A study co-funded by the Health and Safety Executive, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Investors In People has shown that if employees can tell their managers what they think of them then they were more likely to change their management style.

“Without holding a mirror up to a person, they can have blind spots about how they come across” said researcher Emma Donaldson-Feilder. “If they think they’re already good enough, why should they change?”.

By contrast, bosses who did not receive feedback from staff were less likely to change their behaviour. Thinking that they were good enough already means that poor behaviour is likely to continue as no one has pointed out that things could work in a different, improved way.

Giving feedback as a manager is a fundamental part of the role. When reviewing a piece or work, appraising staff, or feeding back on recruitment decisions – feedback plays an important part. Giving feedback to someone who has not been successful in a job application may not seem a priority. But by giving constructive feedback, a manager is able to demonstrate how their organisation values its potential employees. Those organisations that have treated successful and unsuccessful candidates with care and consideration have used this opportunity to enhance their recruitment brand in the marketplace.

Giving feedback to an unsuccessful candidate need not be an onerous task. Here are some tips to aid the process:

• Ask candidates first how they felt they did before commencing with the feedback.
• Say what they did well and then what they did not do so well. Try to end on a high point.
• Be prepared to cite things they said or did, and ask them to tell you their significance. By saying “What I heard you say was… “ is an objective way to review a candidate’s performance. This also reinforces the importance of good note taking.
• Tell them what you were looking for and why they did not meet the standard.
• Never divulge any scores, instead offer a rough guide on how their performance compares to other candidates.
• For unsuccessful candidates, stress that being unsuccessful simply meant that they were not right for that particular position and that they have valuable strengths in other areas.

The same principles apply for rejecting candidates after undertaking any form of testing after the interview. Do not give the impression that the decision to reject was made solely on test or personality data. Link in elements of the overall candidate application and how s/he did not meet the criteria for selection.

The benefit of feedback for a candidate is that they may learn something about themselves that they did not know or recognise. A small investment in feeding back is time well spent and the company’s reputation as an employer is enhanced.

Resourcing Matters provides support to HR Teams and recruiting managers in all aspects of the selection and assessment process. For more details please visit www.resourcingmatters.com or contact 01992 500467 email janet.cowell@resourcingmatters.com