Today I want to talk to you about one of my biggest pet peeves with hiring authorities.
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I want to talk to my hiring managers.
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Oftentimes hiring managers are actually a team of folks.
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It can be the person the position is actually going to report to.
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It could also be their boss.
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It could also be key folks within HR.
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And here's what I want to share with you.
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You guys know for the most part.
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I adore you.
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If I'm going to work with you, I already have a whole list of reasons why I'm excited to work with you.
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However, there is an old adage out there.
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We've all heard it.
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If you've ever done anything, even remotely related to sales in any way, shape or form, the adage is time kills all deals.
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This is the same in a recruiting process.
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Now, of course, as soon as I say that there's going to be the one person says, well, there's this one time.
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Okay, great.
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Super.
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I'm so happy for you and your exceptions.
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I'm not talking about the exceptions.
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I'm talking about the general rule.
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Here are our realities.
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If you are in a hiring mode, good talent is incredibly hard to find.
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Recruit and lure away.
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It just is.
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There's all kinds of factors that could make a quote unquote deal fall apart, but you cannot sit on your hands for weeks on end without making a decision.
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Good or bad, it doesn't matter.
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Even if the decision is, Hey, I know it took me four weeks, but now we'd like to make you an offer.
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Psychologically, that unicorn has talked themselves out of why you're the right fit.
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And by the way, you spent the last Three or four weeks being courted by two of your competitors.
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If you go three, four weeks and then deliver a no, imagine that below, because for most of us to buy that kind of time before making a decision, we've probably been giving them little hooks along the way to make them seem like they still have a chance.
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So three, four weeks go by and then we get a big fat no, it just doesn't work.
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I literally was just on the phone this morning with a client who I thought they had a finalist who was calling to follow up on that and they said, no, we lost them.
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So, well, gosh, what happened?
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Well, they were interviewing with a couple other places and I guess we dragged our heels and they went on and took another offer.
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And my client was a little flabbergasted.
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They said, Oh, I don't know how that happened.
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And then here is what is most critical about what he said.
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He said, I don't even know if they were who we absolutely wanted to hire, but now we'll definitely never know.
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And it just reminded me and brought me back to that idea.
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of Time Kills All Deals.
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Even if you're not sure the person you're talking to is the one, keep good candidates engaged.
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Whether we like to admit it or not, We are absolutely in a competitive environment for the best people and if we drag our heels, it sends a message that we're not interested and they will emotionally detach and move on.
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So here, let me make a suggestion.
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We know when it comes to hiring key.
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Talent.
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Time is of the essence.
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Before you jump into the market, stop, get your ducks in a row, button up your process.
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That way, when you do get in front of the right unicorn, it can be smooth, easy, and significantly increase your chance of getting that talent unicorn to say yes.
