I know - you've got lots of candidate volume.  It's hard to get your ATS set up with a soulful message to at least give your candidates the solid of knowing where they stand.

It's hard to call all the candidates back who at least had a phone interview to tell them personally where they stand.  I know I ebb and flow in my ability to do this, so you surely do as well.

We need to do better.  Need motivation?  Then consider this - it's not only the right thing to do, it's self-preservation.  Those candidates you are failing to communicate with - especially the mid-level ones and up - are going to remember your lack of communication.  They'll see it not as negative, they'll see it as neutral.

Need a cautionary tale?  Consider the case of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the greatest basketball players of all time.  He was great, but was unwilling to communicate.  Now the world remembers and rather than him being celebrated as he grows old, he's a bit of an outcast.  More from LA Observed:

"In an interview with The Sporting News, Abdul-Jabbar went public with his feelings of being "highly offended" by the way the Lakers treat the star of five of L.A.'s championship years — and the NBA's all-time leading scorer. His number 33 is up on the wall, of course, but he feels "slighted" that the team erected statues to Chick Hearn and Jerry West and has not made firm plans for a statue of him outside Staples Center. He told the L.A. Times that it goes beyond the statue to include the Lakers' handling of him as a special coach and a big pay cut. "The relationship is fractured," he says. "I don’t expect my relationship with the team to continue beyond this point." He amplified on Twitter, saying the "Lakers have given me the absolute minimum of respect" and "the status was just the las straw."

Here's where it gets interesting.  Kareem went public with his displeasure on the fact no statue of him is forthcoming, and the general public (remember - your candidates) remembers how they were treated. Look at this letter to the editor in LA:

"Kareem, don't worry, you'll get over the way the Lakers treated you in five years or so. That's about how long it took for my 10-year-old daughter to get over the way you treated her 25 years ago when she asked you for an autograph. Karma."

That was one of many letters.  It seems that fans didn't react well to a surly, uncommunicative star. Just like candidates don't react well to your brand not communicating where they stand.

Even someone like me has a Kareem story.  The year was 1994.  I'm an assistant coach at UAB under Gene Bartow and we were playing UC-Santa Barbara on an ESPN feature called "Big Monday" (Look it up, Kids).  Kareem was part of the broadcast crew for the game and was at the shoot-around.  Coach Bartow went over to talk to him, and because he's Coach Bartow, Kareem was at least neutral in his interaction. Then Bartow did what normal people do - he called over his assistants - including me - to meet the great Kareem.  Kareem was sitting on press row and, I kid you not, did not make eye contact or acknowledge us as Bartow introduced each of us to him.

Of course, he's Kareem and I'm nobody.

Of course, you've got the jobs and they're just one of ten thousand candidates.  Nobodies. You don't have time.

Neither did Kareem - for anyone.  Now, people remember.  No statue for you, Kareem.  No NBA coaching job for you, Kareem.  You were one of the 5 best players of all time.  How surly and unapproachable must you have been (and perhaps still are) for you to be on the outside looking in at this point in your life?

The same thing can and will happen to your employment brand.  

Communicate early and often with candidates this week.  They remember, just like Laker fans related to Kareem.