Why Is the Candidate Experience So Important? (Part Two of Two)

Missed the first part? Catch up here .

Measuring the Bottom Line: How Candidate Experience Impacts Business Success

The candidate experience has a direct impact on the organization's bottom line. To start with, a positive candidate experience increases job offer acceptance rates by as much as 38 percent. This cuts not only direct costs like recruiting but also the indirect costs of operating short-staffed: reduced operational capacity, a weaker customer experience, and further turnover.

Furthermore, this delivers a competitive advantage. Generally, when we have a positive experience, our needs are met and some trust is gained. To go back to the sales example, when the discovery or sales process causes us to decide against a product, we've lost trust in the organization's ability to deliver. Trust from a positive experience, especially early in a relationship, affects how candidates evaluate our ability to deliver on other parts of the job offer: the culture we've espoused, potential opportunities for growth, continued increases in compensation, and the list goes on.

This is why maximizing touchpoints early in our relationship with our future employees, and doing what we say we are going to do, gives us so much return on our investment. ?Each piece carries the potential to build trust and the results that flow from it: whether choosing a candidate-friendly applicant tracking system, implementing job-relevant and engaging assessments , or ensuring resonant and timely communication that makes candidates feel seen, heard, and the knowledge they belong and are valued.

Enhancing Brand Awareness Through Positive Candidate Touchpoints

When we think about building sales, we often turn to the details of the customer experience or journey. What are the touchpoints of the sales process and which of those moments are the most inconsistent? Where do you lose the most potential customers?

Now let's switch to the candidate experience. Which touchpoints, or steps in the recruiting and hiring process, are the most inconsistent? What information or events might leave candidates with a poor, or wrong, impression?

We've been focused on the perceptions and beliefs of candidates who join our team. What about candidates who we decline or who abandon the process? Positive candidate interactions have the potential to enhance brand awareness for an organization.?

To understand how candidates think and feel about the hiring process and take confident action we need to accurately understand their experience. This is where a strategic plan for gathering candidate feedback can highlight strengths and potential vulnerabilities in hiring and recruiting. Candidate experience surveys are structured questionnaires designed to capture feedback from candidates about each touchpoint along their journey.

Consider your candidate pool for a moment. How well do you really grasp the thoughts, intentions, and experiences of those who turned down an offer, exited the process early, or weren't selected? Surveys are a fantastic, cost-effective way to gain valuable insights into their perspectives, expectations, and any challenges they face during the hiring journey.

So, what are some simple benefits you can gain from candidate feedback?

• Direction for Continuous Improvement:?Surveys give you helpful feedback straight from candidates, making it easier to spot areas where the recruitment process can get even better, like communication, transparency, and efficiency. Regular surveys help keep everyone involved in the candidate experience accountable.
• Boosting Your Employment Brand Awareness:?Over ninety percent of tomorrow's talent will be influenced by their experience with your hiring process today. The candidate you decline now could be an ideal hire for another role in a different area next month, or grow into a high potential for a new position five years from now. By actively soliciting feedback from candidates and taking action to address their concerns, you showcase your dedication to providing a positive candidate – and employee experience. The candidate that chose your competitor, as well as those you respectfully decline, leave feeling heard and valued. This level of commitment not only strengthens their employer brand across the board and feeds your talent pipeline for the future as well as potential referrals.
• Data-Driven Decision Making:?Surveys gather helpful insights that can be used to make smart, data-driven choices and enhance the recruiting process, leading to a smoother and more effective hiring strategy. Since HR budgets often focus heavily on technology, candidate experience surveys illustrate how this technology is making a positive impact (or falling short). While chatting with former candidates who are now employees is great, it only gives you a glimpse of the candidate pool (mostly those you ended up hiring).

Prioritizing Candidate Well-Being: Living Your Values and Caring for Others Through Hiring

What does it mean to be happy at work? At its heart, job satisfaction is all about those things that make an employee feel good and fulfilled in their role. It’s about meeting both the practical needs, like fair pay and benefits, and the more personal ones, like growth and a sense of purpose. When we're a job candidate we're trying to determine how an organization will meet those needs, and where they might fall short.

