The Procurement conundrum: Cost vs Quality. How a bad candidate experience can tarnish your company’s reputation.

Candidate experience matters. It can affect your brand's reputation. Like unsavory opinions, bad candidate experiences can spread like wildfire.  

34% of people with a negative candidate experience will share it online. And once that negative review is out there, there is nothing you can do but hope and pray it does not go viral.  

So, how can a singular unsatisfactory candidate experience affect your business?  

Bad news sells  

Studies show that bad news gets more attention than good news. More clicks, more shares. This is down to negativity bias. In simple terms, people give more weight to negative things than neutral or positive things.  

64% of candidates who experience a negative hiring process would share that experience with their family and friends. This creates a ripple effect. Bad experiences can influence how people view and interact with your brand. Bad news will outshine any good news your company has thus damaging your reputation.  

Do not forget, it is not just your own company who can affect your reputation, but it’s your suppliers too. Does your recruitment supplier have a good reputation? Great reviews? Glowing testimonials? Partnering with a recruitment provider with a great reputation will boost your reputation too.  

Taking a hit on the bottom line  

In some industries, your candidates are also your customers. Ask yourself, would you treat your customers in the same way? If the answer is no, then you need to do some serious reworking of your recruitment process. 50% of the people would not buy a company’s product if they received a bad candidate experience. Poor experiences can cost you.   

But how much money are you losing because of this?   

Spreading the word  

Referrals are a quick way of building candidate pools. They give new applicants an understanding of your company and the hiring process before they have even applied. Does your current recruitment provider make the most of referrals?   

27% of people who experience a poor hiring process go on to actively dissuade others from applying. In this fierce fight for talent, you need every candidate you can get. Can you afford to lose crucial talent from one critical review?   

A good reputation and seamless candidate experience is essential for a company’s success and growth. 15% of candidates with positive hiring experience will put more effort into the job. Not only will your great reputation continue to increase your profits, but you will hire more passionate employees too. Today most people view the reputation of a brand through search engines, social media, and word-of-mouth.   

To finish, it has never been more important that all aspects of your business contribute to a positive reputation, and this includes your hiring process and your suppliers. If you would like to see how our solutions and tools can provide outstanding candidate experience, click here.