You’re already under pressure to hire skilled trade talent in a candidate-driven market.
The job market is moving faster than ever before, and you’re scrambling to fill open positions to keep productivity high. You can’t afford to wait around, especially when job seekers rule the hiring process.
If you’ve already lost qualified candidates to the competition, you’re far from alone. More and more companies are racing to hire top talent. But they’re not just racing against each other; they’re racing against the clock, too.
What does that mean for your company?
Well, if you take too long, you’ll end up losing your top picks to the competition. The median time to hire ranges between 33 and 49 days, and you need to accelerate your hiring process to lock in skilled talent before it’s too late.
Here’s why speed is critical for hiring top talent, and how you can speed up your recruitment strategy for a seamless hiring process.
Why Does Speed Matter?
Want to improve your hiring process? First things first—you’ll need to understand why speed is so critical to successful recruitment. You already know that people are your #1 asset, and you need qualified candidates to push your company forward. Of course, top-trade talent is hard to come by.
Why? While the demand for talent has increased, the supply of skilled talent has decreased. Countless organizations are struggling to hire qualified talent, and the numbers back this up: 72 percent of businesses report the lack of skilled talent availability as the top threat to their organization’s health—up 59 percent from last year.
At the same time, most skilled trade talent is already employed. Sure, employed candidates are going to seek out new opportunities. It’s inevitable. But if they’re hit with a slow hiring process, lack of communication, or otherwise poor candidate experience, they’ll probably choose to stay with their current employer.
That’s where speed can be your MVP. When you have a faster hiring process, you’ll drastically lower dropout rates and increase your chances of hiring high-quality candidates.
Here’s how you can improve your quality of hire with speedy hiring:
- You’ll see fewer high-quality candidates drop out. Again, if you’re taking too long to schedule interviews or leaving potential candidates on read, your top picks are going to drop out of the hiring process. Chances are, your best candidates are fielding multiple job offers—and your poor candidate experience is only going to send them straight to the competition.
- Slow hiring leaves you with average candidates. After your ideal candidates drop out of the hiring process, you’ll have a lower-performing talent pool to choose from. If your hiring process takes too long and you’re left with low-quality candidates, you risk lost productivity and high churn.
- Quick hiring reflects your employer brand. When you stay in touch with applicants from application to onboarding, you’ll build a strong employer brand—and that can be a powerful reflection of your company culture.
- Fast hiring reduces candidate bidding. If you make an offer before the competition, you won’t have to deal with back-and-forth salary negotiations. This way, you can afford high-quality candidates without costly bidding wars. Win-win!
Dos and Don’ts of Speedy Hiring
Now that you know why speed matters, it’s time to ramp up your hiring process. The most important thing to remember? Speedy hiring takes practice. Even if you’re desperate to slash your time to hire, it’s not going to happen overnight.
You need to finetune your process to filter out bad hires and drive your top picks down the talent funnel, but you don’t want to rush through recruitment just to fill open positions with average candidates.
If it sounds like a delicate tightrope walk, it is. But there’s good news: We’re here to help.
Here’s how to accelerate your hiring process without sacrificing your quality of hire.
Do: Maintain Constant Communication
The only thing more important than speed? Communication. If you want to keep top-trade talent interested in your organization, you need to establish a clear communication strategy between applicants and hiring managers.
To start, run an audit on your current communication strategy. How long does it take to reach out to candidates? How do you treat rejected applicants? What’s your average application to interview time? Once you’ve documented your current process, it’s time to search for areas of improvement.
When you select applicants for further consideration, you need to keep them updated with consistent, timely, and on-brand messaging. And remember: You need to inform applicants who didn’t meet your qualifications that you won’t be moving forward, too.
Don’t: Go MIA After the Application
Sometimes, you’ll need to run a slow recruitment process. Maybe funding doesn’t come in on time, you’re waiting to meet with department managers, or company policies are keeping your hands tied. It happens to every organization, but that doesn’t mean you should leave your applicants with radio silence.
If you’re facing recruitment problems, let your applicants know about the delay. Transparency and honest communication can help you create a positive candidate experience, even if you can’t fast-track the hiring process.
Do: Invest in Recruitment Tools
When it comes to hiring, automation can save the day. Recruitment tools like applicant tracking can streamline your communication strategy by automating emails, scheduling interviews, and keeping candidates updated throughout the hiring process.
This way, you won’t have to scramble to send 100 emails to rejected applicants and schedule 10 interviews with your top picks. Instead, you can “trigger” emails to save time, eliminate errors, and maintain on-brand communication from start to finish.
Don’t: Confuse Speed With Haste
Look: We’re living in a 24/7/365 always-on digital age. When you combine advanced technology with the “instant gratification” mindset, it’s only natural for your candidates to expect a hiring decision right away.
Speed isn’t just a competitive advantage anymore—it’s an expectation. But there’s a catch: If you put too much emphasis on speed, you’re not going to drive results. When hiring managers confuse “speed” with “haste,” it can have serious consequences on your quality of hire.
The last thing you want to do is make hasty hiring decisions. Instead of rushing through the hiring process, take the time to sort through applications, screen your applicants, and interview your top picks. Just make sure to keep your applicants updated throughout the process.
Do: Be Flexible
Imagine this: You’ve successfully accelerated your hiring process. You reach out to your top candidate with a job offer—but when it comes to negotiating workplace benefits, it all falls apart over the details. What do you do?
Organizations offer tons of benefits these days, from workplace happy hours to public transport passes. If you’re not willing to match the competition, you’re probably going to fall behind in the war for talent. Whenever possible, be willing to negotiate. Allow someone with a long commute to work longer shifts and fewer days, offer a few extra holidays, or match their bonus from their last job.
At the end of the day, you can afford to be flexible for top talent, especially if they’re going to increase your bottom line.
Don’t: Forget About Onboarding
Speed shouldn’t end after you extend the job offer. Even after you’ve hired your ideal candidate, you need to treat them with the same respect and transparency during the onboarding process.
Speedy onboarding can have long-lasting impacts on your organization. According to Glassdoor research, organizations with robust onboarding improve new hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by more than 70 percent. You don’t want to leave new hires waiting to hear back about their starting day. Worst-case scenario? They’ll start having second thoughts about your company.
How can you create an effective onboarding process? In the short term, maintain regular communication to keep new hires engaged about their position. Make sure all necessary paperwork is completed before their starting day to avoid any delays. Most importantly, introduce new hires to their team for a seamless transition from new hire to employee.
Win the Race for Talent
The job market is becoming even more fast-paced. Your candidates expect you to deliver an instant decision, and your competition is heating up.
The best way to win talent is to move quickly.
If you can’t compete in the race for talent, you’ll find yourself at the back of the pack.
Ready to streamline the hiring process? We’re here to help you take the first step. Download our self-audit checklist and schedule a discovery call to win the race for talent.
