Employer Branding and the Candidate Journey: Making Strong First Impressions
Did you know it can take just a tenth of a second to form a first impression of a stranger? The process becomes even faster online. Most users form judgements of a website within 50 milliseconds, and 38% leave if they immediately find it unattractive!
This same theory applies to candidates applying for and starting new roles within your organisation. The first impression they form of you (and your brand!) as an employer could be the difference between “I would feel comfortable and confident working for this company” and “This definitely isn’t the right place for me.”
First impressions also have a huge impact on employee engagement, particularly when they’re formed during the initial recruitment and onboarding phases. However, many organisations make the mistake of prioritising their employer branding too late. They begin when the candidate has already formed an impression, and by then, it’s often too late to change it.
So, when and how can you start making strong first impressions on candidates? And how does employer branding help? Keep reading as we explore how building a strong brand positively impacts the candidate journey and the long-term benefits it brings to your business.
Why Are Good First Impressions Important to the Candidate Journey?
Strong first impressions are important as they influence how candidates experience the rest of their employee journey.
Negative first impressions set the wrong tone for the rest of the journey and mean new hires may struggle to engage with the job. A poor experience can impact the level of effort and quality of service these employees provide. They may quickly decide they don’t want to work for your company at all!
On the other hand, positive first impressions help candidates get a good sense of the role and the workplace culture. Instead of being put off, they’re immediately engaged and motivated to do a great job!
Making great first impressions can also help you build a solid reputation as an employer who cares about the employee experience from day one. And the benefits speak for themselves!
How Good First Impressions Can Help You Attract Top Talent
As Ryan Ray, General Manager of Culture and Capability at aged care charity UnitingCare Queensland, explains:
At a time when high-quality talent is scarce, a highly professional first impression, speed in making the offer, and a positive employee experience are essential.”
But why is this?
77% of candidates say they consider a company’s culture before applying for a job. 79% would also consider a company’s mission and purpose before applying. By making these things clear from the start with good first impressions, you’re therefore more likely to attract high-quality applicants.
If these candidates have then enjoyed great recruitment and onboarding processes, they’re also likely to recommend your company to others. However, this works the other way round, too. 72% of job seekers report sharing their negative candidate experiences online, and 55% avoid certain companies after reading negative online reviews!
Great first impressions also help with retention. In fact, 52% of employers experience improved retention rates after implementing strong onboarding practices that made positive impressions and truly reflected their company culture.
This approach allows you to keep skilled, top talent, along with the valuable knowledge and client relationships they’ve built since joining your organisation.
How to Make Good First Impressions and Build a Stronger Employer Brand
Every milestone of the candidate journey offers a meaningful opportunity to build a strong brand and make a good first impression on your prospective employees. This should begin before the hiring process starts and continue even after new hires are onboarded – fully competent in their roles and properly integrated into your workforce.
Here are four strategies for successfully refining your employer brand:
- Consider Candidate Experience Gaps
One of the best ways to find out how to make good first impressions on your business’s ideal candidates, and ensure your employer brand supports this, is by knowing what they look for in a candidate journey.
You’ll need to understand every touchpoint, including where and when negative impressions, or candidate experience gaps, could be created. For example, 60% of job seekers report quitting in the middle of filling out online job applications. The reason? Processes that are too long or complex.
Tackle this gap by streamlining the application process. Keep application forms short and to the point, including only the necessary questions. Remove the need to sign in or create an account. Instead, candidates can apply by simply uploading their resume or through one-click processes, like LinkedIn’s Easy Apply.
To truly build a strong employer brand, advertise how your company closes candidate experience gaps from the very beginning, especially throughout the recruitment and onboarding phases.
2. Create an Effective Onboarding Experience
When asked in an HR survey, employers said that their most effective recruitment channels were online platforms and professional networking sites like LinkedIn. The common theme here: going digital.
As one of the first meaningful opportunities for interactions with candidates (now your new hires!), this theme also applies to onboarding. Switching manual processes for online paperless processes significantly speeds the experience up!
HR teams spend less time completing repetitive administrative tasks, meaning more time to create an employee experience that truly reflects the company brand. These experiences properly engage new hires from day one, help them settle in quickly, and ensure they’re fully prepared for the role.
Onboarding software can help you achieve this effortlessly through automated, mobile-first workflows. HR staff can quickly complete new hire paperwork and document reviews, meaning new hires aren’t left waiting. This creates a professional first impression before they’ve even started the role!
3. Prioritise Consistency
82% of candidates expect to understand a company’s employer brand before they apply.
This means you need to make a great impression everywhere, including by creating a consistent online presence. Not just in person at interviews! Keep your website and social media channels up to date with clear branding and content that truly reflects your organisation’s values.
Continue this as the recruitment and onboarding journeys unfold. Effective online onboarding software, for instance, can help you design and distribute branded documents with ease. Advanced contract and form templates featuring your logos and colours tie everything together and create professional impressions for new hires from day one.
4. Focus on Regular Communication
The most common reason candidates report a negative experience? Employers failing to respond. 75% of applicants never hear back, while 60% have no communication from employers after an interview.
Don’t make ‘ghosting’ part of your employer brand. Instead, building good communication streams, whether through email, SMS, online onboarding platforms, or even in-person, opens the floor to questions and ensures new hires know what to expect when they begin. This approach lowers new job anxiety and means new hires are less likely to leave before they’ve even started!
Collect feedback throughout recruitment and onboarding, too. This creates great first impressions by making new hires feel heard, showing their opinions are highly valued by your employer brand.
Ready to Create Great First Impressions?
To make good impressions and build a truly great employer brand, you must consider every touchpoint along the candidate journey. This includes an often forgotten step: onboarding.
Effective onboarding isn’t just great for your employer brand. It’s also incredibly beneficial for workforce engagement, along with improved long-term productivity and motivation. And it all starts with attracting high-quality candidates through positive first impressions!
Book an Onboard Express demo today to learn more about developing your employer brand through a seamless onboarding process.