One of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to recruitment is “Why are unsuccessful candidates never provided with feedback?”  For some organisations, or for certain roles, providing feedback as to why a candidate wasn’t successful in a role is almost non-existent – even though giving feedback to suppliers and employees is a widely accepted practice in business.

There are many reasons – dare we go as far to say as ‘excuses’ – as to why feedback is not provided to unsuccessful candidates, such as cost, time and effort, however perhaps now is the time to revisit this controversial issue before the war for talent returns.

The recruitment black hole

Candidates who are unsuccessful all too often fall into the recruitment ‘black hole;’ receiving neither an acknowledgement of their application nor an unsuccessful notice.

As HR and Hiring Managers, we need to understand the thought and effort serious applicants put into the process of applying for a job. If we don’t, it could seriously hurt our Employer Brand. In a social media world, failing to provide what is expected during the employment process may generate negative comments that will be shared with friends and colleagues.  Any negative messaging resulting from a lack of feedback will likely hurt brand image and both the quantity and quality of future applications.

Recruitment is all about building relationships and getting to know the candidates, their passions and motivations. It’s also about giving applicants who apply for jobs the respect they deserve  so provide feedback at all stages of the recruitment process – even if delivering bad news – and in turn you will build your Employer Brand and gain a competitive edge.

Our Top 4 Tips for Providing Feedback throughout the Recruitment Process

It doesn’t have to be a recruitment burden or an additional expense – Employment Office has four top tips to providing candidate feedback in a simple and cost-effective way:

1. Notify the candidate that their application has been received – at the very least a simple email acknowledgement that an application has been received should be sent to all candidates. An effective candidate management system (e.g. SCOUT) will do this for you automatically.
2. Provide upfront information on the hiring process – you can help eliminate confusion by providing an overview of your hiring process. Information such as what you are looking for, interview dates, who will be involved and how long it should take could be included. You may wish to include this information on your SCOUT careers portal and/or application forms.
3. Provide summary feedback – after a position closes consider providing summary information to all applicants disclosing the factors that resulted in most applications being rejected. You could even post this information on your website to educate potential applicants.
4. Create a feedback toolkit – provide managers and recruiters with a ‘feedback toolkit’ which includes the Do’s and Don’ts of feedback. This will also help to align the recruitment process across departments.