP video is a critical part of our recruitment process shared with candidates showcasing a variety of employees from different parts of the business and why they chose D2L. Key topics discussed include wellness walks, our flextime, optional in-office opportunities, ownership of career growth, upskilling experiences, and feeling heard and supported, to name only a few.

What makes this unique:
We think it is unique for candidates to hear directly from current employees about their experiences. These employees volunteered to participate in the video and were encouraged to talk about what was meaningful to them. What resulted is an unfiltered look and an inside scoop of what it is like to work here.

Why we made the change:
We made our first EVP video during COVID when everyone was working from home. When our new office opened, we took the opportunity to re-shoot the video with fresh faces and ensured it represented the current experience of D2Lers around the globe.  

Improvement 9: Skills-Based Hiring
As a company committed to learning, we understand the various forms and accessibility of education. By shifting our emphasis from degrees and diplomas to experiences and skills, we expand our candidate pool and enhance the application experience. We prioritize specific experiences over prestigious degree titles. 

What makes this is unique:
As an employer that advocates for upskilling and reskilling—integral to both our culture and our products—we remain committed to emphasizing skills over degrees. This approach allows us to expand our talent pool and foster inclusivity, recognizing that learning takes many forms. 

Why we made the change:
We made this change based on research that said women and people of color were far less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet 100% of the qualifications. We also noticed that our recruiters and hiring managers were not screening resumes based on educational background, so why make this a requirement? We changed the language in our job postings from “Education Requirements” to “Education Recommendations” or removed education altogether in order to attract a more diverse range of candidates and ensure we are selecting talent based on their skills and experiences rather than just their formal qualifications. 

2. How did you build support and commitment within your team and the broader organization to make these improvements? How did you demonstrate and report on the importance of a quality candidate experience with your leadership team? (Be as specific as possible with examples.)

As a multi-year winner of the CandE Award, D2Lers understand the importance of a positive candidate experience. This understanding and support start with our leadership team. We foster a culture of continuous improvement at D2L, which includes our recruitment process. At D2L, we actively seek feedback from employees and strive to increase transparency in our decision-making processes, so it’s no surprise that we work together towards greater transparency in recruitment. Therefore, when we seek to reinforce commitment and demonstrate the importance of increased transparency and candidate experience across our hiring processes, D2Lers are fully on board. We adopt a “nothing about them without them” approach to change management. When making changes to our process that impact stakeholders, we always engage these stakeholders, so they feel included and confident in what we are doing.

We build support and demonstrate the importance in the following ways:  

Training and Enablement:  

Pay Transparency: As we launched pay transparency across North America, we ran internal enablement sessions for all employees to understand our philosophy and learn how pay transparency impacts them and their teams.

Implementing Feedback: We surveyed hiring managers to get their feedback about our hiring processes and what we can do to improve. Hiring managers wanted more resources available to them to upskill their hiring. As a result, we built on-demand, self-led enablement courses to upskill managers on recruiting practices to ensure candidates have the best possible experience throughout the interview process. This enablement now extends to interviewers as well, so that anyone selected for the interview process has the resources available.

Additionally, we are currently developing a hiring manager course tailored specifically for co-op managers to emphasize and educate them on essential information, as the co-op process is significantly different from that of full-time hiring. This course will ensure that all managers are informed about critical co-op deadlines, the complexities of the rank-match process, and the various requirements from different universities. It was created in response to our observations that hiring managers were struggling to keep up with key co-op processes.

Continuous Engagement: In addition to the enablement courses referenced above, our recruiters facilitate training and enablement workshops for hiring managers throughout the year. The importance of candidate experience is always a component of these workshops. These live sessions, along with the upskilling courses to these trainings, allow our hiring managers and interviewers access to a self-led training course to learn the “D2L way” of hiring. The D2L way is built on providing a positive candidate experience such as structured interview processes, inclusive hiring practices, expectations of hiring managers and interviewers. This course also highlights our CandE wins and the importance of what we need to do to continue to win.  

Engagement and Appreciation:  To contribute to an increasingly transparent view into D2L culture, we engaged D2Lers across the organization to share their experience as an employee in our EVP video, blogs, and TikToks. When employees feel like their experience is valued, it helps get employee buy-in to sharing our culture as employer brand ambassadors.

Stats on our TikToks and blog engagement are monitored and reported to our team and leaders demonstrating the importance and value that candidates place on upfront information and transparency about work culture. 

Expectation Setting and Accountability:  We set expectations with hiring managers during intake calls regarding the communication and timelines expected throughout the process. We then collect specific information that we can communicate to candidates about what to expect and when to expect it by.

