Why Aren’t Hiring Managers Giving Feedback To Recruiters?

Well?... Why aren't hiring managers giving feedback to recruiters?

Recruitment is a two-way street. Recruiters get to interact with candidates and build relationships with them. But what happens when they don’t hear back from the hiring manager?

There are plenty of reasons why recruiters may not hear back. So, what are some of the most common situations and how can they be addressed to ensure candidates have a positive experience?

Tick, tock, tick, tock! ⏰

A formal rejection letter takes time to develop and send, and providing feedback takes additional time. They may be inundated with other priorities at work and simply not have the time to do so, especially with the candidate crisis we’re in at the moment.

Hiring managers are busy people. They have other responsibilities that take up most of their time. So, drop them an email reminding them that you’re still waiting for their feedback — hopefully this prompt should be enough to get a decent response.

“People don’t trust feedback from people they don’t know, right?”

Hiring managers are giving feedback to people they barely know.

Sometimes they wonder why they would even trust or believe the feedback.

They make the assumption that it’s easier for them to think that they had biases or had not really seen the full picture than to accept that they had picked on some aspect the candidate should improve on.

Feedback is a gift 🎁

Candidates are hungry for feedback. The longer they've been searching for a job, the more desperate they are to find out why they are not getting the job. An employer who is willing to take the time and can offer constructive, actionable feedback is a welcome gift.

In addition to a lack of time, some hiring managers want to avoid questions about rejected candidates and aren’t trained sufficiently for what they feel may be a difficult phone conversation.

“We won’t tell you if you are good or bad….but our website has the answer” 🤫

Okay, so this one is just plain lazy. It’s up there with job adverts that say “if you haven’t heard from us then just assume we don’t care about you!”

For many recruiters, receiving no feedback after job applications is the norm. They get used to it and create their own strategies for dealing with it. Receiving inconsistent or inappropriate feedback only serves to undermine the process and confuse recruiters, who are forced to make their own judgement calls instead of relying on concrete information from clients.

Okay… so why bother?

According to The Balance Careers, providing feedback to job candidates can create positive results for the employer. Of candidates who received feedback, 52% are more likely to increase their relationship with an employer (apply again, refer others, make and/or influence purchases when applicable).

On the other hand, if the feedback is not provided to an unsuccessful job candidate, these candidates are more than twice as likely to have a negative relationship with the employer.

Why should hiring managers provide better feedback to recruiters?

➔        They like a candidate and believe they would hire them for the right opportunity in a less competitive market.

➔        They want to create an environment of goodwill for the company in which candidates will tell friends and social media positive things about interviewing with them. Reputation plays an important role as talent becomes scarce. The company's reputation as an employer of choice is dependent on how they treat candidates as well as employees.

➔        They want a candidate to experience the company's integrity and transparency in its hiring practices so they are less likely to target them with a complaint.