Stuff Digital Edition

Stop treating candidates badly in a tight labour market

Mike O’Donnell

Death brings with itmany responses. When the deceased is the longest-reigning British monarch of all time, it becomes a topic of daily conversation.

The response I heard from most people was ‘‘I’m no fan of themonarchy, but you’ve got to respect Queen Elizabeth II and 70 years service making people feel valued.’’

I had a dog walk scheduledwith my old mate Dave for Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, so I threw a bottle of Lagavulin intomy knapsack with a couple of enamel cups. When we got to the heads of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, we toasted the Queenwith a tot or two, as my dog Cactus frolicked on the beach.

Likeme, Dave’s a professional director. He built and sold a couple of web companies and managed to keep his health intact.

Now he splits his time investing, doing good deeds and directing.

Almost a year ago he got approached about a board position at a big industry organisation.

He liked the industry and reckoned he could add value to the board, so he put his hat in the ring and got an autoresponse confirming receipt.

So he sat back and waited. And waited.

Six weeks later he’d heard nothing so rang up the recruitment manager who had approached him. ‘‘Yeah sorry, we’re definitely keen on you, but we’ve had a huge response so are just grouping the candidates’’.

I’m not surewhat grouping means, but it sounds good. Kind of.

Amonth passed, and he was approached by a recruitment firm working for the agency and was given an initial interview.

It seemed to go all right and Dave was told they were pulling together a shortlist.

Another monthwent by and Dave was offered another board role with a highgrowth tech company.

He liked the look of it, but fancied the idea of giving back to the industry, so he said no thanks, I’m in the running for another directorship.

Six months after applications closed Dave was told that they were readvertising the role to get ‘‘a broader range of candidates’’ but ‘‘don’tworry, you’re still in a process and a strong prospect’’.

Queen’s Birthday Weekend came and went, and a full eight months after applying for the role, Dave opened the

Dominion Post and in the business section he read that another person had been appointed to the board.

Good on them.

This was the first he had heard that he wasn’t successful. There was nothing from the company.

Nothing from the consultancy. Nothing from any bugger, so thank God for the dear old Dompost.

I’d like to think Dave’s situation was unique but it’s not. I hear it in the private sector. I hear it the public sector. I hear it at a top table level.

And I hear it about it from my kids at entry level.

But what I can’t figure out is why you’d treat candidates like crap in such a tight labour market.

A few years ago the phrase ‘‘candidate care’’ was all the rage. It refers to how you treat your job candidates through the recruitment process. But it seems to have gone out thewindow.

Which is plain mad in a country as small as Aotearoa, in a labour market where today’s unsuccessful candidate could be tomorrow’s client, influencer or boss.

With the war going on for labour, you’re nuts not to make a terrific first, second and third impression on anyone who invests the time and energy to express interest in joining your team.

Three factors make up great candidate care.

The first is about speed. That means immediate acknowledgement of an application. Not just an auto reply to a generic email address, but something that recognises them as an individual who has been prepared to show trust and vulnerability in applying.

The second is about honesty. If a person has not made the first cut, tell them so, tell them why and ask for their permission to hang onto their CV for other roles.

If they have made the first cut, tell them early. Honesty extends to making them aware of changes in circumstances – be it a change in ideal person specification, a review that means the role is on ice for four months or the strategy has changed.

The third is about taking care of the people who get shortlisted but passed over. As my old mate Peter Chrisp is fond to note, feedback is a gift. Tell them exactly why theyweren’t successful. The pearls of truth in this are the greatest gift you can give an unsuccessful candidate.

Meanwhile, the extra for experts is to include a token of appreciation for their investment in time.

If you’re in hospo give them a voucher. If you run a brewery, send them a six-pack.

Or as an increasing number of companies are doing, send them a Good Registry gift card, which allows them to gift its monetary value to one of 60-odd charities – from the SPCA to Rainbow Youth.

One thing the Queen was good at was making people feel valued.

Recruiters could do well to take a leaf out of her book, I reckon.

A few years ago the phrase ‘‘candidate care’’ was all the rage. It refers to how you treat your job candidates through the recruitment process. But it seems to have gone out the window.

Business

en-nz

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282441352970011

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