Hiring a new employee, while crucial to an organisation's ongoing success, can often be a long, tedious process. According to a Glassdoor study conducted on nearly 350,000 interview reviews, companies need an average of 23 days to screen and hire new employees. This is up from 2010, when companies only took 13 days to settle on an applicant.

So, what are the effects of this decrease in speed to market? Aside from costing the business both time and money, a long selection process may turn away top talent. When well-qualified applicants find out that your company's hiring process takes weeks or even months, they will often lose interest and send their resumes elsewhere.

Does this issue sound all too familiar to you?

Read on to learn why your hiring process may be taking so long and how you can fix it.

Incorrect Job Descriptions

If you're spending a lot of time and money on the hiring process and you're not getting anywhere, the job description could be the culprit. Have you listed all the expectations? Does your overemphasis on strict requirements scare off interviewees? It might be time to re-evaluate.

To sort this out, go through the job description to ensure that it is straightforward, precise, and not overexaggerated. To attract qualified people for the position, the job descriptions need to be clear from the start. Spend some time on the job descriptions and see how this improves your candidate pool.

Ineffective Interviewing

Oftentimes the issue of slow hiring boils down to corporate inefficiency. In many cases, companies do not devote enough time or resources to recruiting a new person. This leads to a disorganized interviewing process.

If you have this problem, it's best to plan far in advance of interviews. Plan questions, create a detailed interview structure, and most importantly, have an idea of what you want in a new employee. This will make the selection process more time efficient and painless for everyone involved.

Lack of Qualified Talent

While you may receive many applicants for an open position, how many of those applicants are truly qualified for the role? Your viable talent pool may be much smaller than you realise. Especially for more industry-specific and technical roles, there are limited qualified candidates.

Despite this, many employers still insist on waiting until they have multiple final candidates to choose from. This not only delays the hiring process, but also causes those already in the final stages to lose interest and seek other opportunities. Therefore, it is essential that you put qualified candidates through your recruitment process quickly and make sure decision-makers are available to sign off as soon as possible. Failure to do so will cause you to miss out on the top talent already knocking at your door.

When All Else Fails, Hire A Recruitment Consultant

As outlined above, even the most prepared employers can hit bumps along the way. If you are able, it may be best to enlist the help of a recruitment consultant.

We have the networks, tools, and time available to find you the most qualified applicants. We even take care of the initial stages by conducting initial phone screenings and interviews. By the time we refer an applicant to you, there is a good chance that he or she is an excellent fit for your role. This significantly reduces the duration of the hiring process for both you and the candidate altogether.

A long hiring process not only costs money and time, but also turns top talent away. Sufficient preparation and calculated decision-making can help prevent this. Even so, the best option may be to seek a recruitment consultant. If you would like help speeding up your hiring process, contact me today.

Tony Henderson

+61 3 8606 0300

thenderson@morganconsulting.com.au