Communicating Rejection

It's easy to say that finding the right talent for your company is tedious and just simply hard work. Even after finding that right person, you may feel that you have searched for 'ages.'

This isn't talking about hiring the right person though, this is about telling your runner-ups that they aren't the right fit.

Some hiring managers and executives don't think of the repercussions of 'leaving someone hanging' after interviews, or what affect this might have on the future of your hiring brand.

A fair amount of companies and applicant tracking systems have built in rejection templates they prompt you to send out when you close a job, but this seems to be the only reminder to communicate to these other applicants.

Some people don't let the other applicants know because they feel that if their 'star-pick' drops out, they can just reach back out to the others and offer the job. This can be very dangerous as well; especially, if one of those candidates is an internal applicant.

Customized or communicated rejection letters can have a serious impact on company culture, marketing, and hiring success rates due to the 'butterfly effect' on your brand. If your company invests time into it's applicants, you'll see an extraordinary affect on the outcome.

The culture will be changed now because those 'back-ups' we hire now come in understanding the entirety of the situation and know where they can fit in and learn.

Will you lose some candidates if you tell them someone else was picked, but it didn't work out? Sure. However, the ones who accept will have a hunger about their new position that could lead to great successes.

Communication is the basis of all teams, either verbal or non-verbal and properly communicating the situation that effects both parties is crucial.

Can you imagine being the hiring manager that didn't hire Jack Ma?

"I remember year 2001, we went to raise some $5 million from venture capitalists in the USA and got rejected"

-Jack Ma describing his pitch of the company Alibaba which has a market cap of over $400 Billion.

Now imagine rejecting Jack Ma, but instead of just leaving him hanging you maintained a relationship and gave pointers. Talked to him about where he lost the funding, and maybe you dive into discussion that leads to you funding his project anyway and now become the benefactor of $400 Billion.

Marketing will be affected because your company culture has changed, you have hired great workers who even might not have been the first choice but ended up great anyways, and you are finding possibilities in people you originally wanted to reject.

Your company is now affected greatly by these individuals and others want to be a part of this team, because they care enough to say you're not the one and this is why. You even could put this candidate on the path to pursuing something else and find their dream job because you took the time to write to them on why they aren't a good fit.

A 'Rejection Letter' is more than just telling someone they didn't get the job. A 'Rejection Letter' should tell someone they didn't have enough experience for the role, or that they had too many gaps in employment, or maybe that they just weren't the right cultural fit for their office environment.

This isn't a break-up letter, it's a communication that could potentially change someone's career.