Employers need to make sure they are not experiencing candidate fall off because of a poor background check experience, according to a recent CareerBuilder study. The survey found 38% of employers have lost a candidate because they had a negative experience with their background check. However, less than half of HR managers who conduct background checks, 44%, have tested their background check experience themselves. When employers did test their process, 14% rated their background check candidate experience as fair or poor.

A poorly conducted background check is one of the most common reasons employers lose candidates that have already accepted job offers; 21% of employers who have lost candidates that have accepted a job offer say it was because background screening took too long, and 20% said it was because a candidate had a poor experience with background screening.

Additionally, a negative experience with a company’s HR technology — such as a job application or background check process — can affect a candidate’s opinion of the company overall. Fifty-six percent of candidates think less of a company if they have a poor experience with their HR technology, and 8% of those who have accepted a job offer then withdrew have done so because a background check took too long or they had a negative experience with the background check/drug check.

“Employers are aware conducting background checks is an important business process, but few invest time to evaluate the candidate experience, ease of use, simplicity, and impact on the hiring process,” said Ben Goldberg, CEO of Aurico, a CareerBuilder company that provides background screening and drug testing. “The longer the background check process, the higher risk of losing a quality candidate to another employer. Employers should test their application and background check process and ensure candidates have a positive experience.”

The survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,369 hiring and human resource managers and 3,462 employees. It was conducted between May 24 and June 16, 2017.