Dear Woolworths, South Africa (and every other company not giving feedback to candidates.)
End of October you contacted my family member, who is disabled, desperate for work and unemployed. You conducted your first round of interviews, requested the 2nd interview at your office (which costs money for him), completed an assessment, told him he would have feedback in a week. 4 weeks later, not a word.
He has lost all hope in people, can’t see any light in his situation, fighting depression and you have now hit the nail on the head. Your decision to not give feedback could just be the last straw for him. What if tomorrow we all woke up and he ended his life?
The truth of the matter is that this happens all the time. Companies expect you to arrive at their workplace, be prepared, dress smart, make all the effort to impress and in return there is silence. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Telling someone they aren’t smart enough, empathetic enough, don’t have the soft skills, is hard. But that is your ego. You need to get over yourself, this isn’t about you, it’s about the person on the other end. That one call to say you’ve been declined due to your communications skills can change a person’s life. Guess what he can now work on? Yes, his communication skills.
I can’t fight everyone’s case, but if you knew me personally, you know I would want to with every fiber in my being. But for now, Woolworths, a brand that states: BEING RESPONSIBLE, IS ABOUT DOING THE RIGHT THING – ALWAYS VALUE WITH VALUES, I ask with tears in my eyes, how is not giving feedback to the human beings coming to meet with you, doing the right thing? You promote hiring disabled people yet all you are doing is disabling them further.
Silence Kills!