Dr John Sullivan Talent Management Thought Leadership
Remember, not saying thanks is bad, but an insincere thank-you will be a complete candidate turnoff.
Frequently Thank Your Candidates Because They Are Investors In Your Company
Yes, hiring managers should periodically offer personalized thank-you’s to every candidate. As recruiting icon Kevin Wheeler noted, as far back as 2002, each of these candidates (without the promise of pay) is literally investing numerous hours of their valuable time in your company. As a result, they deserve to feel your gratitude during every stage of your hiring process.
A personalized and well-timed “thank you” lets a candidate know you have noticed them. But it also reveals that they treat the people under you with respect and gratitude. And those two factors alone may be enough to solidify a candidate’s commitment to working at your company.
Making Each Thank You More Powerful
Begin by understanding that not all thank-yous have the same impact. While the lowest-impact ones will actually have a negative impact, the best-designed ones have the highest impact because each is personalized and delivered when it will have maximum impact. Fortunately, there are a handful of actions that you can take to make your thank-yous more impactful.
Schedule the important ones and present them in a sincere manner – because, unfortunately, many recruiters and hiring managers consider their applicants to be lucky that they are even being considered for a job opening. Many don’t have any planned thank-yous for their candidates. So, after omitting them entirely, the next most egregious error is presenting your thank you in a rote or insincere manner. Most candidates will consider that insincerity is a sign that they are not very important or that you are not very interested in them. So, put some emotion in your thank-yous because how the thank you is delivered may have a higher impact than the actual content of the message.
Always personalize your thank-you messages – generic thank-you’s simply don’t have much impact. Because they make it clear to the candidate that very little preparation was put into preparing and presenting it. Therefore, the best way to increase the impact of your thank-yous is to personalize each one so that the message is clearly unique to the individual candidate. For example, in your message to Mary. Thank her for taking time off work to fly to St. Louis for this interview. A hiring manager can also personalize their thank-yous before the interview begins, purposely taking the candidate aside and then using this brief one-on-one time to personally thank them (by first name) for coming in after hours to participate.
In the message, include why you are thanking them and the impact of their actions – a generic thank-you doesn’t have much of an impact. However, you can show candidates that you put thought into each thank-you message by explaining why you’re specifically thanking them and the impact of their actions. For example, at the beginning of an interview, a manager can thank the candidate for arriving early so that they can now maintain their tight interview schedule. Or they can be thanked for taking time off from their work because that caused them to lose their hourly pay. After the interview, the manager can thank the candidate for sharing their best practices with the team. That sharing revealed that the new team still has an opportunity to get better.
Time your thank-you so it has its maximum impact – obviously, you should thank your candidates during the traditional times when relational thank-yous are expected (i.e., the beginning and the end of an interview). However, realize that your thank-yous may have an even greater impact when you provide them at a time when they are least expected. For example, you will definitely get the attention of a new applicant after you thank them for their application within 24 hours after it was submitted. A candidate is likely to also reinforce their feeling that they are remembered when you send them a follow-up thank-you note the day after the interview.
Sending them positive feedback will support your thank you – the thing that is most coveted by candidates is feedback covering their progress. Unfortunately, it is quite unusual for a company to provide that immediate feedback. So when you do provide feedback, deliver it quickly and make it both positive and constructive. Most candidates will consider that feedback a form of thank-you for their strong interview preparation and subsequent performance. Showing any degree of optimism about that candidate’s future with your company will likely also have the same impact.
Consider using alternative ways of saying thank you – when it comes to the thank-you messages, thinking and acting outside the box will certainly get the attention of your best candidates. So why not include some thank-yous that will certainly be noticed and remembered? For example, the top candidate could be offered a tour and a chance to meet the team after a successful interview. This will further strengthen and build on your standard after the interview thank-you. Since almost all communications are electronic these days, you’ll certainly get a candidate’s attention by sending a paper thank-you card in the mail. Also, providing them with a Starbucks coffee card or a sample of your product as a small token of your appreciation for their time will be remembered. Don’t forget to send a special thank-you to your runner-up candidate after the final decision has been made. This will help to keep them “warm” in case you want to consider them again for a future opening.
The Top Benefits That You Will Receive From Powerful Thank You’s
In case you’re not convinced of the value and the high ROI of effective thank-yous. Here are the five primary benefits that result from designing and planning out your thank-yous.
You will hire better performers – because you have kept your top candidates engaged and excited throughout your entire process. The average performance of your new hires will increase over time.
You will experience fewer recruiting process dropouts – showing each of your candidates your continuous appreciation and gratitude through your well-placed thank-you’s. This will mean that more candidates will be fully engaged. Therefore, fewer will prematurely drop out before your hiring process ends.
Your interview assessments will become more accurate – as each candidate moves through your hiring process. And as your well-placed and well-timed thank-you messages begin to have their desired impact. Each candidate will begin to feel more engaged and wanted. And that extremely high engagement will likely cause each of the remaining candidates to invest more of their time in preparing for your interviews. That extra preparation will allow you to see the very best from each candidate during their subsequent interviews.
You will have higher offer acceptance rates – after your thank-yous have had the desired effect of increasing each candidate’s interest in your open job. You can expect an increase in the percentage of your finalists who will accept your offer.
An improved employer brand image will increase your applicants – as your positive message covering your gratitude for applicants spreads widely. You can expect an increase in both the number and the quality of your future applicants.
Final Thoughts
Everyone who has been involved in recruiting for more than a few years already knows the major factors that directly contribute to great recruiting results. Although most put employer branding, accurate resume screening, and great interviewing at the top of their list, too many unfortunately underestimate the impact and the extremely high ROI that something as simple as a “thank you” will actually have on your recruiting results.
And, of course… thank you for reading.
Note for the reader
This is the latest article from Dr. Sullivan, who was called “the Michael Jordan of Hiring” by Fast Company.
And please help spread his ideas by sharing this with your team/network and by posting it on your favorite social media.
