You can dress up your company’s values and culture with all the right words, but at the end of the day, how you treat people is how your brand is remembered. Right now, that matters more than ever.
We’re living in a time where most people are stretched on several fronts: mentally, emotionally, and professionally. When workloads and competing priorities pile up, communication often falls by the wayside.
While 37% of job seekers are applying to more roles than ever, many are receiving responses from companies less often. Meanwhile, overwhelmed employers report that most job applications fall short, with 22% of HR professionals spending up to five hours a day reviewing them, according to a global LinkedIn survey.
However, "being busy" isn't an excuse for dropping the ball, especially when it comes to candidate experience.
In today’s complex job market, what employers put out into the talent space – in terms of communication, respect, and process – is usually what they get back in return. Reciprocity is key.
The Damage of Silence
Presently, some job openings can attract hundreds of applications. How can anyone respond to that many people? It’s understandable that the prospect of responding to every applicant would seem daunting.
But when organisations choose to engage with a select few and ignore the rest completely, they risk eroding their reputation while trying to save time. It’s worth remembering that candidates you don’t respond to today may be the ones you need in six months, a year, or two. How you treat them now shapes whether they’ll want to work with you when the time is right.
When it comes to an organisation’s public image, word of mouth carries significant weight. Think of industries and professional disciplines as communities – word gets around, and people will readily share their bad experiences with a particular organisation. As one global survey found, the number of reviews related to the hiring experience shared on sites like LinkedIn or Glassdoor has doubled since 2020.
A poor recruitment experience can turn a potential brand advocate into someone who warns others away, which comes at a cost. By one estimate, companies could be spending at least 10% more per hire when their reputation is impacted by a poor candidate experience.
On the other hand, respectfully acknowledging every application, however briefly, sends a clear message. It tells people: we respect the time you have invested in applying, even if this isn’t the right role.
I often receive emails from job seekers overseas. Many don’t meet our clients’ specific criteria, such as New Zealand experience or the right to work, but I still respond to them gently, with a carefully worded template email. It’s a small action, but one that leaves the door open for future engagement. If their circumstances change and they do end up in New Zealand and able to work, they are likely to contact me again, when I can help them.
Long-term thinking is what encourages positive engagement with job seekers and candidates, ultimately setting up organisations for making excellent hires in the future.
Ghosting Hurts Everyone
One of the most damaging practices for employers we see is the "vanishing act" after job interviews. A candidate meets the hiring manager, feels the conversation went well… and then hears nothing. No feedback, not even a confirmation of their rejection. As one survey found, 80% of hiring managers have admitted to ghosting candidates.
A trusted recruitment partner will ensure candidates are kept informed by closing the loop, professionally and empathetically. That is important, because when candidates are ghosted by employers, they often feel uncomfortable chasing for answers. In such situations, a candidate’s impression of the organisation suffers, sometimes irreversibly.
Don’t let Busyness Undermine your Brand
If you genuinely don’t have the capacity to manage candidate communication well, don’t wing it. Delegate it. Partner with a New Zealand recruitment agency that will protect your brand, advocate for your company, and provide a human experience throughout the process.
Yes, recruitment is an investment. But the cost of getting it wrong (missed hires, tarnished reputation, lost trust) is far greater. How you act today builds the talent pipeline of tomorrow.
At Beyond Recruitment, we help organisations attract the right talent while protecting and enhancing their employer brand. If you want support running a respectful and streamlined process that candidates will remember for the right reasons, we’d love to help. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or our team for a discussion today.