How "ghosting" your candidates could cost you nearly half a million dollars

Being aware of key components of the recruitment process could save your company, and specifically your HR department, a lot of time, money and heartache. Ensuring that your company is strapped with the essential tools to recruit high-potential employees should be top-of-mind in the employment market that we find ourselves in. The candidate experience is another factor that should be highly considered. With the competitive job market, candidates have more options than they know what to do with. How do you set your company apart from the several others that the candidate is interested in and interviewing for? One hint: a positive and unique candidate experience.

According to a report from Phenom People, 60% of candidates report a negative candidate experience and nearly three quarters of that population write about it online. The report goes on to note that over 80% of job seekers change their mind if they read that the company has a poor candidate experience, and some will even stop using the products or services by that company! What does a poor candidate experience look like? It can be as simple as failing to update the candidates on the status of their application (some people would consider this “ghosting” the candidate). Other attributes include poor recruitment technology, lack of information on the company’s website, and lack of candidate personalization.

The cost that can be incurred by a company waiting to fulfill a position can range from $16,000 to a whopping $400,000! When looking at numbers of this size, not only is investing in technology to increase the candidate experience a no-brainer, also considering other factors that will set your company apart can have lasting effects. Some examples of other considerations:

• Do you reimburse expenses for candidates to travel to an interview? If your answer is yes, how does your technology for reimbursements exhibit your company’s ability to process expenses in an efficient manner? If you think there’s some room for improvement, check out one of our solutions to help you step in the right direction.
• What sort of benefits do you advertise to entice candidates to consider your company? If they are going to relocate, will they have any idea of what level of support your company provides, if any at all? Allowing some visibility into your benefits could help increase the candidate’s level of interest.
• Does your company keep a close eye on the feedback that candidates are spilling on employer-review websites? It’s important to pay attention and take action if there’s an ongoing theme.

One thing is for sure: we cannot ignore the experience of the candidate in any stage of the process. Failing to acknowledge this piece of talent acquisition could set your company back in more ways than one. Don’t get lost in the dust!