Are you leaving a good first and last impression on your employees?

Employers across the world might be leaving a negative first and last impression on employees after a new report found that the bookend parts of their employee journey are the worst-rated phases of their experience.

The sixth annual Employee Experience Trends Report from Qualtrics revealed that the application and the departure phases of an employee's journey garnered the highest below-expectations rating from the respondents.

More than a third (34%) of the report's respondents said their application and interview for a job fell below or greatly below their expectations, much higher than the 22% who said it exceeded their expectations.

Leaving the job was also below expectations for 28% of the respondents, equal to the percentage who said it exceeded their expectations.

Source: 2025 Employee Experience Trends Report

Impact of bad impressions

These experiences can manifest in the organisation in the form of employee turnover, where the report found that 56% of new hires who had been with their current company for less than six months are planning to leave within three years, according to the report.

This is much lower than the 34% of tenured workers who participated in the survey.

Benjamin Granger, Chief Workplace Psychologist at Qualtrics, added that employees' first and last impressions of an organisation can also have an impact on the company's reputation.

"Candidates and former employees can still influence others' opinions about the company, good or bad," Granger said in a statement. "Potential and past employees are often overlooked when it comes to a company's reputation, and organisations take on unnecessary risk by neglecting to address these bookend experiences."

Improving employees' impressions

To improve employees' experience, the report suggested assessing the differences between those who stay and those who leave early.

It also urged employers to accelerate employee engagement and productivity during their tenure.

"For example, an effective onboarding experience will set an employee's perception of the organisation and initial career trajectory, while 360 feedback will help surface their most important areas of focus and how to quickly improve," the report stated.

Most importantly, the report also urged employers to focus on the moments "that matter the most," stressing that employees will likely remember their first and last impressions in the company.

"Organisations that invest in these first and final impressions gain a significant advantage in attracting talented candidates in the future, some of whom return to the company with enhanced skills and experiences," Granger said.