Everyone knows that a long time-to-hire costs lost productivity, low morale, and reduced efficiency (read our previous blog here). However, there are some hidden costs and unwanted impacts that are often overlooked. Here are some of the lesser-known effects of a lengthy hiring process.
What is a Lengthy Hiring Process?
Every industry has different averages for how long it takes to fill a vacancy, and a long time to hire in the service sector may seem like an eyeblink to those in financial services. Furthermore, different roles are harder to fill and require more scrutiny than others; a graphic designer is faster to hire than a childcare worker or a CEO.
Generally speaking, recruitment teams should track their hiring process as both the number of days between the day a job requisition is approved and the day a candidate accepts the offer (time to fill), and the number of days between when a candidate applies for a position and when they accept the offer (time to hire). Both metrics offer valuable information about your company, your processes, and your candidate experience. Furthermore, tracking those metrics gives you a basis of comparison across your industry, region, and role.
Hidden Costs of a Lengthy Time to Hire
Naturally, a longer time to hire increases the costs of advertising the position, decreases the productivity of the vacant role and its department, and costs more staff time and effort throughout the recruitment team. But here are some of the less obvious negative impacts of having a long hiring process
Stalled Innovation
During the time that a position remains vacant, skills, technology, projects, and processes continue to evolve. Within your company, understaffed departments may be less able to tackle ambitious projects and reach innovative goals. Existing staff have less efficiency, of course, but also less creativity as they struggle just to maintain the status quo. In the marketplace, skills and technology continue to evolve, and competitive firms have new job listings that reflect the trends and demands of the moment, staying abreast of the latest innovations. A lengthy time to hire reduces your entire company’s ability to be nimble and to innovate.
Reduced Relevance
When candidates and competitors in your sector repeatedly see the same job listings, they get the impression of a company that is slow, unresponsive, and out of touch. Once a potential candidate has a negative experience, or simply notices that the same job shows up in their search month after month, they gain a negative experience of the entire company. They may filter your listings out of their search results, or simply ignore anything from your firm, even if it is a new position that speaks to their skills and experience. A long time to hire is a famous “red flag” for the best talent in your industry, and reduces the response to all your listings.
Lost Opportunities
In the tech sector, the best candidates are usually hired within just 10 days. According to a 2024 global survey, 24% of employers say they lost out on new talent due to a slow hiring process. The top candidates with the most relevant skills and experience know that they have many job opportunities and that they can receive competitive offers quickly. They do not need to wait for a cumbersome recruitment and hiring process. This means that simply by having a faster, more efficient recruitment process, some companies will be staffed with better people.
These hidden costs of a lengthy recruitment process can be difficult to calculate, with far-reaching but subtle effects throughout a company. You can’t know the candidates that don’t apply for your listings, or the impact they have within a competitor’s firm. That’s why it’s so important to be proactive and gain efficiency throughout the hiring pipeline; when it comes to the best people, every moment counts. For expert guidance on how to streamline your hiring process and connect with the top talent in life sciences, R&D, and more, contact Grapefrute today.