We publicly post our interview process on our website to ensure transparency and accountability. This provides candidates with clear expectations and reinforces the importance of candidate experience for our hiring teams.

We regularly monitor and report on our Glassdoor ratings and reviews. By doing so, we are able to keep an eye on candidate’s feedback of our interview process and iterate or implement feedback if needed. Our Glassdoor received 6,000+ page views in the last month and 65,000+ brand impressions, which underscores the growing visibility of our employer brand and the importance of maintaining a positive candidate and employee experience. 

Simplification:  We try to make it as easy as possible for hiring teams to manage the recruitment process by leveraging our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). By doing so, we make behaviors that impact candidate experiences easier to remember and more actionable.

Scorecard reminders are sent within one hour of an interview if the scorecards are not submitted. We recently updated the wording in these reminders that focus on the importance of scorecards. The reminder says: “Timely feedback enables us to keep our hiring efficient, and each candidate’s experience positive. Additionally, submitting scorecards promptly, and before debriefing with others, assists with bias prevention!”

We customize email templates to provide additional reminders and resources to hiring managers and interviewers such as links to our training courses and reminders about our EVP to sell the candidate.

We have also updated our email templates that notify interviewers about their role in the interview process. One notable update was the inclusion of the following call-out, to emphasize the importance of candidate experience: “D2L has been awarded the CandE Award for exceptional candidate experience 5 years in a row. Please make sure you are on time and prepared for your interviews. We do not cancel interviews once they are scheduled, and we do not reschedule interviews without sufficient notice  (unless there is an unforeseen emergency).”

We utilize prompts to set reminders for providing candidate updates, reminding managers of action items, and more.

While we use our ATS for scheduling emails, reminders, and templates, we maintain a personal touch by customizing and personalizing emails to candidates whenever possible. Even our most templated emails display empathy and gratitude.

We have automated reporting to monitor our Greenhouse data hygiene on a weekly basis to make sure that recruiters and managers are actioning candidates in a timely manner. 

3. Which of these improvements do you think are the most unique and innovative and why? How do you know that your changes are making a difference? What data or evidence validates the innovative improvements you made? (Be as specific as possible with examples for each based on your people, your processes, and your technologies, and include any candidate quotes that validate the improvements made.)

The overall theme across our improvements has been transparency and we think transparency is innovative, even in today’s recruitment landscape. We aim to provide as much information upfront and throughout the process as possible, so candidates know what to expect and to allow everyone involved to make an informed decision about if D2L is the right place for them. Our interview process is very much a 2-way hiring process.  

Why we think it is innovative:

In a 2024 CandE article about Sustained Resilience, we learned that there are key differentiators among the top 10 CandE Award winners, including: 

• Dispositioning candidates in a timely manner 
• Having a (more) structured interview process 
• Having a (more) structured pre-boarding/onboarding process 
• Providing more feedback to candidates than all participating employers 
• Providing more timely offers than all participating employers 

By implementing our transparency initiatives, we make strides toward making a difference in our hiring processes. Through training hiring managers in best practices, we can run more structured interviews and provide accurate expectations for candidates. By evaluating candidates through a structured process, we are better able to disposition candidates in a timely manner. By collecting feedback and scorecards in these interviews, we are able to provide feedback to candidates about our decisions. For pre-boarding and onboarding; we continue to iterate on our communication to candidates and enablement for managers. For candidates, we have added more information about what to expect on their first day. For hiring managers, we have added more instruction about how to engage with the new hire during pre-boarding and what their role is during onboarding.  

30-day Check in Sessions:
Our check in process with new hires is very thorough. We take real feedback into consideration by surveying our new hires at the 30-day mark to gain insights into their preboarding and onboarding process. Along with an online survey for new hires to complete, we also conduct live, 30-minute interactive sessions to gather hands-on feedback, which allows us to explore insights in greater depth. Questions cover topics such as how employees describe D2L’s culture, what they’ve enjoyed most so far, what they wish they had known before joining, whether they have the necessary resources to perform their job effectively, and any suggestions for improvement. The results are then shared with business partners and stakeholders to ensure all feedback is addressed promptly, with follow-ups provided when necessary.

Based on recent feedback from new hires, we heard that they were expecting more communication from their manager during pre-boarding. As a result, we are in the process of updating our enablement documentation for managers regarding pre-boarding communications with new hires and preparing new hire onboarding plans. From this feedback, we also determined that hiring managers would benefit from training resources specific to our co-op hiring process and therefore we are in the process of building out a training course on this topic.  

