The Hidden Costs of a Prolonged Hiring Process

The interview portion of a hiring process can often be delayed for various reasons, such as full schedules, coordinating with multiple hiring committee members and business or personal travel. While these factors are understandable, it’s crucial to recognize the negative impact that a prolonged hiring process can have on securing top talent.

As an executive search firm, we’ve managed hundreds of interview processes and witnessed how organizations can derail the final stage by failing to schedule timely interviews with top candidates. The length of the interview process directly impacts a candidate’s impression of the organization and their motivation to join, especially for high-level executive roles.

Hiring a top-level employee is admittedly a big deal and is not a decision you want to rush into.  Making a final decision feels so…well, final.  However, if this weighty decision drags on for weeks and weeks it is very likely to be to the detriment of the whole process.

What Happens When a Final Hiring Decision is Delayed?

1. Candidates will get other offers. Top talent is always in high demand.  If you’re interviewing someone with executive-level skills, chances are, your organization is not the only one who sees their potential.  The best candidates will not turn down other offers in the hopes that you will eventually extend an offer. While they may be most excited about the position you have available, it is not in their best interest to hold out on a possible offer when a good and reasonable offer is being presented as a sure thing elsewhere.
2. Candidates will doubt your interest and assume you’re not really that excited about their potential. Like any relationship, when things start to cool, you start doubting the commitment.  When an organization keeps putting you off, you naturally assume there is no lasting interest.  For that reason, candidates will start looking at other options.
3. Candidates will question your ability to make decisions and to move forward as a business. Senior level candidates don’t want to join an organization that has analysis paralysis.  If the new hire is being made in the spirit of progress, and yet there is significant lag in the hiring process, red flags are bound to pop up in the candidate’s mind. Even without other options, the candidate may decide your organization is not where they belong.

These three scenarios could bring the hiring process to a very negative end. Losing your top candidate will set you back, frustrate your team and cost your organization money.  So, what can be done?  How can you avoid drawing out a hiring process unnecessarily?

4 Things to Avoid if You Want Your Hiring Process to Be a Timely Success

1. Don’t include too many people in the final decision. Yes, it’s good to get input from a variety of people. Yes, you want to thoughtfully consider everyone’s feedback, but if you wait for a dozen people to feel 100% confident about one candidate, that time may never come. Furthermore, it is helpful to have some up-front discussions with the interviewing team before a candidate walks through the door. What are the must-haves? Nice-to-haves? Any deal breakers?  It is important that those in the process know what they are seeking.
2. Don’t make interviews a low priority. When you are hiring an executive, the top leaders need to meet with the potential candidates.  It’s an understatement to say that top leaders don’t have a lot of spare time on their calendars.  However, interviews must be a priority to move the process forward in a timely manner.  It is imperative that schedules are shifted to make time to see the candidates, if in fact, the role is of high importance to fill.
3. Don’t fall prey to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). It is true that when you choose one candidate, you are missing out on other potentially great talent.  But the reality is, you will never decide if you live in fear of what else is out there.  The key to overcoming FOMO is clearly defining your “must-have’s” ahead of time (see #1.)  Because this is such a common issue, we have an article that unpacks this further.  Know what your organization needs so that FOMO won’t get the best of you during the decision-making part of the hiring process.
4. Don’t set unrealistic expectations. Your expectations should be attainable – challenging but attainable.   Do a little research to be sure your salary, benefits, location, demands and responsibilities are within reason.  You won’t do yourself any favors to dream up a super-human role that no one can fill.
5. Don’t have a ridiculous number of interviews, assessments, dinners or presentations involved in your interview stage.  If a candidate is required to interview with 5 different people at 5 different times, present a strategic plan, attend dinner with the CEO and take a strengths assessment, all to be told they are not the final candidate, you can be sure their frustration will be heard by a lot of people – who will tell other people – and your organization will (rightfully) earn a lot of negative emotions. This will damage your employment brand.

Bottom line, hiring top leaders is hard, and most times it is best to seek the assistance of a firm like Centennial.  Our proven 4C  Recruiting Process® can mitigate many of the uncertainties that plague the hiring process, and boost your confidence in the decision that you will ultimately make.  Our expertise can guide your process so that you can hire the best person for the job.  Let us know if we can help!

This blog article was originally published September 2019 under the title “Why A Drawn-Out Hiring Process is a Bad Hiring Process.”  It has been updated and expanded to include additional information.