Don’t let the Next Candidate Slip through your Hands

If your company is trying hard to secure the services of top talent, but is having trouble closing the deal (i.e., too many offers being turn downed), perhaps an evaluation of your interview process is in order.

Many companies are working harder than ever to properly screen candidates prior to selection for hire. In some cases the one or two interview process has been replaced by screening models that include some combination of multiple interviews, aptitude, intelligence and technical testing, psychological analysis, medical exams, drug screening, multiple references and background checks. All of these take time, can prolong the process, delay the decision and frequently leave the candidate feeling less valued or even degraded by the experience. Not exactly the type of warm fuzzy preliminaries that leave prospects in optimal frame of mind to well receive an offer (that is if they are still on the market when the process is completed)!

Yet the cost of a bad hire is high, so what can be done?

5 Ideas to Improve Your Chances of Hiring Success:

  1. landing great candidatesRecruiting Concierge

    Have the recruiting concierge fully explain the process and time frame prior to initiating any action with the candidate. Setting expectations in advance will positively affect your outcomes.

  2. Challenge the Status Quo

    Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. Do we need to have each level of screening for every position we fill? What positions can be filled with a less rigorous screening process.

  3. Manage the Process

    Proactively manage the process with your candidates. Stay in touch. Regularly revisit their situation; has anything changed? Do we have the flexibility to accelerate our process if/when necessary? If not, sometimes an empathetic and encouraging ear will act as the critical bridge when timing becomes an issue. All processes should be implemented with full cognition they don’t exist in a vacuum. Over the course of time, each step to our process that adds time will cost us the services of one or more candidates we otherwise would have hired.  Our competitors who are more risk tolerant are moving faster than us…giving them a huge competitive advantage in securing top talent. Their more immediate feedback provides the benefits of a more decisive and enthusiastic response from the perspective of the candidate.
    Immediate feedback just feels so much better!

  4. Seek 3rd Party Assistance

    Sometimes elements of our pre-screening processes will be outsourced to third parties. Push your vendors for quicker turnaround times. If they need a week, why not 3 days; three days, why not one day? If they can’t improve, find a competent vendor with a better model who can. Everyday our star candidate is on the market is another day he/she is exposed to options that could take them away from us.

  5. Benchmark

    Buy somebody lunch. Benchmark your processes on a regular basis with other companies. Find the ones who are doing it well and doing it quickly.

By keeping in mind the feelings/emotions that contribute along with rational analysis to inform our candidate’s ultimate decision, we are better prepared to navigate the optimal path between our process requirements and the realities of the marketplace.

Keep the process as short and pleasant as possible and you’ll improve your offer/acceptance ratio.

Good luck!