23-May-2025
Imagine your email inbox pinging, a new email with the subject line "Congratulations - Offer Letter!" You are excited about the new opportunity awaiting you in a prestigious organisation. However, a rush of questions soon overwhelms you. What will happen next? What will the first day be like? Will I hear from them again and will they prepare me for my first day at work? It's natural for candidates to have these questions before officially joining the company. To help candidates feel assured and confident in their new company, HRs must maintain communications and answer any lingering questions around the onboarding process. Without this talent engagement, companies could lose out on the top talent. The time from offer letter dispersal to onboarding provides a chance for companies to communicate with and reassure candidates of their value.
This blog explores HR tips for valuing candidates early and why companies must exercise these strategies to keep new hires engaged and motivated.
Why Firms Need to Make Candidates Feel Valued Before They Start
The candidate journey indicates how easily a company can attract its industry's best talent. A positive experience shows firms value staff and consider staffing as more than closing spaces.
A poor experience imparts a lasting negative perception of the firm and depicts the necessity to learn how to improve the candidate experience.
Candidates who've had a pleasant recruitment process in your firm may reapply and recommend the firm to their peers. Permanent and contract staffing companies in India stress the need to develop a convenient and memorable experience to attract staff.
Firms will struggle to attract and retain their workforce for long-term roles without a positive brand perception.
10 Preboarding Strategies to Show You Value Candidates
These are among the best 10 ways to make candidates feel valued before setting foot in your office. Taking them into account and implementing them will help your business in several ways.
1. Personalise Offer Letters
An offer letter is the formal welcome to your company, and personalizing it shows you care. Adding warm and candidate-specific details will make the candidate feel welcomed.
It shows the company has done its homework, and it is clear why they have chosen them. It sends a message that the company genuinely wants the candidate to be part of their workforce for a reason.
2. Provide a Welcome Kit
It's now a widespread practice to supply new staff with company-branded welcome kit materials. This gesture is more than a welcome; it reflects well on the company and helps to build positive employer branding.
Distributing these welcome kits also works to advertise to the public that the firm invests in candidate experience.
3. Establish a Communication Line
Communication is crucial, especially in the early phases, before the candidate starts working at the company. It makes them feel connected and stops them from being poached by other firms.
Early candidate communication also works to build trust with new staff. It also works to engage new talent before they start, helping to grow excitement about their new role.
Giving them a glimpse of the office culture or providing past case studies can give them an idea of what they can achieve as a team.
4. Create a Clear & Memorable Onboarding Experience
A positive and supportive candidate journey stays with candidates forever, leaving a lasting impression.
Make the process as convenient as possible for the candidate and try to complete it in a reasonable amount of time. Create an easier way to assess the candidate and consider virtual or telephonic calls for the early interviewing stages.
5. Share Learning Materials
Candidates joining the company as their first full-time role may be anxious about their performance. These new joiners will appreciate any learning materials that could equip them for their first few weeks on the job.
Sharing resources is one of the steps to engage talent before the start date and create excitement about the skills they will learn.
6. Expose Them to Company Values & Policies
Another recruitment process resource to share with new staff is the company's policies and values. These materials will give new employees a deeper understanding of the firm and its mission.
Sharing these materials with staff before employee onboarding will give them a clear idea of who they work for. It gives staff the confidence to work by the firm's values, knowing they are contributing.
7. Deliver a Glimpse of Company Culture
Experts in HR recruitment also suggest sharing glimpses of company culture with newly onboarded staff before they start work.
It works to build relationships with new hires and show the firm is investing in creating a supportive and inclusive environment for staff.
8. Ask for Feedback
Creating a welcoming hiring process isn't done alone, and companies can learn where their communication or onboarding process is lacking through feedback.
Asking your recruits where they feel improvements are necessary will help make the process better.
These surveys go far in pinpointing the loopholes from a candidate's perspective. Acting on this data helps firms improve the candidate experience for the next set of candidates.
9. Provide Setup Instructions Early
To make a new hire feel welcome and confident on their first day, firms must share setup instructions early. Doing this will give them clues on navigating their first day at the office.
You can share these details through email or a pre-joining virtual meeting with the rest of the team.
10. Assign a Mentor
The top IT recruitment agencies in Mumbai and other leading cities in India use mentorship to help new staff settle into the office and their role.
This practice fosters skill development, collaboration, and improved workflow. It's one of the preboarding strategies that firms should adopt to help staff understand daily work.
Conclusion
Staffing and recruiting companies around India identify making new staff feel valued as a way to improve employer branding and recruitment success.
Maintaining communication, sharing learning resources, assigning a mentor, providing a welcome kit, and asking for feedback are a few HR best practices for improving the experience and making candidates feel valued before starting.
If you want to easily hire top talent by creating a positive experience and company perception, contact us to implement steps to improve your process.
FAQs
What words attract candidates?
Candidates are attracted to various words that show the company values the individuals it hires. Words like growth, inclusive, mentorship, benefits, and skill development can appeal to candidates who seek career advancement and personal development.
How do you identify a successful candidate experience?
A memorable candidate experience is visible when a candidate shares their experience publicly or shares positive feedback with the company's HR.
What is preboarding, and how does it differ from onboarding?
Preboarding focuses on all the minute details that occur before a selected candidate formally starts working. Onboarding covers all the formalities of integrating new staff into a daily working routine.
Why is making candidates feel valued before their start date so important?
Talent engagement is vital to initiate communication and build relationships with staff who are yet to start. It shows the firms value them and are eager to have them start work.
How do I measure the success of my preboarding efforts?
Companies can measure the success of their preboarding strategies by gaining genuine feedback from staff who have recently gone through the process.