Active recruiting for top talent is only one part of the equation. Perhaps even more powerful is the passive recruiting that’s happening all the time at your company.

Engaged employees speak well of the company, both in person and online. When candidates are considering your company, they’ll reach out to current employees, through  LinkedIn, or networking events, or even friends of friends, in order to get the inside scoop.

Those candidates you reject will also be sharing their opinions of your company. In Tribe’s proprietary research with current job seekers, 87 percent of those respondents who were not hired at a particular company — but had a positive experience, such as simply being treated with respect and courtesy — said they were likely to encourage others to apply to that company in the future.

Your hiring processes can lead directly to increasing your brand ambassadors — or quite the opposite. The American Management Association recently published an article on Tribe’s approach to maximizing the power of passive recruitment through hiring practices titled “Turning Job Applicants (Even the Ones You Don’t Hire) into Brand Ambassadors.” The article also includes tips on how to make that cultural shift in your organization.