Don’t underestimate the value of decisive hiring. If you want to be able to hire the top talent in the industry, you need to be prepared to move quickly. Top candidates are not the type to sit around and wait for things to come their way. They’re proactive and decisive and they move quickly once they know which direction they want to go.
Here’s the simple truth: If your organisation is going to take their time about making a hiring decision, the chances are, by the time they’ve gotten around to making a firm offer, the candidate will have already moved on and found something else.
To avoid that happening here are three easy steps to decisive hiring:
1 – Involvement
Make sure that everyone involved in the recruitment process is on the same page in terms of the job description, skills specifications and overall what a successful hire looks like. If the candidate is going to be part of a team, ensure there’s a good understanding as to how the team operates and what type of personality would be a good fit. If the role is for senior management, get the decision making executives in on the process. This will result in fewer delays when the right person walks through the door.
2 – Focus on data
Subjective hiring that relies on gut instinct is a bit of a hit and miss affair. There are many people that can present themselves well in an interview but when it comes to delivering on the job, they’re less impressive. Objective data driven hiring points to the facts and is a far better indicator of whether the candidate can actually do the job. Core capabilities, past achievements and project successes are far more meaningful than a smile and strong handshake.
3 – Technical matters
If the role is for a specific area of expertise, involve someone who has the technical knowledge to evaluate their expertise in the interview. This is particularly important when it comes to engineering or technology related roles. This will help verify immediately if there is solid experience behind the jargon being thrown about and quickly eliminate those who do not have the right level of expertise.
Finally, be clear about the hiring process, communicate when they can expect to hear back from you and what the next steps would be if they are successful. This will help candidates plan ahead. They’re also more likely think favourably on the offer if they know things will move quickly.