Talent Board, a non-profit organization dedicated to elevating and researching quality candidate experiences, today released its 2022 North American Candidate Experience Benchmark Research Report. The report shares confidential and anonymous feedback from more than 150 companies and nearly 200,000 candidates around the world who participated in Talent Board’s research program (also known as The CandEs), which delves into every aspect of the recruiting and candidate experiences, from pre-application to onboarding.

Among the key findings from this research are:

• Candidate resentment is on the rise globally: For the second year in a row, candidate resentment (a measure of how negatively job seekers rate their candidate experiences) has risen around the world, specifically in the regions of EMEA, APAC, and Latin America. In EMEA, resentment rose 10%; in APAC, it rose 17%; and in Latin America, it was up 100%. The only region where candidate resentment didn’t rise in 2022 was North America, where resentment rates dropped by 14% (although still historically high at 12% overall).
  

• Top candidate research content for 2022: Candidates said company values was the top research content for their job search in 2022 — before they apply for a job — something that’s never been more valuable to candidates in Talent Board’s benchmark research.

• Top recruiting priorities for 2023: Participants said their top recruiting priorities for 2023 are onboarding (cited by 40%); the candidate experience (cited by 38%); and diversity/inclusion, which tied with employee referrals (both cited by 37% of participants).

The largest and longest-running study of its kind, Talent Board’s annual benchmark research has evaluated responses from more than 1,350 employers and 1.4 million job seekers since its launch in 2011. Each year, the research covers the main constituents of positive and fair candidate experiences, how well employers are delivering these experiences, and specifically what CandE Award winners (companies with the highest-rated candidate experiences) are doing better than other employers to deliver positive experiences.

“Although candidate resentment lessened during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s higher than ever globally,” said Kevin W. Grossman, Talent Board president. “Employers need to keep in mind that resentment has major repercussions to their brands and the bottom lines such as whether or not candidates will apply to their jobs again, whether they’ll refer colleagues and friends, whether they’ll be brand advocates, and whether they’ll buy a company’s products and services. Even in North America, where resentment levels fell slightly in 2022, they’re still high.”

“The fact that onboarding is the number one priority for TA teams in the coming year is very telling,” added Ron Machamer, Talent Board director of global programs. “Too many employers lost new hires in 2022 before they even started or shortly after day one, that’s how competitive the talent market has gotten and that’s how important it is to get onboarding right. Even our CandE Award winners wrestled with pre-boarding through onboarding this past year. It’s no wonder TA teams plan to put extra emphasis on this phase of the process in 2023.”

Other CandE Report Takeaways

A few other key takeaways from the new 2022 CandE report include:

• TA Teams Stumble on Post-Application Communication: Although timely and steady candidate communications have long been a critical component of a positive candidate experience, 34% of candidates were still waiting one to two months (or more) to hear about the next steps after they submitted an application, a troubling 48% higher than in 2021.

• Top AI-Based Tech Purchases in 2023: Many TA teams plan to make AI tech purchases in the year ahead to help improve their recruiting effectiveness. 79% plan to buy tech that removes bias from application and screening processes; 72% plan to buy tech that measures and predicts employee job-changing behavior; and 57% plan to buy tech that aids with job performance predictions through job simulations.

The comprehensive 2022 Talent Board North American Benchmark Research Report can be downloaded in its entirety today here.

Talent Board will make the new EMEA, APAC, and Latin American research briefs available before the end of January.

For organizations interested in joining next year’s candidate experience benchmark research program, the 2023 program is now open and companies can learn more about participation here.

About Talent Board

Founded in 2011, Talent Board and the Candidate Experience Awards is the first non-profit research organization focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience. Talent Board delivers annual recruiting and hiring industry benchmark research that highlights accountability, fairness, and the business impact of candidate experience. More information can be found at https://www.thetalentboard.org.