Many organizations are unwittingly fighting with candidates rather than fighting for them. We see this time and time again simply because old, outdated practices have never been adapted or removed from the hiring process. Like old wallpaper, no one thinks about it or notices it. However, in this insanely competitive marketplace for talent, the candidates are noticing - and they're dropping out in droves.
The root problem? Organizations view the hiring manager as the customer in the hiring process and enable their preferences, whims and habits regardless of the impact it has on the speed and quality of hiring. TA teams often bend over backwards to "service" their "internal customers" - these hiring managers.
Here is a quick way to tell if you're in a war ON talent:
- The hiring manager directs the screening and selection process. They decide when they'll respond to recruiters, who interviews candidates, how many candidates they'd like to see, how many interviews take place, what type of interviews are used, etc.
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- Hiring rules are outdated, arbitrary and not relevant to today's talent marketplace.
- There is one application process for all roles / candidates - and it hasn't changed in awhile.
- Candidates are asked to complete one or more assessments before talking to anyone - or every candidate for all (or most) roles takes the same assessment.
- Panel interviews (2, 3, 4 - even 5 - interviewers at the same time) are the norm.
- Passive candidates aren't identified and engaged over time.
- The offer process involves a lot of discussion, approvals, and more than 24 hours.
- No one knows how many candidates drop out of the recruiting process, at which step or why.
If you're in a war FOR talent, you're doing the opposite:
- The customer in the hiring process is the most qualified candidate and hiring managers and recruiters are partners.
- Different application processes exist for roles that require active vs. passive candidates.
- Compliance is an outcome of a fast, effective, segmented and well-engineered suite of hiring processes.
- The use of assessments is limited, role-specific, takes place after the candidate is engaged, and has a clear purpose.
- One-on-one interviews, which are better for selection decision-making and the candidate experience, are the norm.
- A suite of processes, segmented by role type and the availability of talent in the marketplace, determines the number and type of interviews - not the hiring manager.
- The offer process takes place within 24 hours after the final interviews.
- The TA team and hiring leaders know exactly how many candidates drop out of the recruiting process, at which step or why.
If you haven't re-engineered your hiring process in the last 12 months, it's time to do it and we are here to help. Send us a note for a quick call.
