Five Negative Effects of a Slow Hiring Process

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Five Negative Effects of a Slow Hiring Process

“Slow to hire, quick to fire” does not equal “take an eternity to hire, fire on the spot.”

It means to make smart hiring decisions and don’t wait to separate an employee if there are reasons detrimental to your company. However, focusing on the former part of that phrase, being slow to hire can cause negative effects on hiring (and keeping) top talent.

#1 – You’ll lose the candidate faster than you think.

Go, go, go! They want a job and they want it now. If they have the soft skills (personality, willingness to learn, etc.) and most of the hard skills (or again are willing to be trained),  then offer the position to that candidate.

You will more than likely regret it when, a week later, you finally reach out to them to extend an offer and they decline. They continued interviewing since they didn’t think your job offer was secure. Now they are not only gone but they were lost to a competitor! Plan on a 48-hour turnaround to offer the job(or not), and communicate that timeframe to your candidate. This will keep them interested and will more than likely deter them from interviewing elsewhere until they hear from you.

Plan on a 48-hour turnaround to offer the job(or not), and communicate that timeframe to your candidate. This will keep them interested and will more than likely deter them from interviewing elsewhere until they hear from you.

#2 – Slow hiring doesn’t improve candidate quality.

Waiting to decide if a candidate will work or not doesn’t change their qualifications or improve their quality of candidacy. Taking a little time to think about it is one thing (but keep that to 24 hours). Liking them, not telling them, and calling them 2 weeks later will lose you the great hire you thought you had.

And if you think you’re missing out on someone better, you might be. But that is true about everything in life. You could wait and see what comes along that’s better, or you can offer the position to a solid candidate for the job.

You want to hire smartly, which means holding on to a candidate you believe could do the job well and bringing them aboard.

Don’t settle, but if you want to offer someone the job, offer them the job! Don’t wait.

#3 – You will lose production and revenue.

If you interview someone who can hit the ground running (whether they have the hard skills or not), they can start producing and making revenue faster than if no one was in that position.

If you are replacing someone, don’t wait too long either. You want to make sure it’s a solid candidate who could do the job. But remember that almost no transition is seamless and everyone has to be trained on your company’s specific processes.

Weigh the pro’s and con’s with each candidate, and offer the position to a candidate you believe could make that replacement a quick and profitable one.

#4 – The excitement will fade quickly.

This will happen with both the candidate being hired and the team they are joining. You have to keep that momentum going. Hiring decisions are often made based on emotions about a candidate. That goes both ways, so don’t forget the candidate’s emotional connection to the job right after the interview.

If your team is begging for an addition, that extra time will make them not trust you when they have a need and will decrease their excitement when that person does start.

Listen to your team, communicate about the candidates and timeframe, and keep them excited about the new hire.

#5 – Your customers will feel the negative impact of a slow hire.

As a customer, which would you rather deal with? 1.) A company not able to work on your order due to a long hiring process, or 2.) working with a new employee who is learning how to do things right for you? I think we’d all pick the latter.

If your hiring process takes 3 weeks, it’s those 3 weeks that can lose you both your client’s revenue and patience. Hire quickly for your clients and communicate with them as well if it’s affecting your business with them.

They will be happier knowing you’re hiring for them rather than hurting your relationship by waiting to hire.

Thinking about speeding up your hiring process?

If you aren’t sure of an appropriate or realistic hiring timeframe for your organization, give ROLINC a call. We can review your staffing needs and provide honest feedback for more efficient, longer lasting hires.

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