The Consequences of Indecisive Hiring

When you are hiring, do you catch yourself doing any of the following?

Wanting to see four or more candidates before making a decision.

Interviewing, then sitting on the decision for a few days.

Putting more than three people on your team between a candidate and a yes.

If you answered yes to any of these, it may be time to change your approach.

Why Waiting Costs You

Hiring right now is a lot like the Atlanta home buying market. When you see a house you love, you make an offer — even if you haven’t seen two or three other houses to compare. In the same way, candidate #1 will not wait until you have a candidate #2, #3, and #4. Waiting will likely cost you that first, great candidate.

Good candidates always have options, and the best ones usually have several. To grow, you have to appeal to them, not just evaluate them. Many candidates we talk to say a drawn-out interview process is the main reason they walked away from a job.

Best Practices in This Market

Plan the process on the front end. With your recruiter, build an interview plan that gets your 2-3 interviewers in front of the candidate within the same few days. Deciding your process up front lets you be clear and transparent with candidates about what to expect.

The 8-hour rule. Get back to your recruiter within 8 business hours after an interview to communicate next steps: no-go, offer, or second interview.

Do not hesitate on a great candidate. If you interview someone great, move. Old policies and requirements that slow you down just don’t work right now. Insisting on seeing multiple people means losing the first ones.

As always, we are here to guide you. This is a rough hiring time, but with the right process it can be efficient — and you can win the people you want. Need a hand? Grab a free 30-minute session with one of our HR experts, and we’ll tighten up your process together.