5 signs you need to rethink your hiring strategy
Finding the right talent is never an easy task. No matter the market conditions there are always roadblocks which are in your way to find the perfect fit for your team. There are a lot of different factors which influence the level of talent attraction your company might have on. Because of that it is especially difficult to identify if the hiring strategy you’ve implemented works or doesn’t work. That being said there are a few red flags that can point towards a wrong hiring strategy. We complied a list of the main 5 situations to watch out for:
You spend a lot of time reviewing candidates but you never interview anyone
Reviewing candidates can take up a lot of time and selecting best ones is a crucial part of finding the right fit at the end. Usually you don’t interview every candidate you review but at the same time if you don’t interview anyone, you waste time without getting results. If you find yourself in this scenario you should start with looking at your job descriptions. Having unclear job descriptions may lead to candidates applying for roles they don’t fit into. Most jobboards offer having pre-set criteria which filters out candidates that are not a fit. We usually encourage companies to talk to candidates even if they don’t fit 100% of the criteria but you might have some non-negotiables like a specific location, language or seniority. If thats the case be very clear on your job description. If you’re working with an agency and you keep getting profiles which don’t fit into what you’re looking for there may be a need to communicate your requirements again.
Your team is not as diverse as it should be
This happens quite a lot - especially if you tend to hire through your own network. Why? Because we like to surround ourselves with people that are similar to us.
If you are striving to have a team with different backgrounds, new ideas, and people that can reinvent the box instead of just thinking outside of it you have to use other channels to find them. It’s important to actively approach people with different backgrounds and experiences because hances are they haven’t heard about you and your company. If you are looking to hire people from underrepresented groups you can look into specific networks and you can work with a third party that concentrates on finding those people that usually don’t cross your desk.
You have a lot of candidates dropping out of your interview process
Let’s face it - having someone dropping out your process after you invested a lot of time in speaking to them and you were convinced that they are what you’re looking for is very frustrating. While this can be influences by many personal and economic factors there are two other big reasons why people drop out of interview processes. One of them is having a very long interview process. While it’s important to assess qualifications properly to make an informed hiring decision we don’t recommend having an interview process that is longer than three stages. Especially when people are engaged in different processes at the same time. If your candidate gets an offer when they are only half-way through your process they will probably just take the other offer instead of waiting for you to make a decision. The other one reason why candidates are choosing a different company over yours is having big gaps between interviews and no feedback circles. It’s very important to keep candidates engaged throughout the process and provide feedback accordingly. Keeping candidates hanging in the air can give the impression that your company doesn’t care and results in people withdrawing from the process
Your roles are open for longer than 2 months
The average hiring cycle is 4-6 weeks. This can be a bit longer for very senior positions but if you’re roles are constantly open for longer than that it’s time to take a closer look. Of course, it’s important to find the right fit but you have to take the opportunity costs of not having someone in a crucial position into consideration. Review your requirements and make sure you don’t set the bar too high and the requirements too specific. You should expect candidates to be able to acquire skills and knowledge over time with your company. If you’re hiring someone to do exactly what they are already doing, using what they already know - why should they join you? People want to grow within their role and learn new things and therefore it’s important as an employer to provide those areas and trust their hires that they are able to grow to their full potential on the job.
The people you are interviewing are either underqualified or overqualified
Did you start interviewing someone only to find out they don’t tick the right boxes? You might need to review your search and outreach. It can be especially difficult with funky Start-up titles and years of experience don’t always translate 1:1 into one’s capabitlties but if they will give you an indication. If you’re reaching out to potential candidates make clear what is expected of them.
