At Employment Solutions, we are seeing more and more employers use our services because of how long it takes to fill vacant roles through the standard channels. The industry standard has become slow and bloated, despite talent searching for shorter recruitment periods.
Below we run through exactly why recruitment is becoming longer, and detail some of the main reasons why it is harming your business.
Why Is Recruitment Getting Longer?
The reason that recruitment processes are becoming longer is that employers are using a higher number of complex screening methods. By utilising interviews, group exercises and any other kind of recruitment tool, employers are (in theory) whittling down their talent pool to find the perfect candidate.
In some fields this sort of vetting is totally necessary; in specialist areas of expertise, it indeed may be unavoidable that candidates have to be selected with the utmost care. However, in many examples, candidates perceive these recruitment hurdles as simply just that - hurdles in the process.
Some other reasons that affect recruitment times include:
●Inappropriate candidates
●Ineffective job listings
●Expecting the ‘perfect’ candidate
You’re Building A Bad Brand Reputation
Word spreads fast in the world of work, and with websites like Glassdoor allowing job hunters to display their experiences in the workplace, companies have many more factors at play that can ultimately affect their reputation. As a managing director or business owner, the last thing you want is a flood of bad Google reviews coming in.
Job listings that are up for a long time also start to arouse questions. Job hunters might think: why haven’t they filled the position yet? They might start to think it’s because the job or the workplace itself is undesirable.
If your recruitment process is slow, bloated and unnecessarily difficult, how are applicants expected to view your workplace as anything else? The way you manage recruitment is just a taster of how you manage a business in every other area, so make sure that applicants get a sense of how streamlined you really are.
You’re Losing Interest From Skilled Talent
Applicants to your listings might be excited about the role, to begin with, but energy and motivation can be easily snuffed out. Don’t simply assume that all your candidates will be able to withstand a long recruitment process that includes several stages and in-person challenges.
You may lose out on the right candidate, simply because your recruitment took too long and their skills were instead picked up by an employer that respected their time. Talent that is high in demand won’t go too long without being given an offer by a competitor, so make sure that you don’t wait and miss your chance. Remember: interest can’t be taken for granted!
You’re Straining Your Existing Employees
Depending on the industry you work in, there could be any number of makeshift solutions for an open position. Most of these will likely include your existing employees "picking up the slack", covering duties beyond their remit, and generally dealing with the effects of an incomplete staff.
The longer you take to fill empty roles, the more time your current employees are spending with responsibilities they weren’t hired to take care of. This can quickly spiral into exhaustion, meaning that their work won’t be up to their usual standard.
How Can We Help?
If you are struggling to find the right length and approach for your recruitment process, it may be sensible to call upon the expertise of a specialist recruitment consultancy.
At Employment Solutions, we have 20 years of experience working with businesses from all sectors to help them develop the best approach to recruitment for the talent they are seeking. We can help you assess all aspects of your current methods, and develop a new and more streamlined hiring process that ensures you are able to access the very best candidates as efficiently as possible.
If you want to learn how you can shorten your recruitment process and fill positions with the best candidates in no time at all, contact Employment Solutions today on 0161 839 5353 or fill out our contact form.