Once someone has identified you, as the company they would like to work with, they are looking for constant reassurance that they are right! First impressions are created at the initial point of contact, but they are reinforced every time they experience an interaction with your team. Whether communicating by email, twitter, blog, website, letter, telephone or face to face, your company is sending a message to that individual about who you are and how you value them. If you hold someone in high regard and care how they feel and what they think about you - and   importantly what they will say about you -, then each and every interaction you have with them will be planned and delivered thoughtfully. When people are going through the recruitment  process, they are weighing up all the evidence ‘for and against’ coming on board with you - and the best talent will be doing this with several companies at the same time. They’ll be benchmarking all the companies  they are considering against their ideal and comparing you with your competitors. It doesn't matter how brilliant your induction process may be, if you lose people during this early part of the process, you’ll never get them there to experience it anyway!

Little things can become big gestures during the first impressions stage. Things like:

• Picking up the phone to talk to someone, as well as sending them an email. 
• Offering people as much information as you can about the role, your team, the company, your vision and the opportunity as readily as possible - and keeping it real! 
• Looking after the people who aren’t successful, who aren’t quite right for your team - they will be for someone else and they are out there right now, telling their network how you treated them and you can directly influence what they say by your actions.

That old saying ‘treat others as you would like to be treated’ partly applies here, but remember, different generations have different expectations, so don’t make assumptions. Find out what people expect and want and provide it - don’t second guess, it's just too important to gamble with your companies reputation and brand. It doesn’t take much to create a really great impression if you work at the detail, plan in advance, set high service standards and most of all hire and engage great people - they are by far your best (and if you are not careful your worst) advocates.

Posted by Fiona Lander