During the times of Covid-19, teams across the globe have come to realize the increased importance of thoughtful communication, empathy and transparency. Communication becomes even more important during times of crisis and change. In the last weeks and months, we have witnessed that people are needing even more transparency and clarity than usual.

So, to address anxieties and deliver on a positive experience, one should focus on communicating the impact of COVID-19 on the business and hiring process clearly across many of the primary spots where candidates will interact, including our career site, social media and day-to-day interactions with recruiters.

We can also provide candidates with a central hub that they can reference on an ongoing basis. This could be a landing page that includes important messaging about candidate concerns, all common FAQs in one spot and other important changes that candidates should know. It is imperative to keep the page updated with additional questions that you may receive over the course of time.

In-person interviews are shifting to digital interviews and remote onboarding is becoming the new normal. But despite the changes we’re experiencing as a result of social distancing, providing candidates with a positive experience should remain a top priority.

In a recent interview, Mark Cuban explained that how companies treat their employees during the coronavirus epidemic will “define their brand for decades.”

Among leading organizations, 69% of Top Employers maintain candidate communities to engage interested candidates for potential future opportunities and 84% of Top Employers globally take measures to align their talent acquisition policies, processes, and systems with their EVP to make them stand out and offer a streamlined experience.

Even though some companies are experiencing layoffs and hiring less right now, your employer brand is something that will have an impact long after the economy has adapted to COVID-19. Prospective candidates aren’t going to interview with you the same way if you don’t have the employer brand experience ready for them.

In the world in general, people want to make decisions based on as much information as possible. Employer brand is one of the most meaningful bits of information a candidate can use to make the life-altering decision of where to work. And it’s a powerful way for employers to influence and have an impact on that decision.

A strong employer brand resonates with the modern interviewer or candidate – it tells them you have an exciting company to work at and it gives you the edge over other companies that can’t tell that story. Employer brand plays a prominent role in retention of current employees, too, because when you bring your company values to the forefront of your interactions with candidates, employees get reminded of why they’re excited to work there, too.

Finally, because we’re in such a unique and unprecedented time, I think candidate feedback is more important than ever. Asking candidates for feedback through an anonymous survey – so they know they’re answers won’t impact their eligibility to be hired – can give you insight into your employer brand that you might never have uncovered otherwise. Especially when everything is in flux due to COVID, this kind of feedback can help protect you from indulging in any mistakes for too long.