Re-imagining the candidate rejection experience

Introduction

It's a tough gig out there. There's record competition for top talent, and we're witnessing an increasingly poor perception of the recruitment industry. It's survival of the fittest; companies investing heavily in their experiences will inevitably win the war of talent and the hearts of their talent pool. However, let's zoom into the rejection and feedback phase. It's often the most awkward, rushed, and painful process for both candidate and the recruiter. Some recruiters do it well, some not so much, and others not at all!

So, for context: In the current global climate, it's not surprising that candidates are exhausted by the pressure of supply and demand. They're experiencing hiring fatigue at scale, ghosting, and mass canned rejections that eat away at their self-worth and self-esteem. What are we doing to help those in the rejection pile?

"How am I contributing to this problem?

"What can I do differently to make rejection more enjoyable?"

Imagine delivering an enjoyable rejection experience. Sit with that thought and consider the value. As recruiters, we spend significant effort on attraction strategies, trying to get people interested in our opportunities to only then deliver a sub-par closing-out experience that delivers value to no one, and doesn't loop back into a specific goal. Let's take a deeper look into the opportunity that awaits.

The power of empathy

The candidate rejection experience is often poor, even if we don't intend it to be. Candidates are left confused and hurt; it's another setback for them during a time of need and personal gain. It will trigger various physiological and psychological responses and our friend, science, helps provide a fresh perspective on how a candidate feels at that moment.

In a study, scientists placed people in functional MRI machines and asked them to recall a recent rejection, they discovered something amazing! The same areas of our brain become activated when we experience rejection as when we experience physical pain (Guy Winch, 2015).

That's right. Rejection is painful, and it can go on to contribute to feeling social rejection, increasing anger, anxiety, depression, jealousy, and sadness. Ouch! Imagine exchanging those feelings for joy, compassion, self-worth, hope, and optimism. Game changer. It gives me chills just thinking about the art of the possible.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

As Talent professionals, we focus so hard on the top funnel activity mainly to feed into designing great interviewing, offering, and onboarding processes, yet we spend little intentional effort on the closing out act for 99% of the talent pipeline. And this is where we need to be a little smarter.

Recruiting needs more intentional empathy - Both candidate and business side

If we're solving a problem at the top of the funnel with an attractive calling card, then we sure as heck need to care about what happens at the end of that strategy beyond the hired candidate. What value do we want our rejects to get from the experience? How do we turn it into a win for both candidate and organisation? If you don't have an answer, then I'd suggest getting more curious.

Why should companies prioritise their candidate rejection experience?

Ok, so where's the value beyond the candidate? It's a fair question. HR and Talent can struggle to link their value and activities back to business financials and commercial drivers. We're not, traditionally speaking, a money-making function, but if you look closer and harder, we are and can be.

To illustrate this point, take the case of Virgin Media , $5M lost annually through poor candidate experience.

If there were 123,000 rejected candidates each year, and 6% canceled their monthly Virgin Media subscription, you end up with about 7,500 cancellations. Multiply that by the ￡50 ($60) subscription fee and by 12 months, Virgin Media realised they were losing ￡4.4 million per year, the equivalent of $5.4 million.

The cost of not getting it right is huge. The key takeaway here is that candidates are customers and they can have a direct impact on commercials and revenue growth. As far as the rejection experience is concerned, it's a finishing hurdle in your process improvement roadmap that needs to be nailed down.

Conclusion

So how does this link back to candidate rejection? Well, in all honesty, candidate experience should be looked at from an end-to-end perspective. We should understand what value we want to derive from every interaction with our candidate, including the rejection process. We get sidetracked prioritising the new starter experience thinking our job here is done, but in actuality, we've fallen short on providing an end-to-end service that is truly delightful for all. We must not forget to nurture those that have taken the time and effort to put themself forward. They are potential customers, brand advocates, future partnering opportunities, etc.

Fundamentally, applicants are warm and engaged leads. They're none the wiser that we've hired someone; in their mind, they're still poised and eager on the edge of their seat waiting to know what the next step/call to action is. Make that window of opportunity count and link it back to a business/talent goal. Be creative, memorable, and more importantly kind.

If you want to learn more about how to elevate rejection experiences or talent nurturing strategies, then let me know, and I'll share my trade secrets. Otherwise, I hope you've been inspired and curious enough to learn more.?