Dear Employer: Is Your Hiring Cycle Too Long?

We tricked you. The title of this article was a rhetorical question that virtually guaranteed a “yes” answer. The truth we’ve seen, based on years of collective experience, is that most employers already understand they have an unwieldy hiring process. A long hiring cycle at best frustrates candidates, and, at worst, loses them to your competitors.

The Society for Human Resource Management says the average time from ad to hire is 42 days. It’s not the background check that is holding up hiring, but instead the internal decision-making process seems to be taking longer, despite a plethora of digital technologies designed to speed up interdepartmental communications.

Two Big Time Hiring Time Wasters

Want to speed up your process? The first thing to do is look for time wasting tactics you've been using. Here are three hiring time-wasters, all of which can be avoided with due diligence or a good online Recruiter, and how to avoid these pitfalls.

1. Vague Job Descriptions

Hasty help wanted postings can cause trouble in two ways: First, many job candidates will start making judgments from the moment they read your job description, and you don't want them to jump to wrong conclusions about your company or team. Second, if you don't clearly define the scope of the job duties and prerequisites, you'll be knee-deep in resumes from unqualified applicants.

Make sure your job description clearly spells out the minimum experience, qualifications, and skill sets needed to perform the job functions adequately. You can even use keywords similar to SEO tactics used by marketers. If your keywords match the top talent's search terms, then you're more likely to attract the type of candidates that you want.

2. Complex Interview Scheduling

Scheduling interviews for each job candidate to meet multiple members of your team gets complicated quickly — and that's without considering the travel expenses and the "sunk cost" of all that time and effort.

As an alternative, try a video interview, where you give the candidate written questions and receive videotaped answers. If an applicant isn't qualified, it's faster and easier to click "stop" than to bring a live interview to an end, and you only pay travel expenses for a few select candidates.

With so many factors to consider, what is a time-strapped employer to do? Try these three recommendations to help save you tons of time and effort.

Three Tips to Shorten the Hiring Life Cycle

Taking the time to analyze the hiring process with an eye to the candidates is an important first step toward improving it. How can a company speed up the fact-finding and decision-making process so that a good candidate is never lost?

Step #1: Create a Process

The first step to shortening the hiring process is to create workflows and communication channels between departments. Note there is a difference between streamlining these processes and rushing them, but cleaning up any extra steps in the hiring process will certainly make it more efficient.

Adopting smart candidate tracking processes and automating personalized responses that notify the candidate that you’ve received their resume and are reviewing it is a good way to work smarter.

Step #2: Set Goals

Second, consider your goals for each step in the candidate process. Ask yourself these questions before you start the search:

• What are realistic goals for filling the position?
• What are the qualifications you’re seeking?
• Who will interview the candidate and how will they communicate?
• Is it more important to find a “B” player in the next 30 days, or is it worth waiting on an “A” player that could take longer?
• How important is screening for culture-fit and how will you do that?

Finally, map out the workflows from ad placement to orientation, to visually understand how the process works together.

Step #3: Think InfRastructure

Third, consider your technology infrastructure.

Studies are showing that more than 75% of the workforce is searching for new jobs on social media. Ask yourself some important questions:

• Does your application process reach candidates where they “live?”
• How mobile-friendly is your application process?
• Is it easy to upload a resume through the job portal on your website?
• How does that process translate across all digital devices?
• Is your company keeping in touch with former applicants as new jobs emerge?
• How are you managing the work of staying in touch with those candidates that got away?

Hiring a company that specializes in candidate recruitment often solves a lot of these problems and answers many of these questions. That’s because sourcing quality candidates is a full-time job. Most Human Resource Managers simply do not have the time to take this on properly — in addition to all the other duties on their plate.

Consider Hiring "Hiring Help"

Streamlining hiring by hiring a professional can help!

Sometimes, hiring a staffing agency firm like Artisan Talent can hack right through the Gordian Knot of your hiring process. Check out this handy guide for comparing agencies when it comes to staffing.

Then consult our team for a candid conversation about how you can make your hiring process more candidate-friendly. We'd be happy to help!