You know that old saw: “time kills all deals”?
Who said it first?
Had to be a salesperson.
I suspect it might have been a recruiter.
Those of us in recruiting know that URGENCY is a clear – if not THE – critical success ingredient in hiring people.
If we keep people — candidate or hiring manager — waiting around, things often break down.
Reflect on how today’s technology SHOULD enable us to shrink time gaps in hiring people.
Each of us has a powerful computer in our hands (or pocket or charging right next to us) 24 hours per day.
This amazing machine will answer any question you ask it.
It also includes a built-in TELEPHONE.
Yes, you can call people and talk to them. You can also use it to email or text people.
Wow, what the hell did we do before this thing?!
Recruiting legend Greg Savage wrote a great article: What you can learn from the dark ages of recruiting.
Please click through and read paragraph #5 (Urgency!).
Recall a time before cell phones, LinkedIn, the Internet, and even the fax machine.
Recruiters and hiring managers — with a sense of urgency — got people hired.
Sometimes in a single day!
Today, “blessed” with every instant communication tool imaginable?
With every conscious human within arm’s reach of their smart phone?
Companies find a way to lack urgency in their hiring process.
What gives?
As Greg asks: “are we stuck in process to the exclusion of outcome?”
Let that question roll around in your head for a few days.
Think about the implication of a full-employment economy in your hiring needs.
Yes, you must re-inject urgency and time sensitivity back into the hiring process.
Here are 3 tactical solutions.
- Reverse-engineer your LAST hire. Post-mortem your most recent hiring process. For the last person you hired, how long did it take from the first meeting to making an offer? How many steps were in the process? How long did each step take? What were the time gaps between the steps? You will be shocked at how long your hiring process takes –from a candidate’s perspective. Challenge the value in each step in your process. Kill steps that do not add value to your hiring decision and/or the candidate’s decision to join your company.
- Pre-plan your NEXT hire schedule. Often, it’s not that the hiring process stages take too long. It’s the dead time between stages that kills momentum and loses great candidates. Pre-plan and build into your schedule the key stages in advance. Be ready to move candidates forward with urgency. Explain your entire hiring process to the candidate. Tell them the steps and planned timing between stages.
- Communicate with urgency (think hours/days, not weeks). Assign a high priority after the first interview to assure that feedback and a decision get communicated to the candidate within 24 to 48 hours. This shows proper respect to the candidate. It’s the right way to treat people. Assign a similar sense of urgency and high priority to communication and follow up in every stage. Your goal should be to move forward within 24 to 48 hours on all matters and keep the candidate engaged and in constant communication (talk to them at least once per week) throughout the hiring process.
Yes, you can inject more urgency and time sensitivity in your hiring process.
Companies without a sense of urgency in their recruiting and hiring process?
They will be the losers in this talent scarcity environment.
