Over the years we have experienced a number of companies lose out on top talent due to the speed at which they hire. The issue might be down to the time it takes to make the final decision, sending an offer or sending the contract of employment.
In this article we wanted to share some insight into why speed is crucial when hiring to ensure you don’t lose out on great people joining your business. In a market where talent is hard to find it is crucial that employers are ready to move quickly to secure professionals in the construction industry. So to help we have listed 3 scenarios, based on first hand experience, that become a threat to your hiring if your hiring process takes too long…
Counter offers
Although we always speak to candidates we work with about the key reasons not to accept a counter offer, the longer you take the more likely it is that the candidate will accept a counter offer. Often when a candidate is waiting for a long period of time to receive an offer they start to feel like you either don’t value them or that moving to a company where processes take too long could be a warning sign that it is the wrong company to join. Put yourself in their shoes; how would you feel if you were waiting around?
You have to remember that we as recruiters will be speaking with the candidate on a regular basis to reassure them that the offer/contract is on its way. However, there comes a point when we can’t keep the candidate interested any longer and that’s when the decision is made that they will take the enhanced offer from their current employer and stay in a business they know. Can you really blame the candidate?
Multiple offers
Sometimes you will find yourself in a straight up battle with a competitor to hire a candidate. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, top talent is becoming harder to find, so when a great candidate starts to look for a new role more often than not they will be speaking to a number of employers.
So with this in mind, it’s vital that you are quick with your decision making and sending contracts of employment. Even if the candidate wants to join your business over a competitor, the longer you take the more frustrated the candidate will become and the more likely they will accept another offer.
Waiting too long
There comes a point for any candidate when they say enough is enough. The candidate has gone to multiple interviews for a particular role, taking time out of their working day and sometimes evenings to meet with you to then have to wait for a long period of time to secure an offer or contract of employment.
Although we obviously work hard to keep the candidate engaged with the hiring process, there also comes a point for us as recruiters where we can’t do anything else to help keep this candidate happy. You can’t really blame a candidate for getting annoyed when this happens, as they feel they are being messed around.
Need help with your recruitment?
We pride ourselves on our service and are always pushing boundaries to help improve this for our clients and candidates. We have relationships with thousands of great candidates across the construction, civils, rail, power and telecoms sectors. If you want to find out about our services in more detail and how we can help you and your business visit our client services page.
