by: Alicia Nigel
Company reputation matters more than ever in this age of information. The beliefs and opinions that the public has about your business can affect your sales, partnerships, and the topic for today: recruitment. This post on LinkedIn reports that 75% of people will not accept a job offer from a company with a bad reputation—even if they’re unemployed.
As such, evaluating your company’s reputation is essential to improving recruitment. Here are a few ways to do so.
Review customer sentiment
Public opinions are one of the most significant factors that contribute to your reputation. If even one person shares a negative remark about your business, others will be influenced by their opinion or even consider it fact. That’s why it’s important to check where you currently stand with your customers through sentiment analysis. Business News Daily states that sentiment analysis is scanning a person’s written or spoken words from sources like e-mails, blog posts, and social media to determine the emotions they felt while doing so.
You can use sentiment analysis software—AI and machine learning programs that analyze text—on the mentioned sources to gauge people’s opinions. If it reveals negative sentiments, make company changes, like improving customer service. Interested candidates will begin seeing more positive sentiments, making your company more attractive to apply for.
Search for fake news
Apart from individuals’ negative sentiments, fake news about your company can significantly damage your reputation. TechInformed reveals that misinformation impacts businesses by burdening them with hidden costs. This may include evaluation and triage costs to discover and remove the fake news source. Further, fake news can make potential candidates cross out your company on their list.
Use a media monitoring tool to prevent and address fake news about your company. This tracks and evaluates content about your company on major social media sites, news platforms, and the web. It will analyze writing content and its tone, determining which information is fake. With this, you’ll improve your reputation and attract candidates.
Conduct a PPC audit
When candidates search for your company online, the first thing they’re likely to see is your paid ads. These will influence their first impression of your business, so you must ensure they’re of high quality. To accomplish this, conduct a Pay Per Click (PPC) audit—a detailed look into your PPC performance and improvements. Ayima’s post on ‘How to Conduct a PPC Audit’ notes that an audit will improve your Google ads spending efficiency because you’re ensuring that you’re getting results.
Using a PPC audit tool, you can review several factors like your keywords and ad and landing page copy. For keywords, certify that there aren’t any duplicate words that may compete with one another. Correct any typos on ads and landing pages that will put off visitors or make them think your site is fake. Doing so will ensure a good reputation among site visitors and potential candidates. You can further optimize your paid ads for recruitment by turning your hiring or careers page into ads.
Gather employee feedback
Aside from public and customer opinion, your employees’ insights carry your reputation. If they think your company isn’t a good workplace or you’re not fulfilling your promises, they’ll refrain from encouraging candidates to apply. After all, our article ‘Best Practices for Landing Great Talent’ shares that candidates shouldn’t be confused about company culture or work expectations. If they are, they can’t confidently accept any job offers you send their way.
Gather employee feedback through surveys or meetings and ask if the company meets its expectations. If not, then improve employee management to gain their trust. After all, Teamraderie’s 2023 post “Employee Experience: What is it and Why does it Matter?” says that employee experience sets your organization apart. When you have a good reputation—as vouched by your employees—candidates will be encouraged to apply and push through with their application.
Company reputation is vital for recruitment. Employ these practices to improve your reputation and bring in more interested candidates to work for your business.
Article written by Alicia Nigel for the exclusive use of eca-partners.com