Positive candidate experience is ‘business critical’

Poor candidate experiences during recruitment processes can badly damage perceptions of an organisation’s overall brand, according to the latest research from talent acquisition firm, Alexander Mann Solutions.

In its latest white paper The enemy within, based on in-depth interviews with some of the UK’s and US’s biggest employers, the company advises that while assessment must always provide the right people for the right role, it should also offer a positive, professional experience – or a ‘consumer-grade’ candidate experience.

This insight comes at a time when insight specialist CEB has revealed that nearly one in five jobseekers have stopped purchasing from a brand entirely as a result of bad candidate experience.

Commenting on the report, Jeremy Tipper, Managing Director at Talent Collective, the consulting division of Alexander Mann Solutions, said: “Many organisations are now investing significant resources in the development and communication of their employer brand, which is undoubtedly essential to attracting top talent, however, actually engaging and hiring that talent is proving to be difficult for organisations which have failed to make the connection between how the interview and assessment process impacts a candidate’s continued perception of the brand, and therefore, their experience.

“Consequently, HR Directors, internal communications teams and other leaders are failing to harness the power of the interview and assessment process to shape perceptions of their organisation. Assessment needs to feel fully and logically embedded into the overall candidate experience – not a distinct, standalone part of the process.

“It is crucial that jobseekers understand why they are being asked to do something. Questions and tests which are not directly relevant to the role or organisation in a way which the candidate understands and buys into will be, at best, considered a waste of time or, at worst, acutely damaging to the brand. And at a time when 83% of job applicants admit their perception as to the attractiveness of a potential employer is heavily influenced by the quality of an interview, balancing robust assessment and a positive candidate experience is business critical.”