With every new opportunity, comes along a threat. With the e-commerce companies taking huge strides and invading our homes, IT companies are facing skill shortage. The ability to hire good talent has become that much more difficult and now, both hiring and retention have become big issues that need to be dealt with urgency.

With companies fighting for talent, it has become all the more important for companies to pay attention to their brand. By building and showcasing an effective brand, the organization can attract better and more qualified candidates. Building a brand normally takes a lot of time and effort. It is this sustained effort by the leadership teams over several years that help in the process of building a brand.

These days, organizations invest heavily in advertising and marketing to increase visibility and awareness. Data supports that one of the most effective method is to have employees speak highly about the organization. There’s nothing more reliable than what an employee says about working in an organization. It is the absolute truth.

Perception is reality, so whatever people are thinking and saying about your brand, is your brand.

So how does one get employees to speak highly about the organization?

While employee engagement is an ongoing activity, it is true that employees talk about the new organization and lot more in the first few months of joining than they would after a few months. This is when they are most excited, and tend to discuss their new organization with their ex-colleagues, ex-bosses, friends and families the most. Organizations have to ensure that the candidate’s induction experience is absolutely top class.

Improve recruitment experience

You may not hire every single candidate who comes for an interview, but it’s still important to take care of him or her. Show them you care and don’t take them for granted.

·    Meet, greet and seat. 

·    Communicate so they know what to expect, especially if the process is going to take longer than expected.

·    At the end of the interview, let the candidate know what the next steps would be and when they can expect a call.

·    Call candidates who don’t make it and provide feedback on the reason. It will help them perform better in their next interview and they would be grateful

·    Start spending 5 more minutes with each candidate. It always helps.

Improving recruitment experience for each and every candidate will immensely help the brand image as perceived in the outside market.

Improve early joining experience

New employees go through several anxious moments. Organizations should put in adequate effort to ensure that this experience is as seamless as possible.

Day 1 experience is critical

Make the employee feel warm and welcome on day one. The employee should feel comfortable and happy with his/her decision to join the organization.

Constantly seek feedback during the first 3 months

Create a mechanism where there is high engagement with the new hire. The communication should be 2 way where the organization reaches out to the employee constantly to seek feedback and the employee can also raise issues and grievances with the comfort and confidence that it will be resolved.

Senior leadership to meet and share organizational goals and vision

High involvement from the senior leadership increases faith and trust that an employee has in an organization.

If an organization gives all their candidates and new hires an absolutely ‘WOW’ first impression and experience, the good word can spread really fast and will also go viral on social media. This would encourage more candidates to apply and join as there is a brand perception built in the market and the employee feels that this organization will be a great place to work in.

Disclaimer: This is a contributed post. The statements, opinions and data contained are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of People Matters and the editor(s).