To further our transparency, we are working towards establishing a closing date for all our job postings so that no one misses the chance to apply and allow our team to set timelines for reviewing/dispositioning candidates.  

How do we know it has made a difference:
We see proof of impact from our innovation in our data. Some key stats that stand out include:

• According to our CandE results, 97% of candidates say they would apply again.
• We have an 87% offer acceptance rate to-date this fiscal year.
• We continue to see record high application rates YoY proving that our brand as an employer of choice is strong and that candidates want to participate in our process.
• Our blogs have received over 6,000 views this fiscal year, which is a 300% increase year-over-year with over 1,000 of those views coming directly from the links provided in our candidate communications. 

We also have qualitative feedback from candidates that prove our results. This feedback comes directly from our CandE results:

• • Timely Offers: “Every step of the process was seamless. I was put into a tight position and had to choose between two offers. The D2L team ensured that I would receive a competitive offer in time so that I was able to make an informed choice. Working with them was smooth and everyone was so incredibly kind.” 

• Transparent, Frequent and Empathetic Communication:
• • “Everyone I have interacted with in the interviewing process has been very communicative and friendly! They keep their candidates well aware of the process and potential next steps.”
  • “I really appreciated how transparent they were during the hiring process. I was always aware of what next steps and expectations were far ahead of time and I received information from the HR team regularly. They were also very flexible when booking interviews with me. Overall, I had a wonderful experience!” 
  • “The phone screening I completed was within my expectations and the interviewer was kind and respectful. I really appreciated how she detailed the upcoming steps in the interview process.”
• Upfront Information and Insights into Culture: “I loved receiving the pre-interview email that had key links related to the culture, position and product. The recruiter was very pleasant, and the conversation went two ways. Very comfortable.”  
• Skills-Based Hiring: “I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the Interview process. The recruiter did an exceptional job highlighting my previous experience and recognized that I was a  suitable candidate for this role. I enjoyed the skills-based assessment during the interview.” 
• Pay Transparency: “My candidate experience with D2L was very smooth. The recruiter was very friendly and cared about my interests. They made it clear right from the start what the total compensation was and other details of the job I was applying for. Their responses were swift and concise. My interviewers were very professional and knew how to appropriately probe questions when they needed more details.”

4. Whether you’ve won your first CandE Award or multiple CandE Awards, how will you publicly use the CandE Award, and what it represents, in your employer branding and recruitment marketing? (Be as specific as possible with examples.) 

D2L will feature and promote the CandE Award in various creative ways, highlighting its significance to us through our branding and recruitment marketing efforts. We are currently showcasing our esteemed CandE Award in various locations:

• On our website with a prominent feature on our careers page.
• Annual press release highlight our win which is further shared on LinkedIn (Please note – Our 2024 press release has not gone live yet to showcase the latest award win.)
• We encourage our employees to re-share it on their personal social media accounts by promoting it through our internal communications channels, including email, Slack and our company intranet.
• The award is featured on our Glassdoor profile.
• Candidates will find our CandE badge proudly displayed on our offer documents.
• Our Hiring Management Enablement course highlights our multi-year win. The content delves into the importance of the CandE Award by raising awareness among our internal teams about our objectives. This understanding empowers hiring managers to embody the values represented by the award in our daily actions and interactions.  

Our team will continue posting regularly about candidate experience, as we aim to stand out and keep candidates engaged throughout our process. One key example from our Talent Acquisition team is Insight into Interview Questions (26,000+ impressions, 16,000+ members reached)

By showcasing the CandE Award, we not only enhance our employer brand but also demonstrate to potential candidates that we value and prioritize their experience throughout the recruitment process.

5. Do you use any of your candidate experience benchmark data to quantify and demonstrate financial, referral, and/or employer branding business impact to your leadership team, your recruiting, and/or hiring managers? If yes, how? (Be as specific as possible with examples.) 

We leverage our CandE data to consistently emphasize the importance of candidate experience to both our recruiting team and hiring managers. While we acknowledge that we are not always perfect, we believe that our unwavering commitment to achieving a white-glove candidate experience and our continuous efforts to improve, even by just 1%, will consistently bring us value: 

• We emphasize the importance of candidate experience in the hiring manager enablement resources we have referenced.  
• Most notably, we recently highlighted our CandE win along with our other recent employer awards to our senior leadership team and board of directors to showcase positive progress in our recruitment efforts.  
• Our internal referrals highlight how satisfied our employees are, acting as brand ambassadors and willingly contributing to recruitment efforts on their own initiative. We have had over 700 referrals since the start of our fiscal year (February 2024) demonstrating that our employees are active talent magnets and brand ambassadors.