Is it an oversight from HR? Or we are missing something?

I am spending a good part of my day interacting with colleagues, former co-workers and new connections, always looking for their expertise and opinions on different topics related to my new business, which is about employee engagement and how companies can benefit from a healthier relationship between Management and their team. Over the past month, I heard similar situations about the hiring and interviewing process, and I will outline two of them. It came from different sources, both senior executives. One of them is looking for a new role (he just got laid off) and the other colleague is working, but he is not very happy in his current company. I asked them about their job searches and got similar feedbacks. Let me try to summarise what I heard from them.

They were both getting attention from companies and head-hunters. They were getting phone calls, and, for certain jobs, they had made it to the final round of interviews, usually the Hiring Manager, or one level up. Interesting enough, they shared almost the same feelings, as if I was talking to the same person. Excitement, empowerment, they felt it was their time for something new.

Our conversation was over the phone, but I could sense they were speaking from their hearts. Very passionate about how they made that far into the interviewing process. Everything was happening very fast; all interviews were conducted between Jan and Feb. The companies were looking for someone ASAP.

I was also getting excited for them.

That’s when they dropped the bomb. Since their last interview, no response back from the companies they were interviewed by. No calls, no emails, nothing. I felt like I was inside with a roller coaster with them, sharing their angst and anxiety. Questions were arising on their heads and shared with me. Am I good enough? Did something go wrong? Are they not hiring due to the COVID-19?

I just said: “Contact them. Find out what is the delay in getting back to you”

Earlier this week, I got a note from one of them. He was clearly upset. He did not get the position. According to his HR contact, it was decided last month to promote an internal candidate. He says to me: “I am not too much upset about the job. What I can’t understand is why the company only reply back me, after I followed up. They had already decided over a month ago”

 After reading his note, I was not able to react and write him back. I needed some time to reflect. He was a very senior guy, applying for a VP role. He made it to the final interview with the CEO. In my mind, once you reach that far, even if you are not hired, HR should contact him to provide feedback, right? It is natural. It is part of the process. He should get a courtesy email, or, on a more professional way, phone call. He got nothing.

I wrote back: “Don’t get upset. It was probably a genuine oversight by the HR Team. Heads up. Something better will come to you”. End of the story.

Today, I got the second call. From my other colleague. He also did not get the job. He followed up with HR and found out he was not the chosen one.  And it was also a decision made a few weeks ago. He told me he was glad he did not quit his job. But he was also surprised by not getting any responses from HR. I gave him the same answer. Just an oversight.

But here is my thought. I perfectly understand why companies don’t have the structure to contact every single person who applied for a role. Even computer systems can’t do that, however, in my colleague’s situation, we were talking about 2 senior guys, who made it to the final cut.

I come from a school of thought in which we MUST give feedback to the people we interview and are not successful. At least for the Management roles.

It is always time to GO-BACK-TO basics. We need to take care of the people, not only the ones that are already in your organization, but also those who were very excited about joining your Team. HR plays a vital role in every single company. Don’t burn the bridges. Today, they were not hired, but, tomorrow, they might be a valuable asset.

 Let’s work on a solution, to have the hiring and interviewing experience, something exciting, from beginning to end.