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It can happen at any company. You need to hire a replacement, list the job description and then get busy with another project. Weeks go by and suddenly you realize you’re still trying to fill that position. Every industry has a different time-to-hire cycle, but the general average is between 20 and 30 days. If you’re spending more than that amount of time hiring someone, you could be losing the best candidates to your competitors.
Shortening the hiring process can be crucial to your company getting the best employees. Keep reading to understand how to reduce the time-to-hire cycle and expedite the process.
Find the Delay
When an organization has a long time-to-hire cycle, It’s important to figure out where the hold-up is. Sometimes there’s a hiring manager who doesn’t respond to candidates quickly enough, so they end up finding another position.
“So much of it begins with the fundamentals that AI or ATSs can’t fix,” said career coach and recruiting expert Ed Samuel.
If your typical time-to-hire cycle always takes longer than it should, try to figure out the root cause of the lag. Then, you can take steps to mitigate those reasons.
Use Internal Referrals
Before listing a position publicly, it can be helpful to ask existing employees if they can refer a candidate. Having a list of internal referrals can speed up the time-to-hire process, even if you still have to vet applicants’ credentials and interview them.
“People in the company are vouching for these people and their credibility,” Samuel said.
You can also ask managers to keep a running list of potential hires before they actually need to fill a position. For example, if they meet someone at a conference, they can store their information somewhere so a recruiter can contact them personally when a job is available.
Recruiters who want to be even more proactive can use social media sites to find eligible candidates to keep on their potential roster. You can use database software to keep track of these people.
Use More Resources
One of the most obvious solutions to shorten the time-to-hire span is to figure out how many positions each recruiter is responsible for. Samuel said that he once worked at a company where each recruiter was responsible for filling 45 positions – when the industry standard is closer to 12. Because each person was overworked, they were not able to adequately source and hire candidates.
“As soon as we added resources and dropped it down to 12-15 positions per recruiter, we started filling positions,” Samuel said.
If your recruiters are trying to juggle more openings than they can reasonably handle, it can clog up the pipeline and slow everything down. Some companies are reluctant to spend more money on recruiting. That’s when Samuel asks them to calculate how much they’re losing by not having the position filled – in terms of lost revenue, lost productivity or both.
For example, if you’re losing $25,000 a month by not filling a position, then that should give you the ammunition necessary to hire more recruiters. Once you measure exactly how much not filling the position is costing you, you can justify hiring more recruiters.
Make Interviews More Efficient
Another major wrench in the pipeline is the number of interviews that companies conduct. According to Samuel, the maximum number of interviews you should have for a job is four. The first interview should be a basic screener lasting around 20 minutes. The next interview can be with a hiring manager or a group interview.
Also, instead of having multiple one-on-one interviews, there should be more group interviews to expedite the process.
“Always making it one-on-one is pretty inefficient,” Samuel said.
Change Your ATS
Nowadays, many companies use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that weeds out candidates who don’t fit the job description. However, the system is built by humans, which means that sometimes the ATS needs to be tweaked to work efficiently.
For example, if you set too high standards for the ATS, you may be shooting yourself in the foot.
“If you have somebody that submits an application and it gets a 75% to 80% match, it should come out the other end,” Samuel said. “If you screen it too tight, you’re not getting enough candidates.”
The purpose of the ATS is to have a strong list of potential employees for the hiring manager to sort through. You may also have the opposite problem if you screen too loosely and end up with an influx of people who are not at all right for the position.
Determine if You Need to Fill the Position
When a position has been open for months, one of the questions that many recruiters don’t ask is if it is really necessary to fill the job.
“Sometimes if a position has been open more than 90 days, I would ask, ‘Well do we need this position?’” Samuel said.
At that point, you can talk to other people in the department to decide if they still need someone on board or if the duties have been adequately absorbed by other people.
Retool the Job Description
One of the most common errors that Samuel sees is recruiters or HR personnel using old job descriptions when listing an opening. When this happens, the people who apply tend not to be a good fit for the company’s current needs.
Before the position is listed, impacted stakeholders should revise the job description to ensure that it meets current needs.
Sell the Position Better
If you’re in a highly competitive job market, you need to make your company stand out. One way to do that is to improve the careers page on your site. Some career pages don’t list the jobs that a company is hiring for.
You should also highlight what benefits and perks come with the job. Remember, it’s the candidate’s job to sell themselves, but it’s your job to sell the company.
For a comprehensive list of the top talent acquisition tools, visit our marketplace now. Happy hiring!
