How Slow Hires Can Cost Your Business: 3 Reasons Why Speed Matters in Hiring

You would think with all the technology at our fingertips, hiring cycles would be getting faster, but they're not. It could be the uncertainty in the market or the uncertainty the hiring manager is experiencing in their own job. What if I make a mistake? How will it impact my company? How will it impact my reputation as a manager? Managers seem to be experiencing analysis paralysis in the hiring process.

Companies that used to move quickly when they saw a strong candidate are now adding steps to the process: cognitive testing, behavioral assessments, phone interviews, second phone interviews, and multiple in-person interviews. With all the time in between interviews and the challenge of aligning busy schedules, the process becomes unnecessarily prolonged.

Candidates begin to lose interest. Passive candidates with multiple opportunities start to gravitate toward other employers where their experience is less drawn out and managers are decisive.

I can’t tell you how many hiring managers come back to me after slowly deliberating on a hiring decision, and the candidate has already taken another job or has multiple competing offers. Hiring slowly is bad for business.

There Is No Evidence That A Longer Process Is Better: Speed Matters in Hiring

No empirical evidence suggests that prolonging the hiring process will result in a better candidate. The opposite is likely true, as stronger candidates will opt for a faster-moving employer.

Internal Stress

Positions are vacant for a reason. Most likely, it’s because someone has left, and undoubtedly, other employees are bearing the additional workload. Employees tend to be good about this to a certain extent, but the overload takes its toll. Eventually, the increased workload will have a negative effect on their morale and quality of life as they spend more and more hours at the office because a decision isn’t being made.

The Best Candidates Are Not Available for Very Long

High-performing individuals typically don't remain available for long. Expecting them to endure a lengthy hiring process is risky, as it allows your competitors to hire them before you do.

I’m not saying that due diligence shouldn’t be done in the hiring process; that wouldn’t make sense either. I am saying that we need to move more quickly. Speed matters in hiring, but so does diligence, and a positive candidate experience must be present in an effective hiring process.