Creating the ultimate bedside manner during the application process
In the era of high touch customer experiences, especially in healthcare, every aspect of your business must be focused on developing the best outcomes possible. If your brand marketing team is not partnered with your HR team during the application and interview process, your company could be missing out on a huge opportunity to influence brand advocacy, buying habits and positive social commentary.
It might sound crazy, but it’s not. As the impact of social advocacy on brand net promoter scores has continued to grow, many companies have forgotten about one of the most socially active conversations happening about their brand: the hiring process. Consider this; according to a recent study by CareerArc:
- 75% of job applicants will look online to see an employer’s reputation before applying for a job.
- 65% of job applicants say they never or rarely hear back from companies they apply to. If they do hear back, it can take over a month to hear anything.
What’s even more startling (and this is where the brand gets hurt!):
- 72% of job applicants who have a negative experience will share their experiences online.
With up to 90% of customers already trained to check online reviews before purchasing, this means your brand’s success could thrive, or be at risk based on how your company is treating job applicants, especially those you do not hire. And in the healthcare industry, this could cause chaos in both your employment pool and your online reputation.
Even Richard Branson is taking note! In a recent article on Inc., Virgin determined that it lost $6M in revenue when an estimated 7,500 customers (5% of total declined applicants) stopped using the brand, after being treated poorly during the interview process. (In 2015 Virgin received 150K applicants and hired 3,500 people).
This opens up tremendous opportunity to expand marketing into a new world, the world of the job applicant. Getting started isn’t hard. Many companies have a really good handle on brand marketing and driving advocacy through most channels. Adding HR as an additional channel is quick, and the results are strong.
Step 1: Expand your net promoter score to include employment related social sites like LinkedIn and Glassdoor, even if you are a B2C marketer. This will allow you to get a true view of where you have opportunities to drive increased advocacy and strengthen your employer brand.
Step 2: Evaluate your application process and then infuse some intelligent strategies. For this very reason Mercer launched a new platform called Mercer CareerArc Candidate Care. The purpose of this platform is to enable your business to make the most of building a positive and strong brand relationship with every candidate (whether you hire them or not) by offering declined candidates 6 months of free access to an online job skills and search center that improves their ability to find their next job.
As an exclusive offer, readers of this article can try this service out for their candidates free for 60 days by registering at this link: http://www.mercercandidatecare.com/trial
Step 3: Add your declined job applicants into your social marketing plans as a separate group and watch their response. You might just find out this group becomes your strongest social advocate for some core campaigns. After all, they were such brand fans, they spent hours researching your company and taking the time to apply.
These three steps are quick, simple and can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line. And, this expanded brand marketing strategy could be one of the most fun marketing efforts you engage in all year.
Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.