That’s why the candidate experience is so important; it sets the stage for future connection by clearly laying out expectations and showing the organization’s dedication to understanding and meeting our needs. Our candidate experience is the first step in the employee journey. Unlike a magic reset button or a Men in Black-style pen that could erase past interactions, the impressions made during recruitment stick around as we move forward. We mentioned the stress, uncertainty, and doubt that belies even chief executives when starting a role. The hiring process is an opportunity to be a positive steward of every candidate's well-being , and in so doing set our new hires up for success and a nurturing experience when they join our team. So, it’s essential to craft hiring and recruiting with care and attention, as it builds the foundation for a positive and lasting mutually beneficial relationship between the employee and the organization.

What makes a candidate experience support psychological well-being? One that builds a trusting relationship by making the candidate feel they were:

1. Treated with?respect and understanding
2. Provided the?opportunity to perform
3. Engaged?with relevant and resonant information?and with the right information at the right time

When candidates are treated with respect, authenticity, and transparency during the recruitment process, they don't just hear about what to expect from your team—they actually see it in action. Every step, from the first job posting to the final interview, is handled with genuine honesty and openness. Candidates receive clear and accurate information about the role, the company culture, and what's expected of them , which helps build a strong foundation of trust. They feel valued and understood, knowing their time and effort are appreciated. A lot of this comes down to communication, which when asked, job seekers share as the opportunity that would have the biggest impact on their intentions and attitudes towards an employer.

On the flip side, if the candidate experience leaves them questioning respect and fairness or lacking important information, it can create a shaky foundation for satisfaction and trust. This can lead to confusion and doubt, making candidates feel misled or undervalued. Such uncertainty can chip away at their confidence in the organization and dampen their enthusiasm for the role, affecting their decision to join the company or their performance if they do. Something as simple as sharing a timeline and the steps of your hiring process (which happens to be the improvement candidates say would most improve their experience) can support bottom-line results and candidate engagement and well-being. That's why it's so important to gather feedback and focus on building a transparent and respectful recruitment process.?

Building Energy and Engagement with Candidates Around Your Culture and Values

Candidates form an opinion about you - as an employer and as a business – from the beginning of the application process. Consider these facts on the?influence of candidate perceptions and word of mouth:

• The majority of job seekers report a negative candidate experience (the good news: a small change can make a big difference and exceed your competition!)
• Over?70 percent of candidates with negative perceptions are likely to share them?with others online - on Glassdoor or elsewhere.
• The vast?majority of job seekers report avoiding companies after reading negative reviews online.

In many industries, like food service and healthcare , there's a tight-knit community where everyone is connected through a web of relationships and interactions that go beyond just business. In these fields, word-of-mouth and reputation spread quickly, shaping how people see and decide about things. A candidate you pass on today might be a customer tomorrow or even a great fit for another role soon. This interconnectedness means how you treat candidates can have a big impact, not just on your talent pool but also on your customer base and standing in the industry.

Remember, even candidates who have a less-than-stellar experience might end up working with you. Their first impressions of your employer brand shape their beliefs about your values and culture, and their long-term well-being. If candidates have a negative experience, it can leave a lasting mark on how they view your organization, affecting their engagement, productivity, and overall happiness if they join your team. So, it's super important to make sure every interaction, even with those who aren't selected, reflects the values and culture you want to promote.

When you leave every candidate with a positive experience, even those who don't accept your job offer will likely walk away with a great impression of you and what you stand for. This positive vibe can lead them to speak highly of your organization to others, boosting your reputation and attracting more top-notch applicants. These candidates are not only skilled but also align with and embrace your culture, which is key to creating a supportive and thriving work environment. By focusing on a positive candidate experience, you compound momentum on the flywheel of talent that strengthens your brand and supports the long-term happiness and success of your enterprise.

Explore easy ways you can deliver a stronger candidate experience. Read the full article on the candidate experience here and subscribe for more insights.