Many managers blame a slow process for losing candidates. Tips to hire the right people, faster

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Déjà Leonard works as a writer specializing in advertising and also contributes as a journalist, offering her services independently in the city of Calgary.

You have discovered the perfect candidate, and you're prepared to extend an offer. You simply must await a few internal authorizations, confirm the budget is secured, and allow your teams a few days to compose the offer letter. Later in the week, the candidate informs you that they have already agreed to another offer from one of your rivals.

It is a frequently heard tale that companies often miss out on potential candidates due to the prolonged duration of their recruitment process. Recent data provided by Robert Half, a professional staffing services provider, reveals that a staggering 92 percent of hiring managers have experienced a missed opportunity to hire a qualified individual within the past year. Surprisingly, more than one-third of these hiring managers admit that the main reason behind this missed opportunity is the sluggish speed at which their hiring process operates.

According to Jacob Lanyadoo, the head of TechBonjour, a consultancy firm in Montreal, organizations of varying scales face difficulties when it comes to hiring expeditiously.

According to Mr. Lanyadoo, one of the longstanding challenges we face with our clients is the lack of timely hiring, resulting in missed chances.

Modifying your approach to recruit new employees

TechBonjour supports founders and business executives in efficiently and successfully expanding their operations. They have contributed to establishing various teams for businesses at a later stage of development.

In an instance, TechBonjour collaborated with a firm consisting of approximately 45 staff members. They had acquired a substantial sum of $300 million from venture capital and aimed to expand their workforce twofold.

"People are occupied with their occupations, and the result would be that we presented highly qualified individuals to these recruitment managers, who in turn would take an eternity to schedule a phone conversation," explained Mr. Lanyadoo.

Something had to be different, so TechBonjour began collaborating closely with the head of human resources to bring about internal changes.

This consisted of a compulsory daily stand-up gathering twice a week for recruitment supervisors to give updates, scheduling specific time slots in recruitment supervisors' schedules to make phone calls, and implementing a robust service-level agreement that ensured recruitment supervisors were responsible for contacting suitable candidates within 72 hours.

Typically, it would take the company around six weeks to proceed to the second interview with a candidate. However, following certain internal modifications, Mr. Lanyadoo observed that contracts were being finalized and individuals were being recruited within a timeframe shorter than six weeks.

Advice on how to successfully recruit the ideal candidates in a shorter time frame.

According to Mr. Lanyadoo, it is important to establish objectives, but it is crucial not to make them random, as this often results in a state of "being stuck overthinking," as he explained.

Numerous corporations enforce regulations concerning the minimum number of applicants and interviews required, resulting in an unjustifiably sluggish procedure.

"He mentioned that it is crucial to recruit the individual you have an affinity for, as soon as you come across them, regardless of whether they happen to be the initial candidate you interview," he expressed.

Furthermore, in the event that you hold a position as a hiring manager, it is conceivable that implementing extensive modifications to hiring practices may be beyond your control. However, you possess the ability to foster responsibility and ensure that both yourself and other individuals within your organization adhere to high standards.

Whether it is via written records, like the service-level agreement mentioned previously, or by contacting the human resources department or recruiters to provide them with feedback and express your requirements for the continued progression of the process.

According to him, this contributes to establishing responsibility from both sides.

I'm currently advising all of my clients to take action by hiring for the roles they anticipate needing in the upcoming three to six months, shared Mr. Lanyadoo.

According to him, businesses, particularly in the technology sector, have excessively laid off employees and will eventually have to recruit again.

"I believe that by the conclusion of this year, we will find ourselves in a situation where the exceptional caliber of talent, which is presently unusually accessible, will be swiftly secured," he remarked.

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