The most enjoyable part of the recruitment process is often that momentous occasion of relaying the positive news to the successful candidate.

In the midst of all the excitement however, those remaining candidates who invested a considerable amount of time, energy, effort and emotions into the interview process can often get neglected.

Assume your typical candidate shortlist will have on average 5 candidates selected for interview, you don’t need to be Einstein to figure out that 4 of the 5 candidates will ultimately be disappointed. As Sean Connery so eloquently put it in the movie Highlander “there can be only one”.

With this in mind, the best talent acquisition & executive search professionals realise the importance of providing feedback. For 80% of your shortlist, you will be the bearer of bad news.

The Role of Feedback in the Recruitment Process

Providing constructive and timely interview feedback isn’t just a formality; but a crucial component of the recruitment process. Yet it can be a challenging and delicate task for hiring professionals. Effectively delivering feedback not only enhances the candidate experience but also reflects the organisation’s values and commitment to continuous improvement. Shaping employer branding and fostering a positive relationship with candidates.

There are many dos and don’ts in providing interview feedback, so what is the best approach? Well here are just some of my top tips of the dos and don’ts.

The Dos

• Provide Timely Feedback: Offer feedback as soon as possible. Demonstrating your respect for the candidate’s time and effort invested in the recruitment process. Provide interview feedback verbally and NOT via email in order to have a two way dialog.
• Focus on Specific Areas for Improvement: Pinpoint specific aspects of the candidate’s performance for clear guidance. Use tangible examples to illustrate feedback, helping candidates understand areas of potential improvement.
• Manage Emotions and Maintain Professionalism: Deliver feedback with emotional intelligence, balancing empathy with professionalism. Use compassionate and positive language to ease the rejection and maintain objectivity. Frame feedback positively to encourage a growth mindset.
• Offer Guidance for Future Improvement: Suggest development opportunities and encourage continued engagement, helping candidates view rejection as a step towards future success.

The Don’ts

• Don’t Leave Candidates Hanging: As the saying goes “the silence is deafening”. Unfortunately a poor and yet all too frequent occurrence is the “ghosting” of interviewed candidates. In particular, throughout the subsequent period the preferred candidate is being finalised. Honesty is the best policy. Candidates have more respect with open transparent communication even if they are unsuccessful rather than being left in the dark.
• Don’t Ignore Candidates: Often the most anxious time for a candidate is post interview. Manage expectations of when feedback will be provided. If a candidate has attempted to contact you DON’T ignore them. Especially if this is after the time you committed to providing feedback. If there are delays, regular communication is the key.
• Avoid Ambiguity: Be specific about the reasons for rejection to prevent confusion and frustration. Vague feedback like “you weren’t the right fit” leaves candidates perplexed and frustrated. Be specific about the reasons for the decision, whether it’s lack of experience in a particular area or needing stronger examples of past achievements.
• Steer Clear of Personal Criticism: Focus interview feedback on performance and not personality in order to maintain professionalism. Provide specific actional feedback on interview performance rather than subjective views on character.

Building Reputation, Trust and Respect Through Interview Feedback

By offering interview feedback in a respectful, timely and constructive manner, you demonstrate your commitment to transparency and fairness. This not only helps unsuccessful candidates understand the decision but also fosters trust and respect in your organisation’s hiring process.

Providing timely and constructive interview feedback is an essential component of the recruitment process that benefits both candidates and organisations alike. By following best practices for delivering clear, constructive and empathetic feedback, organisations can foster a positive candidate experience, enhance their employer brand and contribute to the professional growth of candidates.

Even if it’s not the news the candidate hoped for, it shows that the company values their time and effort. Leaving an ever-lasting positive impression, fuelling a candidate’s interest in future opportunities with the organisation.

Providing timely interview feedback is the key ingredient to perfecting the recipe in delivering a world class candidate experience!

Many would argue that the hiring and on-boarding metrics of many organisations are still depressingly basic. And even then, not always successful.

The successful acquisition of an employee has so many operational moving parts that need to be perfected before their “candidate experience” can be considered. If for example interview arrangements go wrong, such risks overshadow the subtler, more pleasant aspects. If a candidate has not been properly briefed, they may go into an interview with the wrong impression of the role – something that can throw any interview into disarray.

Somehow, industry has never been great at getting the basics right, and most talent acquisition professionals and employers alike probably spend way too much time on such basics. Although it is important, one could argue that there are better ways to invest your energies.

Thankfully, it seems tech is coming to the rescue.

With A.I. software, intelligent chatbots and all sorts of automated help on the way, technology is starting to handle the hiring basics far better than any human could. This, in turn is freeing up significant time for talent professionals to focus on other priorities.

Customer experience, without a doubt, is a strategic priority for most businesses. Similarly, the priority on mastering the candidate experience remains priority for the talent professional.

Hiring companies have alarmingly narrow windows in which they can actively influence a candidate. If their email communication is functional, a candidate will gain little insight into who they really are. If the interview is mostly standard competency-based questions, a candidate will have little idea of what sort of personal qualities they are looking for. If the process of negotiation is about the money and package rather than finessing the fit, a candidate will feel like a commodity rather than a potential asset.

When the machines take the strain on all of these basics, a hiring company can actually spend time getting into a candidate’s head (and heart). Machines aren’t so good at the emotional stuff, but we sense that not every company will double down on the “experience” part of the interview process. Some will simply take the cost savings route and reduce the human interactions.

That is, until their competitors start to give their candidates a truly first-class experience.

Technology will not only enable companies to change. It will force them to change because cost of not changing is simply too high. When one company makes their recruitment process radically more “human”, the rest will have no choice but to follow.

Some people say that the talent industry is broken. If technology can help to handle the basics and if employers decide to focus on the candidate experience, recruitment could finally fulfill its magical promise of making career dreams come true.

If you are an employer reading this, you may need to consider two things:

Firstly, are you investing in technology to handle as much of the mundane stuff as possible? There is a trust exercise here, and it will take a while to get right, but if you don’t make a few mistakes, you will never optimise it.

Secondly, have a long and hard think about how you would like your candidates to feel across the whole interview experience – and then design it in such a way that your people have the ability to help them feel it.

A great candidate experience will only truly come when tech can take the strain.