Hire the Best Talent Available: Give Timely Feedback

By Patrick Tan

As Tom Hanks said in Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna’ get.” The same can be said about the recruiting process. As our customer, you expect your experience with your staffing partner to be like eating from a box of chocolates, and that is our goal. Occasionally, however, surprising and unfortunate events can occur in the course of recruiting that make you feel like you just ate a sour grape. What can we do to prevent the hiring process from turning sour?

The key factor in working together is communication. Since we share the same goal, being accurate and prompt with your feedback will always help me help you hire the best talent available.

For example, I had a recent client who had interviewed three of our candidates for an Engineering Technician position. After the interviews, I called my contact in HR to see how things went with the hiring manager. Unfortunately, the manager was too busy to get back with me to give feedback, so I waited…three weeks. During that time, I called frequently to request feedback and even called the manager’s cell phone directly, but I was never given a “yay” or “nay” for any of the candidates. In the meantime, it was a challenge to keep my candidates interested in the position.

Finally, I called the HR Director to let her know that, out of fairness to my candidates, I was going to tell them that the client was not interested. She asked me to hold off on doing that and managed to force an answer out of the manager. Here’s where the unexpected sour grape popped up in the box of chocolates! Surprisingly, the manager actually liked one of the candidates and was now ready to make an offer! Unfortunately, even though I’d been speaking with the candidates every few days, the candidate that they chose had, in the meantime, been courted by other companies and decided to go with another offer. Had I received the positive feedback and job offer sooner, the candidate would have retained his favorable impression of the company, and the employer would’ve had a new worker much earlier.

By this time, we needed to start the search over. We submitted more candidates and, this time, they quickly interviewed and chose a candidate for the position. In the span of less than a week, this candidate was submitted, interviewed, and offered the position, which he accepted! The hiring manager’s prompt response in this second round helped out tremendously.

As recruiters, our main goal is to help you hire the best talent available that matches the needs of your open position. Since candidates are in increasingly high demand, the best way to help us serve you is to have a regular flow of specific and timely communication. There may still be the occasional unfortunate surprise, but giving timely feedback is the best way to make your hiring experience like a delicious box of chocolates with no sour grapes.

Do your employees feel like you’re treating them well? Read this true story.