Does a Good Candidate Experience Encourage Recruits to Stick With Your Company? If So, How?

Before we delve into the meat and potatoes of this blog post, we want to quickly clarify what we mean by ‘candidate experience.’

Put simply, it’s the accumulated perception a recruit develops about an employer as they go through your recruitment process.

The candidate experience starts with their job search and follows through to application, interview, onboarding, etc. In short, every stage of your recruitment method impacts the overall quality of your company’s candidate experience.

So, with that in mind, how does candidate experience impact employee retention rates?

We believe first impressions are vital when it comes to hiring new employees. In fact, studies show that a pleasant candidate experience directly correlates with higher retention rates.

But, despite that, 59% of CEOs and CHROs underscore its importance! Needless to say, they’re shooting themselves in the foot, as it’s believed a whopping 47% of talented employees who undergo a lousy candidate experience leave within two years of working for the company.

That’s shocking.

So, in response to this stat, we’re digging deeper into how a high-quality candidate experience encourages recruits to stick with your company for longer.

Does that sound good to you? Great. Let’s dive in!

Why a Good Candidate Experience Matters

We’ve briefly touched on this in the intro. Still, it’s worth stressing that an exceptional candidate experience promotes employee loyalty. In fact, applicants who enjoyed an excellent candidate experience were more likely to become customers themselves.

These kinds of employees are ambassadors for your brand and are most likely to boast higher retention rates. And you don’t need us to tell you, turnover rates can cost you dearly. Shockingly, millennial turnover alone costs the US economy $30.5 billion every year!

This isn’t surprising when you consider the expense of training new recruits and casting the net for new applicants. In fact, the typical cost per hire is $4,129! These recruitment costs re-occur every time a hire’s lost. Not to mention, your overall office’s productivity and efficiency are often hindered as you scramble to fill the gap the ex-employee left.

On a similar note, the longer a worker stays with your brand, typically the better their job performance; hence, the more profit your company generates.

As such, the goal for recruiters is finding and hiring staff that stand the test of time. And as we’ve already said, the quality of your candidate experience has a massive role to play in that.

How Can Your Candidate Experience Boost Employee Retention Rates?

Below we’ve listed a couple of things you can do to ensure your candidate experience encourages long-term engagement:

Define Expectations From the Get-Go

One of the biggest reasons recruits leave early-on is because their job expectations aren’t met. According to Glassdoor, in 2013, 61% of employees said their new job differed from what they anticipated from the recruitment process.

To avoid this hiccup, you need to clearly define the vacant job role during the earliest stages of your recruitment process. For instance, within the job ad, you can describe and list the daily tasks the recruit’s expected to perform. You could even set the applicant a trial task to see how they fare. This gives both you, as the recruiter, the opportunity to see whether the candidate’s a good fit and the applicant’s better idea of whether they enjoy the work you’ll assign.

It’s only logical that by clarifying your expectations from the get-go, you’re more likely to attract candidates who will happily take on these responsibilities.

Make Culture Part of the Equation

Company culture is a big part of job satisfaction. If a new recruit doesn’t ‘gel’ with the team, they’ll never feel at home in your company, which often prompts recruits to leave sooner rather than later.

These kinds of videos can help both candidates and recruiters decide whether the applicant complements your brand’s culture.

The Bottom Line: Get the Candidate Experience Right – Retain Recruits for Longer

The bottom line is simple – first impressions matter. The better your candidate experience, the more highly employees will think of your company.

Use the recruitment phase to communicate expectations from the get-go, and ensure candidates are culturally, a good fit for your company. These precautions go a long way to ensure your recruit’s happy in their new role, which should translate into higher employee retention rates!

For more info on this topic, download our FREE e-book ‘The Fundamentals of Candidate Experience’ – Enjoy!