Your applicants are people too

How many times have you seen and heard “our team is important to us”, “our people are our greatest assets” and “it’s our people that we need to thank for our success.”

Then why are applicants treated so badly during the recruitment process?  After all, one or more of these very same applicants later will become a co-worker, a part of the same company, perhaps even a part of your own team.

Have recruiters forgotten what it is like to be an applicant?… have you?

You’ve probably had your own job for quite some time now.  Perhaps you are now in the luxurious position of being able to recruit people for your company.  You know your employer values you and believes you are important to the team.  And you know that your employer believes that you, your efforts, your commitment and your loyalty are integral to its success.  You know that it isn’t the building or the equipment of the business that are regarded as its real assets:  it is you and the others that make up the team.

Is the way applicants are treated (or not being treating, more to the point) really conveying to them what you already believe is true of you?

Could that be a big “NO”?

Time and time again people laugh when they hear people recruiting for their company’s roles say, “We want good people to join us and become valuable team members… we value our people” … because they know the unspoken sub-text is,  “…it’s just Applicants we hate!“

How often do you hear people say that they applied for a job and never heard anything?  Nothing!  Not even an acknowledgement of the time and effort they took to make an application for the role, let alone whether their application is being considered, has progressed, been shortlisted or even been unsuccessful.

What does this lack of communication convey to an applicant about you and your company from the outset?  Could it be that your actions say you don’t value them or their efforts?

Despite the sophistication of on-line recruitment solutions, recruiters are still overlooking the value of their power to have an open, honest and timely dialogue with their applicants.  Why is this so, when there are mechanisms (integrated personalised emails and SMS, for example) that take only a few moments to activate, all at their fingertips to help them to treat their applicants as people too?

A few moments to be considerate is all that it takes… with one added component, the desire to treat applicants as people… after all you were one once (an applicant, of course!).

Did you know that applicants actually like receiving rejections?  Yes, they do.  Our files are littered with thank yous for rejection!  People are not foolish.  They know that they cannot possibly be offered every job they apply for.  They know that rejection is more likely than success.  What applicants hate is a vacuum.  They hate the disrespect of hearing nothing a lot more than a courteous, timely rejection.

Hearing nothing insults them.  What does that do to your company’s aspirations to be an “employer of choice”?

If your recruitment process doesn’t include systems that will empower you to treat your applicants as people, in a timely and respectful manner, it is time that you changed.