The Worst Hiring Mistake Any Company Can Make

We've all hired people we knew would be superstars and turned out to be duds. And we've all failed to hire people who turned out to be superstars at another company. (We all make stupid hiring mistakes.)

Those are big mistakes, but not the biggest. And definitely not the most common mistake.

This is the worst hiring mistake any company can make:

Failing to follow up and provide closure to every person who applies for a job -- not just interviews but applies.

Unfortunately that's a mistake most companies make. "According to our research, approximately 94% of the people who apply for a job don't get closure," says John Younger, founder and CEO of Accolo, a cloud recruiting solutions provider. "And we've yet to meet a job seeker, hiring manager, recruiter, or company who feels that figure is off."

Why is failing to follow up with job seekers such a huge problem?

One, it's incredibly rude. Say you pay me a compliment and instead of saying, "Thank you," I just turn and walk away. You'd be a little bit pissed and a whole lot hurt.

So why is it okay when a person pays your business the highest compliment of all -- by saying they would like to work for you and therefore spend more time with you than they do with their family -- for you to ignore them and never respond?

Two (not that you need a "two") there are major business repercussions. A friend of John's is the COO for a global retailer with over 100,000 employees. He spoke to someone who had applied for a job at one of the retailer's locations, and she said she was so upset by the way she was ignored that she would never shop there again.

"The company receives approximately 3.5 million job applications a year," John says. "By not providing closure, how many customers -- some of them huge fans of the brand, since most people want to work for a company they like—did they lose?"

The same principle extends to a small business in a small town. Say I apply for a job at your company. I'm excited. I'm hopeful. I want to work for you. I tell my friends I applied.

You don't respond. I sit in limbo until, eventually, I realize you never will.

Later my friends ask how things turned out. I tell them I never heard from you—not even a perfunctory, "Thanks, but no thanks."

What happens to the perception of your company? Of course you'll never know what happens because unlike customers who have a problem with your products or services, I won't complain. My friends won't complain.

We won't complain to you—but I promise we'll complain about you.

Before you post your next opening, determine how you will close the loop with everyone who responds or applies.

Maybe you'll use an automated hiring and notification system. Maybe you'll do it manually. How you close the loop doesn't matter—as long as you're unfailingly prompt, courteous, and respectful.

Deciding which tools or processes to use isn't as important as deciding that you will always respond to every single person who wants to work for you.

By applying they've hung themselves out there, professionally and emotionally—so never leave them hanging.

I also write for Inc.com:

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• The One Interview Question That Identifies a Superstar
• 20 Awesome Productivity Tricks Anyone Can Use

(photo bigstockphoto.com)