Timing is Everything

Saturday, September 26th, 2020

A key mantra in sales is that “time kills all deals.” When an opportunity for a sale is presented, the salesman should go all out to close that deal as quickly as possible. Another cliché that comes to mind is “striking while the iron is hot.” Ultimately, it’s important not to waste any time from the moment of interest to when the customer signs on the dotted line.

It’s no different in recruiting. We’ve seen potential candidates lost due to companies dragging their feet, and then the process starts all over again. While we would never recommend impulsive decision-making by organizations, letting red tape get in the way of a perfectly good hire just isn’t smart business. Simply tweaking your strategy—or approaching key personnel hires with a streamlined process—can make all the difference. Here are a few tips to consider:

Remain Engaged with Candidates

No matter how interested a candidate is in your organization’s position, a long wait between an interview and an offer only decreases your chances of landing them. In a perfect world, you’ll stick to promised response timeframes, and you’ll keep those timeframes short—especially when you’re going after a coveted candidate. But staying in front of a potential hire, be it in person or over the phone, can help you maintain their interest in case they get cold feet or additional offers.

Empower Someone to Fill Key Positions

For specialized or key positions, empowering a qualified Hiring Manager or HR Director within your organization to make decisions can ensure that top candidates don’t slip through the cracks. Valuable time is lost when you undergo decision-by-committee. This allows one person to be responsible for the candidate, from the interview to the on-boarding process. This small shift can significantly—and positively—impact your entire hiring process.

Coordinate with Key Decision-Makers

For some organizations, empowering one person is not a viable option. If multiple decision-makers/interviewers are involved in the process, then having an integrated system—one where all parties involved are held accountable—is crucial. For example, all parties should meet in advance of follow-up interviews to ensure that the same questions aren’t asked, and that the candidate’s time isn’t wasted.

Remember, They’re Watching Your Every Move

When you’re recruiting, it’s easy to get caught up in the fact that you’re evaluating potential talent to come work for your organization. However, throughout the process your recruits are evaluating you, too. If your hiring strategy isn’t organized, or if there’s too much dead time between communications, it’s only logical that they’ll start to pass judgment on your organization—and question whether or not they want to join it.

Many of the problems we’ve mentioned in this post can be avoided by having a true recruiting and hiring strategy. Streamlining your process can ensure you don’t leave interested candidates twisting in the wind. Once they’re on the line, you certainly want to reel them in. Working with Waypoint Search would help you find and close more candidates. We are passionate about placing top-flight talent in the perfect position. In our minds, the perfect position is the one that provides ultimate career satisfaction for our candidates, and that delivers desired long-term results for our clients. Since people are at the heart of every recruiting effort, relationships are paramount to sustainable success. That’s why we practice a hands-on approach that keeps our candidates and clients at the center of everything we do. We like to say we’re the right people to find your right people. Contact us today.