When it comes to making a hiring decision – how long is too long?

The answer to that is largely dependent on whom you are asking – the company or the candidate.

We are in a highly competitive talent economy. According to an August 2023 jobs report, the unemployment rate is very low at 3.8%.? Some businesses such as healthcare and hospitality remain desperate for workers. – So why are businesses dragging their feet when it comes to making job offers?

Is it FOMT aka Fear Of Missing Talent??

Overthinking a hire can make a top candidate walk away without thinking twice. Employers must realize that a long hiring process often undermines the selection of superior candidates and jeopardizes a prospective hire’s perception of your employer brand.? Post pandemic candidates have become less tolerant with tardy decision makers and worse, they’ll take to social media to complain about it.?

Employment experts report that the top 10% of talent disappears from the marketplace within 10 days. Like products stamped with a “buy by date” –?talent is perishable!?Compare this 10-day turnaround with the current average nationwide hiring time of 44 days, although some experts predict it is actually closer to 50 days according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Candidate quality varies and exceptional talent shouldn’t face the same hiring process as mediocre talent.?? Before and during the interview process, a candidate’s interest is at its highest. A slow hiring process takes on the bell curve affect – as time goes by, the excitement wanes.?? Hiring slowly does not improve your field of talent, it limits it.?Why settle, when you can select?

What else happens in a long hiring process?

• Candidates remaining in the talent pool are likely to?not?be as qualified as the initial set.
• Companies who get reputations as lengthy hires, remove themselves from the candidate’s field of vision. Sites like?glassdoor.com ?and?vault.com ?where candidates write online reviews of their hiring experience can significantly influence how talent evaluates a potential workplace. Word gets around and candidates may not even consider your firm as a valid opportunity.
• A slow hiring process can be an indicator of a poor company culture. Inefficiency and/or slow decision-making can translate into an image of a company that doesn’t value its employees.
• An early offer can also help keep salaries in check before other potential offers drive up your candidate’s price.
• Your relationship with external search partners suffers. Recruiters work hard to source exceptional talent, but when you opt to “think about it” – they may already have gone on to market their hot candidate to another potential employer. Trust your recruiter to know and understand your skill set and culture so that someone they refer is on point right from the start. A longer search doesn’t always equal better choices. Don’t impede your recruiter’s desire to work on your opening.

Bottomline… The longer a vacant position stays open, productivity decreases and the cost of hiring goes up. Employment experts agree that some solutions lie in tapping into internal talent pools, removing barriers to internal mobility, actively employing contract workers in the interim and embracing automation and predictive analytics to drive hiring efficiencies.

Still in a candidate driven market, providing a fast and flawless candidate experience is imperative. Every unnecessary day has a financial impact on your firm’s productivity, performance and revenues. Analyze and finetune your company’s hiring process so that you give yourself all the right strategies and tools for bringing on board only the most effective and highest quality talent.

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