How to Reduce Time to Hire

You’ve made great efforts to source top talent, but the hiring process is dragging on longer than you’d like, causing frustration and potentially losing candidates to competitors. Reducing time to hire doesn’t only help you secure top-notch talent quickly, but it can also enhance candidate experience and improve team productivity.

This article breaks down everything you need to understand about time to hire, its significance, and the obstacles you may encounter. We’ll also dive into clear and actionable strategies to make your hiring process faster and more efficient.

1. Understanding Time to Hire

1.1 What is Time to Hire?

Time to hire is a metric that measures the number of days between when a candidate applies for a job and when they accept the job offer. It reflects the efficiency of your hiring process.

• Application Date: The day the candidate submits their application.

• Acceptance Date: When the candidate agrees to your offer.

This period includes several critical stages like screening, interviewing, and discussing the offer. It directly impacts candidate experience and your ability to secure top talent.

1.2 Why is Reducing Time to Hire Important?

Reducing time to hire is critical because it directly influences your company's ability to attract and retain top talent. A lengthy hiring process can lead to candidate dropout rates, where promising applicants may accept offers from competitors simply because they couldn’t wait any longer.

Benefits of reducing time to hire:

• Better Candidate Experience: Candidates appreciate quick decision-making.

• Higher Acceptance Rates: Top talent is less likely to be poached by competitors.

• Increased Productivity: Filling roles faster minimises the operational gaps.

1.3 Common Challenges in Reducing Time to Hire

Talent teams often encounter obstacles when trying to reduce time to hire. Identifying these challenges early helps to address them effectively.

Typical challenges include:

• Inefficient Screening Processes: Manual screening is time-consuming and prone to errors.

• Lack of Clear Job Descriptions: Vague job postings lead to receiving irrelevant CVs.

• Inconsistent Interviewing Practices: Lack of a structured process results in delays and miscommunication.

• Delayed Decision-Making: Multiple rounds without decisive actions can prolong the process.

By understanding what time to hire is, why reducing it is essential, and the common hurdles faced, you can better prepare to tackle these challenges within your hiring process. Next, we’ll dive into actionable strategies to help you reduce time to hire effectively.

2. Strategies to Reduce Time to Hire

2.1 Establish a Structured Hiring Process

Creating a structured hiring process can profoundly reduce your time to hire. Clearly define each step, from job advertisement to the final offer. Ensure every role has a predetermined hiring procedure. This structured approach helps avoid unnecessary delays and ensures consistency.

Steps for a Structured Hiring Process:

• Job advertisement: List out job requirements and responsibilities.

• Initial screening: Use predefined criteria to shortlist candidates.

• Interviews: Set clear stages like HR round, technical round and final round.

• Decision making: Have a scoring system to evaluate candidates fairly.

• Offer: Have a standard template and process for extending offers.

2.2 Screen Your Candidates Efficiently With an ATS

Leveraging an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can significantly speed up your hiring process. An ATS automates many of the manual aspects of recruitment, such as sorting CVs and scheduling interviews. This technology ensures that you don't miss out on qualified candidates while quickly filtering out those who don't meet your criteria.

Benefits of Using an ATS:

• Automated resume sorting: Quickly find the best candidates.

• Interview scheduling: Coordinate with candidates and interviewers via automated systems.

• Communication tracking: Keep all correspondence in one place.

• Integration with job boards: Widely distribute your job postings automatically.

2.3 Ensure You Have Clear Job Descriptions

Having a clear and detailed job description is vital. It helps attract the right candidates, making the screening process faster. A well-crafted job description should outline the role's key responsibilities, required qualifications and any preferred skills.

Elements of a Clear Job Description:

• Job title: Clear and specific to attract the right candidates.

• Responsibilities: List out day-to-day tasks and bigger projects.

• Qualifications: Required education, certifications, skills and experience.

• Company Information: Brief about your company and values.

• Salary and Benefits: Encourage transparency to attract serious candidates.

Pro-tip: Regularly update job descriptions to reflect any changes in the role or requirements.

2.4 Make Faster and More Accurate Hiring Decisions Using Evidenced

Utilising data-driven tools like Evidenced can streamline your decision-making process, ensuring swift and accurate hiring. Evidenced records, transcribes and guides your team to make informed hiring decisions, saving precious time otherwise spent on manual notes and memory-based evaluations.

Key Features of Evidenced:

• Realtime guidance: Structures interviews, keeping them on track.

• Interview playback: Revisit critical moments for thorough evaluation.

• Performance metrics: Identify areas of improvement for interviewers.

• Bias reduction: Standardised scorecards and isolated decision making ensure fair assessments.

By using Evidenced, you not only speed up the hiring process but also enhance the quality and fairness of your interviews.

2.5 Responsive Candidate Communication

Consistent and transparent communication can significantly reduce your time to hire. Keeping candidates informed about their application status prevents them from seeking other opportunities. Timely feedback and prompt answers to their queries can keep them engaged and invested in the process.

Effective Communication Practices:

• Acknowledge applications: Send an immediate confirmation email.

• Regular Updates: Keep candidates informed about each stage of the process.

• Feedback: Provide constructive feedback after each interview round.

• Clarify Queries: Address any questions candidates may have promptly.

3. Benefits of Reduced Time to Hire

3.1 Improve Candidate Experience

Reducing the time to hire can significantly enhance the experience for your candidates. When the hiring process is swift, candidates are less likely to feel disheartened or frustrated, which keeps their interest in the role and your company high. A protracted hiring timeline can cause candidates to disengage or accept an offer from another employer. Furthermore, being prompt and clear in your communications, such as updating candidates on their status and next steps, demonstrates your organisation's professionalism and respect for their time and effort.

Evidenced allows you to track your candidate experience with surveys after each interview, so you can spot problems and resolve them quickly.

3.2 Enhance Team Productivity

A faster hiring process directly correlates with improved productivity within your team. When positions are filled swiftly, your team can maintain consistent workflow and avoid the strain of being short-staffed. This alleviates the pressure on current employees who might otherwise need to pick up the slack, keeping team morale high. Additionally, it allows new hires to begin contributing to team goals much sooner.

Pro-tip: Utilise an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to handle CV sorting and preliminary interviews, freeing up your HR team for more strategic tasks.

3.3 Gain Competitive Advantage in Talent Acquisition

A quick hiring process can give your company a competitive edge in acquiring top talent. High-calibre candidates often have multiple offers and are in high demand. By moving through the hiring process rapidly, you increase the chance of securing these candidates before your competitors. This speed shows efficiency and decisiveness, qualities often valued by candidates.

Reducing your time to hire by implementing these strategies benefits your candidates, enhances team dynamics, and gives you an upper hand in the competitive hiring landscape.

In conclusion, a streamlined hiring process offers multifaceted benefits, including improved candidate experiences, enhanced team productivity, and a competitive edge in talent acquisition. Leveraging tools like Evidenced ensures you maintain efficiency without compromising on quality, making your organisation a preferred choice for top talent.