Before

Day One:
Create an exceptional
talent experience
The employee experience begins well
before an employee’s first day
Cultivating a positive employee experience is more
important than ever, as workers struggle with overwork,
burnout, and anxiety post-COVID. In an article in
Forbes, Future Workplace revealed that 50% of
respondents to its 2020 HR Sentiment Survey said
employee experience was their top initiative in the
coming year. As companies strive to return to pre-
pandemic levels of productivity and profitability,
keeping employees engaged and content will be
paramount.

Crafting a positive experience begins well

before an employee’s first day. It’s equally
important for companies to ensure they’re
creating a positive and genuine experience
for candidates—whether or not they
ultimately join the team. A good candidate
experience can mean the difference
between clinching top talent and losing it
to your competitors.
New hires are a rich SkillSurvey Post-Hire Data:
Top aspects of the hiring
source for insights process new hires would
like to improve:
Candidate experience can also be critical for ensuring
that the talent you worked so hard to find and recruit
comes aboard with the right expectations that lead to
long-term retention and success.

What’s more, a good candidate experience can have

positive ramifications for your brand’s bottom line.
As Deliotte writes in a whitepaper, “Whatever their
more details and accurate
candidate experience, there is a high likelihood [that
candidates] will share the experience with their network, information about the job
shaping an impression of your organization with other
potential candidates and customers.” Prioritizing the
candidate experience is essential in maintaining the
strength of your brand’s reputation.

further conversations
about their career path

Data from new hires who started jobs with

one of 26 employers across 14 different
industries and represented a cross section
of job levels. Read more in the press release:
https://www.skillsurvey.com/new-hire-
feedback-hiring-process/
Use data and technology to enhance the
candidate and employee experience
With the right approach and the right tools, HR
departments can cultivate exceptional experiences
for current and prospective employees—from their
first interview until their departure. Here’s how.

Today’s candidates and employees expect and

appreciate the use of data and technology in
the workplace. Take advantage of the data
your company collects and use it to enhance
the candidate and employee experience with
branded, user-driven interfaces. This will
create a more consistent and more enjoyable
experience whenever top talent interacts
with your brand.
Offer transparency in
reference checking
Reference checks are critical to ensure you’re making
the right hiring decisions for your team. This part of
the interview process can, however, be stressful for
candidates.

Optimize reference checks for your team and

candidates alike by taking a transparent, user-driven
approach to reference checking. Digital reference
checking allows candidates to drive the process
and keeps them informed and engaged. Look for
a solution that can compare your candidate’s
ratings against thousands of others, and which
can provide automatic feedback tools to
optimize your hiring and talent management
programs.
Capture feedback at every step
The people who interact with your organization hold
the keys to a treasure trove of information on how
you can improve. Clear and consistent communication
with your candidates and employees can help your
team identify your strengths and weaknesses, so you
can continue enhancing your program.
In general, organizations solicit employee feedback
too infrequently or too late. When you capture
feedback across the entire employee lifecycle—from
new hires to the first day and beyond—you can
continuously improve your HR function.
To do that, look for a platform that automates
feedback collection, so your team never misses an
opportunity for improvement.
Support your people with employee
engagement surveys
It’s important to consistently collect feedback
from your employees, about everything from
their interview experience to their feelings
about their role and the organization as a
whole. It’s also critical to focus on developing
and leveraging your employees’ soft skills,
so you can identify the best candidates
for promotions and cross-departmental
opportunities.

Look for a solution that allows you to

conduct soft skills-focused employee
engagement surveys, in addition to
collecting supervisor feedback so you can
keep employees happy, engaged, and
upwardly mobile.
Create a bespoke experience
for your employees
At any organization—and particularly at a growing
company—there is no such thing as a one-size-
fits-all employee experience. What works for one
employee when it comes to communication,
culture, systems, processes, and more might not
work for another.

But why should it have to? If your team can

easily gather appropriate insights from
both your employees and their supervisors
to understand your employees’ skills,
interests, and preferences, you can use that
information to create a bespoke experience
for your teammates. For example, these
insights can help you craft better learning
programs, develop more specific
onboarding processes, and better identify
opportunities for talent mobility.
Keep Current and Prospective Employees
Engaged and Content with SkillSurvey
As an talent or HR professional, you’ve likely spent
considerable time thinking about how to improve your
company’s talent experience and retention. Good
candidate and employee experiences lead to a domino
effect of positivity for your organization: it creates a
more attractive culture for prospective talent, reduces
employee turnover, and leads to better service for your
customers.

SkillSurvey’s solutions help HR teams offer exceptional

employee experiences from the start of your
engagement. Our cloud-based solution smooths the
entire hiring experience, from user-driven reference
checks to automated feedback collection to best
practice employee engagement surveys.
When you partner with SkillSurvey, you’ll be
able to collect and analyze the information
you need to make real-time improvements to
your talent programs and processes. In turn,
you’ll attract—and retain—employees who are
engaged, satisfied, and more likely to stay and
thrive.

Learn more by visiting us at

skillsurvey.com/platform

EBK-058 - Before Day One - Create an Exceptional Talent Experience

EBK-058-10-20-21

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