How do I give constructive feedback?

Hi, Donna here from DOHR. We are on the last one today of our recruitment top tips. We have been working through the diamonds, which are all about recruitment from next tips. So hopefully tomorrow we’ll be moving on to talking about employee relations, but for today, we’re covering off feedback, which is the last of our recruitment top tips. 

It’s the king of diamonds. And this is after an interview has taken place. So always keep applicants informed about their progress. This is good PR for you as an employer and says a lot about your credibility. Unsuccessful candidates could become your customer or recommend you to others. A nice reject letter will go a long way. Where you’ve interviewed, be prepared to give the candidates some feedback on their performance and why they have not been selected for the jobs that they’ve got. The more objective you can make that the better. 

Going back to yesterday’s tip, don’t introduce anything that could be discriminatory. Anything related to children, perhaps, or age or accent, or the way someone presents themselves, that’s going to get you into trouble. So keep it about the job. Keep it focused. Even if it is something to do with an element such as childcare, talk about their ability to be able to deliver the job in the timescales available and their availability for the hours that you need, rather than making it about the fact that they’ve got children. It comes down to the same thing, but it’s about the way you pitch it. Just like with a marketing message, it’s about the way you package something. It’s what politicians call spin. It’s in effect the same as you’re doing. 

Be objective! And don’t expose your organisation, your business, to risk in the way in which you provide that feedback. But actually the feedback’s really important.