The Time is Now!

by Dave Dart

“Hit the ground running” is a phrase that has become trite in business—but what does it really mean? More importantly, what does it mean to you?

In the recruiting world, it is used to refer to how quickly you can get a return on investment through the productivity of a new hire.

Many hiring managers have identified that they have a hiring need; however, most companies wait until January 1^st to start the hiring process for the talent they so desperately require now.

In this scenario, the productivity and revenue won’t start to show results for another 90 to 180 days out. Are you really prepared to put off the hiring process and delay your ROI until the second quarter?

Stalling your hiring process may have consequences. When an important position on your team stays unfilled for too long, overworked employees that pick up the slack can get frustrated and leave. This only compounds the original talent shortage problem, and ultimately your revenue.

If you know you need to hire to address your internal problems earlier, then why wait if you’ve identified the problem?  The positive impact of hiring at the end of the year is that employees are invested in the business plan, self-accountable, and off to a faster start.

Additionally, if you don’t use all your recruiting budget money by year end, you take a chance of losing those allotted dollars the following year. If you don’t use it now, you pay for it later, literally.

The candidate pool for a great hire is another consideration. If you’ve had a difficult time finding A+ candidates up until now, the talent pool gets even smaller after January 1^st.

We work with top talent every day. Their biggest complaint about the current job market is the elongated hiring process. If your company compresses the hiring timeline now (because most of your executives are in town this time of year to conduct interviews), candidates view your company as professional and competent.

When you choose to move your process along quickly and make solid decisions, candidates view your company as “different” from the rest.

Choose to be “different”.