One of the most burning issues for companies today is figuring out how to reduce the time it takes to fill open positions. Despite a newfound awareness of the dangers of slow hiring, the average time to fill across the country has risen steadily over the last several years.
Time-to-hire is increasing…
According to data from Glassdoor Economic Research, the length of the interview process alone nearly doubled between 2010 and 2014. That figure doesn't even include the time it takes companies to identify or follow up with the candidates they end up interviewing. What's more, the study also found that jobs that require a higher skill level, which often cost a company more when vacant than lower level positions, took even longer to fill.
Among the reasons Glassdoor cited for the growing time to fill were a number of lengthy screening processes becoming increasingly popular, including background checks, drug tests, skill screenings and personality tests.
While these tools are intended to help companies make better quality hires, the time they take to implement, plus the ever-lengthening interview process, can send an industry's most talented members packing just days after they submit their applications.
…but talent acquired is not
Consider the following anecdote recruiting expert Dr. John Sullivan cited in an article for ERE Media: "A candidate from a well-known benchmark firm dropped out of our search for a General Manager position because the hiring manager took a week to respond to his interest. [The candidate] said, 'It's not like I need their job. If it takes them a week to respond to a resume like mine for a job of this importance, they're not the kind of company I want to work for. I move fast, and I can already see that my style wouldn't fit their culture.'"
Sullivan's example brings this paradox to focus: In an effort to make the highest-quality hire possible, companies end up practically throwing their chances of hiring the most impactful candidates out the window.
Plus, when companies do finally make a hire, they find themselves in a revenue hole out of which it can be difficult to emerge. While some people assume open positions save a company money on its payroll, Sullivan says "vacant position days" ultimately end up costing companies far more in lost revenue than they save on salary. Even in roles that don't directly contribute to an organization's bottom line as directly as sales seats might, Sullivan says operational inefficiency or an increase in error rates can be equally as detrimental.
Moreover, the people an organization eventually brings on will be further along in their job search process, meaning that they will likely be bid on. Even if a company wins the bidding war, they are then stuck paying more than they should have to, meaning it will take them longer to make up the cost of the vacancy.
The value of recruiting
To avoid these pitfalls and speed up their hiring process, companies should consider working with retained executive search firms. Recruiters' vast networks and industry expertise enable them to reach out to top-tier talent before it starts actively seeking a job, giving organizations a head start in filling newly vacated positions.
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