As recruiters, we can tell you (and our annual study of the hiring market corroborates), that job candidates are more confident and discerning than they have been in years. Top-shelf talent is more passive and hard to reach than ever. Employers must invest in the candidate experience to market the employment opportunity with their company as seriously as they invest in the customer experience. Despite this new reality, some employers still operate with no particular urgency when it comes to converting well-suited candidates (both functionally and culturally) into employees. Here’s why this approach is a high-risk gamble.
Hiring managers who see themselves in the driver’s seat are deluding themselves. Talent holds the cards – particularly passive candidates in high-demand roles. When employers draw out the recruiting process, their most desirable first and second-choice candidates either lose interest or accept more timely offers. The most sought-after applicants today are interviewing with multiple companies and are making decisions about who to move forward with earlier in the process. Fast-moving companies are ready with their best offer before dawdlers have even begun thinking about which elements to include in the employment proposition.
What a hiring manager may see as a thoughtful, thorough (albeit long-ish) hiring approach, a job candidate may see as a snapshot of how things are done at the company. Bureaucratic. Inflexible. Indecisive. Does the protracted process contradict how important the role was originally positioned? Is a lack of communication or an inability to make a decision a hallmark of the culture? These are just a few negative thoughts candidates may begin to consider, potentially turning them off on the opportunity altogether.
The most in-demand candidates today are the passive ones. Confident and content, this A-list talent is gainfully employed (i.e. not job-seeking), accomplishing roles that are hard to fill. It’s going to take a fabulous opportunity with a lucrative offer to convince them to leave a comfortable work situation. More money and enviable benefits are just the start. Talent today expects clearly defined career paths, rewards, and recognition for expertise, professional development, and personally meaningful perks.
With more jobs open than job seekers to fill them, employers need to do a better job of selling the opportunity and the company as a must-make stop on a candidate’s career journey. This is especially true for less established companies, like smaller brands or new entrants to a category. Remember, the passive candidate has a sure thing going, and, if they’re with a pedigreed organization, they’re going to require even more convincing. Hiring standards are important and we aren’t suggesting that these get sacrificed in the name of hiring speed. But when a nearly perfect candidate is found, employers have got to be fast or find themselves last.