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Recruitment Figure 1 • 77 per cent of respondents said they are likely to tell people within either their professional or personal networks (or both) if they have had a negative interview experience. • 33 per cent of respondents said they are likely to share the bad news amongst only one network of acquaintances, preferably their personal circle. Naturally, this is an area where location dictates common practices. Candidates from the U.K. are more likely to tell both personal and professional networks, whilst those from China either tell people in their personal network or no one at all. Candidates from the U.S. are most likely to spread news of a negative interview experience among their professional connections. "We track and monitor online mentions for some of the world's biggest brands across 200 million different sites," adds Dan Purvis, director of public relations at The Meltwater Group. "So we have great insight into just how fast news spreads online. That's something that big companies are particularly interested in, and it's particularly relevant to brand perception and recruitment too." Meltwater Buzz, a tool that specialises in providing sentiment analysis from social media and online comments, is finding favour with some of the world's biggest firms. "It's a natural extension of press monitoring in many ways. Companies want to know what's being said about them, where, and how that impacts on their reputation," he says. "There's a big HR element to that; candidate attraction relies on having a credible, attractive brand, and you don't want anything getting in the way of that." It's clear that organisations risk compromising long-term sustainability by ignoring the impact of the candidate experience. And there are compelling reasons for organisations to align the activities of HR departments with existing marketing teams and brand custodians, and to ensure an organisation's aims and values are aligned to the complete hiring process—be it selection, assessment, interviewing, or on-boarding of candidates. At the same time, this alignment must be driven by an understanding of the expectations and cultural preferences of candidates in local markets. In many instances, a close working partnership between HR, marketing, and the recruitment functions can provide valuable insight into the audiences and communities accessed by all three. A deeper relationship between these business functions can lessen the risk of alienating candidates, enable the identification of potential candidate pools or target markets, and ultimately enhance profitability. [42] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | FALL 2011 The statistics referenced in this paper form the results of research conducted by Alexander Mann Solutions in late 2010. The research, conducted as a survey cent), and China (35 per cent). global views on candidate and employee experiences and the correlation of subsequent impact on brand and consumer activity . Findings are based on answers from 540 respondents in the United Kingdom (36 per cent), the United States (29 p , aimed to establish e r

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