Report: Add to Cart – Candidates Are Consumers, Too

Candidates Are Consumers

The experience that candidates have during the hiring process can have far reaching implications. Employer brand and consumer brand are inextricably linked, and a positive candidate experience makes individuals more likely to purchase an organisation’s products or services. A negative candidate experience, however, can have the exact opposite effect.

Companies should devote equal energy and resources to the candidate experience as they do the consumer experience. Organisations need to shift the recruitment process beyond transactional endeavours, and invest in developing relationships with potential candidates, which will build trust, loyalty, and ultimately impact the bottom line.

To find out more, ManpowerGroup Solutions asked 18,000 workers how hiring experiences might impact on their willingness to engage with a company as a consumer. We wanted to find out how negative candidate experiences can impact purchase intent, and the types of negative experiences that are most damaging.

The Impact of Negative Hiring Experiences

According to our research, more than half of workers say that a negative hiring experience makes them less likely to buy a company’s products or services in the future. Consumer brands work hard to cultivate relationships with consumers – focusing on customer experience, service, brand reputation and more. Employer brands can be even more personal as candidates themselves are being accepted or rejected by the brand.

The ripple effects of a negative hiring experience extend far beyond the candidate who experienced it. Our research found that 61% of candidates would tell other people about a negative experience; while 50% said the negative experience of a friend would make them less likely to buy a product or service from that company.

In an era of growing talent shortages, understanding what makes candidates tick is essential to building and sustaining a successful recruitment and retention strategy. We invite you to download our whitepaper to learn about the dynamics of candidates as consumers, alongside practical recommendations that will strengthen your employer brand.

For more insight on how ManpowerGroup Solutions can help you attract the best and brightest candidates, visit Recruitment Process Outsourcing.