A recent study by Aberdeen has concluded that the battle for talent has become more intense because of increased competition and a shortage of it.

Even in Singapore, several HR practitioners have recently noticed the number of applicants have gone down and suitable candidates are more scarce.

In that context, I am often surprised many organisations still don’t value applicants as they should. In addition, they miss out on the opportunity to pro-actively maintain passive candidates and enhance their employer branding.

This is often highlighted by a note in the job ad stating something like: “We regret that only short-listed candidates will be notified.”

Granted there are applicants that don’t suit the requirements of a posted position. And, after a closer look, it may also be that they are applying for multiple positions and, as none of them suit, they simply seem to spam every recruiter.

However, in my experience they seem to be a minority.

In any case, organisations should value every applicant and each of them deserves to be informed of the status of their application. This isn’t only a matter of courtesy, but may also have an impact on the perception of an organisation.

As one applicant said to me: “Remember that your current applicants may be your future clients and they will remember how you treated them.”

So what is appropriate treatment?

Acknowledgment: The standard laid out by the Singapore government for its ministries is that every incoming email should be answered within two days. When I first heard of this concept I was impressed.

It’s a concept that conveys courtesy, trust and confidence to external parties as well as internal staff. It sets a standard that organisations in the private sector should follow.

The same objective and principle should also be applied for applications. As a first step, an acknowledgment of receipt should be provided to applicants.

Otherwise, people often feel their application has gone into a black hole. In fact, some have mentioned to me that they sometimes wonder if their application went through to the right person or if there was a technical error and they should send
it again.

Status update: In addition to acknowledging the receipt of an application, some organisations go as far as giving a status update in terms of a rejection.

Often this is with a note that the application is stored on file and if a more suitable position comes up the candidate will be contacted. Even though this may not be news applicants want to hear, they still prefer this update so they know where they stand.

Keeping high-calibre candidates “warm” in the talent pool: Many times in my recruiting activities I have seen resumes or interviewed candidates that I thought were great, but I didn’t have a suitable position for them.

While that is unfortunate, this situation should be leveraged for future purposes. If the candidate is kept “warm” through regular communication you can fast-track a recruiting process in the future since there is a loyal candidate at the top of the list.

Some organisations create “talent pools” to which they add these high-calibre candidates so they can easily communicate with them and find them when necessary.

If an organisation goes through the effort of utilising this approach to communicate with its applicants it can greatly enhance its recruiting experience.

This approach is also beneficial to the overall employer branding as each communication with a candidate is an opportunity to underline a certain brand image.

The simple act of being responsive is already an achievement and conveys a certain message that can be further enhanced through repeated usage of certain phrases, logos, etc.

In addition, this approach helps an organisation maintain several passive candidates that are readily available and have an inclination to join.

The ongoing communication with them may only be a small thing. But eventually many candidates may have multiple options and when faced with the decision some of these seemingly small things may make the difference.

In the ongoing war for talent, organisations need to use every angle to gain an edge over competition and dealing with incoming applications in a courteous and pro-active manner is a great start.