It’s hard to think about hiring at a time like this, but—hopefully—before we know, our lockdown will be over, business will return, and millions of people will be looking for work. And if you want to make sure your company rebounds as fast as your competition, you need to be prepared. Here are six reasons you should be ready to hire quickly.
Act fast
Hiring is no easy task. It’s a big decision, and in an ideal world, you’d be able to take your time and do it right. After all, a bad hire is a really costly mistake. But if you spend too much time interviewing and reading resumes and making decisions, you’ll shoot yourself in the foot. A prolonged hiring process can cost you money and resources, not to mention the sinking morale that comes with having your other employees take over duties for the open positions.
Save money and resources
First and foremost, a quick hiring process saves your company time and money. Consider the money you pay recruiters, paying for any advertising you do, the loss of time and resources when your managers and other employees are busy conducting interviews or scanning resumes, and the lack of productivity that results from unfilled positions.
Make better hires
If you can conduct a speedy job search, you’ll be able to make an offer to your top candidate. But if you take your time and drag your feet, by the time you’re ready to make an offer you’ll be left with those bottom of the barrel candidates because the top ones will have already been hired by your competitors. This doesn’t mean you have to lower your standards or skip over part of your process—you should still do thorough interviews, complete background checks, and tour candidates around your company. It just means you’ll need to work harder, faster.
Provide a quality candidate experience
Candidates don’t like being strung along either. They like employers who move quickly and are honest with them. If you take weeks to get back to them or schedule another interview, they get frustrated and are more likely to accept a job elsewhere. But if you’re quick to give them honest feedback, they’ll be appreciative of that and even if you don’t end up hiring them, they’ll spread the word about you to colleagues and may even be more likely to apply with you in the future.
Generate better response rates
Your candidates love it when you’re speedy with your process and get back to them more quickly. They’re more anxious than you are when they apply to jobs, so if you can minimize that angst, they’ll be happier and more likely to respond positively. Plus, if you move fast, you’re more likely to snatch up the best talent, instead of taking everyone else’s sloppy seconds. When you have less time between your interview process and presenting your offer, you give candidates less time to interview elsewhere or consider other offers.
Everyone leaves happy
Hiring managers love when they can make quick hires and fill their openings as fast as possible. Lags in the process are frustrating, both for managers and for your employees who have to pick up the slack for a missing employee.
For more advice on how to prepare for the surge of hiring, check out our website at https://www.chiefofstaffkc.com.
Blog written by Erin Greenhalgh