If yours is the sort of firm whose hiring protocol consists seven interview stages and a month of indecision, you might want to Google the ancient Chinese practice of “Lingchi.” The details are too troubling to get into here; suffice it to say that one common translation of the term is “death by a thousand cuts.” If you’d like to see you firm slowly fall to pieces, go ahead and stop reading now.
Here are four reasons why you need to stop overanalyzing your new hires and start making hiring decisions faster, and with more confidence:
Hire the Best
Where hiring top talent is concerned, slow and steady doesn’t win any races. While it may be true that the national time-to-fill average sits at 25 days—its highest since 2001—the best candidates are off the market in 10 days or less. This means that while you are inviting your top pick back for their fifth round of interviews, the competition is issuing an offer you are unprepared to match. That’s cut number one.
Save Money
Beyond the risk of missing out on top talent, a “hire slow, fire fast” mentality opens a leak in your finances. Recruiter time, after all, comes at a price…but that’s just the beginning. Consider that every time you divert your firm’s leaders from work for an interview, productivity dips. Add to this the daily cost of unfilled positions, and the scale of loss becomes clear. Some analysts propose that delayed hiring costs companies more than $12k per year, per recruiter. That’s cut number two.
Boost your Image
Company image is yet another reason to accelerate your hiring protocol. Just as a decisive character is attractive in a person, so too is it attractive in a company. Top talent will notice if you’re quick to act and clear in your intentions, which, in turn, will distinguish you you’re your competitors and boost your firm’s reputation. On the flip side, indecision in hiring is not a great look. Candidates will take note, word will get out, and pretty soon you won’t just have to worry about nabbing top talent, but also about getting the best to apply in the first place. That’s cut number three.
Nourish Morale
Lastly, dragging your heels through the hiring process doesn’t just wear on you, but on everyone involved. Hiring managers and firm leaders, like all human beings, want to feel like they are hitting targets, closing requisitions, and doing their job well. Missed opportunities and delayed hires chip away at job satisfaction. Likewise, a long recruitment cycle deprives hiring managers of the talent they need when they need it, preventing them from doing their job to the best of their ability. Lagging morale among those responsible for onboarding new hires hinders retention and compounds the issues addressed above. That’s cut number four.
These cuts, multiplied over every hiring cycle, culminate in a wound that bleeds away your ability to compete with the best. In time, your firm’s lifeblood (read: talent) runs dry.
Show Your Smarts: Schedule a FREE Discovery Session with Molly McGrath
All of this doesn’t mean that you should sprint through the hiring process or throw caution to the wind when evaluating candidates. Faster doesn’t mean reckless: it means smarter. For more on this, consider scheduling a free discovery session with Hiring & Empowering Solutions founder, Molly McGrath. Meanwhile, check out our Smart Hire Solution™—the perfect tool for protecting your firm from death by a thousand cuts.
