The Art of Rejection: Vital to Candidate Experience

Rejection... unfortunately something we all face at one point or another. It stinks being on the receiving end of it, but in life rejection is a necessary evil.

The reason I picked this topic today, is because of a conversation I had with a job seeker late last week. She said, "I am tired of applying and interviewing for jobs and never getting a call or an email back". I understood where she was coming from....if you took the time to apply, phone interview, take time off to go into their office; the least they could do is communicate their decision. However, being the one who delivers bad news more than good news gives me some ...er....perspective.

I understand that recruiters carry heavy work loads and don't always have the time to get back to everyone. I am not excusing it, because that is not my M.O. I have met recruiters that just don't like sending rejection letters or making that dreaded call. It's not fun. I get that, because I don't enjoy it either. One of the reasons that I love recruiting is giving someone who deserves the job - the job! The thing is, it IS a necessary evil... because it is vital to candidate experience.

So what about other forms of rejection? In Sales? In Sports? In getting picked last? In not getting the promotion? In not getting the guy/girl? We all have to experience this (unfortunately), but what I will leave you with is this... What did you learn from getting rejected? Have you taken the time to ponder that?

I am a firm believer in learning from negative experiences. Maybe you will practice more to make the team? Maybe you will learn to coach instead of play? So, you didn't get the promotion... what did the person have that you didn't? Was it a political decision? Should you develop your skills more in one area or another? Is it time to move on and get the recognition you deserve? You didn't catch that awesome fish in the sea... was it a blessing in disguise? Do you need to spend some time working on yourself?

There are a lot of questions you can be asking yourself when you experience rejection. I am not saying that you should blame yourself or be hard on yourself - that is NOT what you should do. What I am saying is that reflection is important. Understanding your weaknesses is a step forward in self improvement and I am a big advocate for self improvement (I have the braces at 34 to prove it!).

Now as for the Art of Rejection....

You have probably been subjected to the "sandwich methodology" - you know where you get two compliments sandwiched between the negative feedback (or in this case rejection). In HR, we tread lightly when giving feedback (if at all), because it mitigates risk. People misinterpret what you say sometimes, twisting kind feedback and turning it into a discriminatory remark. As such, a recruiter will never tell you exactly why you didn't get the job (or at least they shouldn't). Where the "art" comes in is... crafting a rejection that is not ego destroying.

For example: "Thank you for all the time you invested in our interview process. While your background was most impressive, we have decided to hire someone who better fit the requirements of the positions. We hope that we will cross paths again in the future. Best of luck in your search." Yes, there is a compliment in there, but it's not just a simple sandwich. It is more of a positive let down. This approach will leave a favorable impression of your company and is what the candidate experience friendly rejection should feel like. Positive, open for the future, encouraging respect for their time investment and still promoting the employment brand.

Thoughts?

The Politics for Making a Business Case

Corporate politics can be tricky. It can be even more tricky when you are driving change (or at least trying to). I realize we are not all in a position to be change agents, but your engaged employees should be trying to drive change... at the very least from a process improvement point of view.

With that said - being a change agent is one thing, but actually getting the buy-in from the business to implement change... is an entirely different mountain. Yes it is a MOUNTAIN! Corporate politics make it a mountain. There is red tape, personal agendas, egos, higher salaries, and even a dictatorship in some cases. Wow, that's enough to make anyone give up on their idea...even when it is for the good of an organization!

So, how would one go about making the business case for change (if they were brave enough to try)? A good friend and colleague (who is a sales professional) shared with me a story that sticks with me to this very day. He said, "I always go 80% there and let the decision makers fill in the other 20%. Works every time!". Having seen him put this into action, I am convinced his methods produce results. However, we can't all be a brave political warrior like him, so I have outlined a pretty good checklist to help you get there.

1.) Understand the problem. This may make you go back to your college research paper days to write out a problem statement. However, you also need raw data to prove that it actually is a problem. Do you have metrics that showcase the problem in a quantitative way? If so, you might want to include those.

2.) How does this affect the business? What is the current state under this condition and what is the worst case scenario over time (long-term or short-term) if no change is made?

3.) Understand your audience. Who will be at the table and have influence over the decision for implementing the change you are suggesting? Who is the loudest? Who is the influencer of others? Make a list and organize it by loudest, most opinionated and influential and put the quietest, less influential at the bottom.

4.) Fully scope out your solution. Will this be a project or an easy 1-off solution? If it is a project, then you need to map out timelines, human capital resources, costs and expected challenges along the way. Nothing looks worst then not having the answers. So, reverse engineer the meeting. Think of all the things they might ask you and have the answers researched and ready!

5.) Target the loudest most influential decision makers. Pick the top two and have a pre-close/buy-in conversation off on the side. Having two influential people already on your side, makes it easier to get the rest of them into group-think mode. Address the problem at hand and give them 80% of your solution. Back them into telling you the other 20% of the solution (that you already know). This gives them personal ownership in your business case. Be careful and tread lightly; you don't want both influencers thinking they own the same idea. Also, think of this as a trial run.

6.) Present your business case to the group and make sure your problem statement, solution, and project plan are well formed and organized in a nice power point. Be sure to give credit where credit is due, by verbally recognizing the 2 influential decision makers. Let them speak up and also sell your business case. Try your best not to leave the room without getting a confirmation on next steps, what additional information they need or in a best case scenario - an answer!

Overall this is a very collaborative approach, but it gets the job done. Just know that it takes an army to successfully implement change, even when it's a no-brainer to you and will save the company money, time or resources. Change is not something that the majority of people take on easily.

What strategies have you used to make a business case and skate through corporate politics?

Now get your brave-politico-warrior game face on .... Grrrr!