5 Reasons Companies Struggle with Hiring: Blog

Even with the over abundance of available talent, companies continue to struggle when it comes time to hiring. It has nothing to do with the candidate pool. Now more than ever, the market is flooded with extremely qualified candidates. The problem rests where it always has, with the company.

There are five key reasons companies struggle when it comes time to hire.

1. Lack of Process – Organizations fail to establish and adhere to a Hiring Process. Instead they rely on a variety of methods established over time, which yield inconsistent results.

2. Lack of Communication – Compounding the lack of process, is the lack of communication. Since there is no defined process, those parties involved in hiring do not clearly communicate amongst themselves. Consequently, no one has a clear picture of what’s going on.

3. Lack of Understanding – All too frequently no one really understands the role they are trying to fill, including the hiring Manager. Instead, they rely on a generic job description and a few vague descriptors. Consequently no one "knows it when they see it" because they don’t know what they’re looking for.

4. Lack of Urgency – Everyone is in a big hurry to fill the vacancy. However, once qualified candidates are introduced into the "process", the bottle neck begins. Managers won’t commit to a schedule as they have meetings, vacations, etc, etc. Consequently the process drags on for several extra weeks (or months).

5. Inability to make a Decision – When a candidate (or two) finally make it through the "process" and it’s time to make a decision, paralysis sets in. No one wants to take responsibility for making a hiring decision. Instead, they begin to unravel all the work that has been done thus far. Consequently they begin to look for reasons NOT to hire a candidate. Far too many times they succeed and the cycle begins anew.

Does this sound all too familiar? There is hope. This dysfunctional cycle can be broken. Before you begin the hiring process again, try implementing and adhering to theses three steps.

1. Clearly define and implement a hiring process.

· Map out a process

· Determine who needs to be involved

· What are their roles and responsibilities

· Map out your recruitment strategy

· Determine how many steps are required in the interview process

· Establish a process for Communicating amongst the team

· Establish who the ultimate decision maker will be

· Hold each member of the hiring team accountable

2. Benchmark the role and develop a Performance Profile.

· Define the Key accountabilities for the role – what knowledge, hard/soft skills, personal skills are required to perform this role?

· Define the key deliverables and primary performance objectives necessary for the candidate to succeed in the role.

· Understanding the key accountabilities and deliverables of the role makes it easier to identify candidates who possess the requisite background, skills, experience and track record of success.

3. Communicate

· Communicate openly, timely and often with the members of the hiring team (both internal and external participants).

· Communicate openly, timely and often with candidates.

This is not a onetime solution. It’s a repeatable, sustainable process which will yield superior results. Creating and following a Process, Understanding the key accountabilities and deliverables of the role, and effectively Communicating with the team makes the hiring process more efficient and effective.