What is Feedback SLA?

A Feedback SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a commitment between recruiters and hiring managers to provide interview feedback within a set timeframe (e.g., 24 hours). Enforcing SLAs keeps the pipeline moving and prevents candidate drop-off due to delays.

Feedback SLA (Service Level Agreement)

A feedback SLA in recruitment is a formal commitment that defines the maximum allowed time between a candidate completing an interview (or assessment) and the delivery of structured evaluation feedback to the next stakeholder in the process. That stakeholder may be:

• The recruiter or recruiting coordinator (receiving interview scorecards)
• The hiring manager (receiving a shortlist or recommendation)
• The candidate (receiving a go/no-go decision or next-step update)

By treating timely feedback as an operational standard rather than a courtesy, feedback SLAs create accountability for how quickly assessments are completed and communicated.

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Why Feedback SLAs Matter

1. Candidate experience and employer brand

Slow or absent feedback (often experienced as candidate ghosting) is one of the most damaging issues in recruitment. Talent experience research consistently shows that:

• Delayed post-interview responses are a top reason candidates withdraw from processes.
• Long silences after interviews significantly harm employer brand perception.

Top candidates typically run multiple processes in parallel. If one company responds in 24–48 hours and another takes 8+ days, the slower company will often lose the candidate before a decision is even communicated.

2. Pipeline velocity and internal operations

Slow feedback doesn’t just hurt candidates; it creates bottlenecks internally:

• If a hiring manager or interviewer delays scorecard submission, the debrief meeting can’t happen.
• The next candidate in the pipeline can’t be advanced or rejected.
• The recruiter can’t close the loop or move the role forward cleanly.

Feedback SLAs turn these invisible delays into visible, measurable metrics that can be tracked, reported, and improved.

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How Feedback SLAs Are Defined and Measured

A typical feedback SLA includes four core components:

1. Trigger event
   • Defines when the SLA clock starts.
   • Common triggers:
     • The moment the final interview in a stage ends.
     • The submission deadline for an asynchronous assessment.
2. Recipient
   • Specifies who must receive the feedback within the SLA window, such as:
     • The recruiter (receiving interviewer scorecards).
     • The hiring manager (receiving a shortlist or recommendation).
     • The candidate (receiving a decision or next-step update).
3. Time limit
   • Sets the maximum elapsed time before the SLA is considered breached.
   • Common standards:
     • 24 hours for internal scorecard submission by interviewers.
     • 48–72 hours for candidate-facing decisions after final interviews.
4. Escalation path
   • Defines what happens when the SLA is breached, typically:
     • Automated reminders to the responsible person.
     • Escalation to a manager or hiring leader if delays persist.

Measurement requirements

To measure SLA compliance accurately, the system must track timestamped events, such as:

• When the interview ended.
• When the scorecard was submitted.
• When the decision was communicated to the next stakeholder.

Recruiting platforms that log these events automatically can surface SLA performance as standard dashboard metrics, avoiding manual tracking.

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How TuraHire Enforces Feedback SLAs

TuraHire operationalizes feedback SLAs by tracking timestamps at every pipeline transition:

• When a candidate completes an interview stage, the SLA clock starts.
• If the assigned interviewer has not submitted a scorecard within the configured SLA window:
  • TuraHire shows a visual alert on the pipeline board.
  • TuraHire can send automated notifications to the responsible interviewer.