How can you give unbiased recruiting feedback?

2 Use structured feedback

When you give feedback to your recruiting team or candidates, you should use a structured format that covers the strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement for each criterion. This will help you avoid vague, subjective, or biased comments that can undermine your credibility and cause confusion. You should also provide specific examples and evidence to support your feedback, and avoid making assumptions or generalizations. For example, instead of saying "The candidate was not confident", you could say "The candidate did not provide clear answers to the behavioral questions and often hesitated or repeated themselves".

4 Be respectful and empathetic

Giving feedback is not only about pointing out the flaws or gaps in the candidates' performance, but also about recognizing their potential and value. Therefore, you should be respectful and empathetic when you communicate your feedback, and avoid using harsh, negative, or personal language. You should also balance your feedback with positive and constructive comments, and highlight the areas where the candidates excelled or showed promise. Moreover, you should be open to receiving feedback from your recruiting team or candidates, and acknowledge their concerns or questions.

5 Review and improve your feedback

Finally, you should review and improve your feedback regularly, and monitor its impact and outcomes. You can do this by asking for feedback on your feedback from your recruiting team or candidates, and using it to refine your criteria, format, and tone. You can also track and measure the results of your feedback, such as the quality of hires, the diversity of talent, and the retention rate. By reviewing and improving your feedback, you can ensure that it is unbiased, effective, and aligned with your hiring goals.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?