Over recent years cost-cutting has had a serious impact on customer service for job applicants. Gone are:

• Acknowledgements that your application is received.
• Letters advising you weren’t short listed.
• Even letters advising of the final result may be cut.

In the business world you wouldn’t stay in business long if you treated your customers with such disdain, yet it seems to be ‘industry standard’ to provide the black hole approach to job applicants.

Yes, it may add some dollars to the cost of recruiting, but in a competitive market treating applicants with courtesy and keeping them informed may provide an advantage to the organisation that is brave enough to return to service basics.

Public sector agencies go to great lengths to convince us of their customer service credentials yet for some reason they don’t seem to apply to applicants. A recruitment strategy that includes quality customer service would not only add credibility to service charters but possibly make for a more attractive employment choice.