Hiring and Retaining Top Talent Blog

When do you start the process of hiring a new person?

Most companies start the hiring process when they need someone. They wait until the best person quits or if it is a new position they wait until they need this person. Since it can take between 2 and 4 months to hire someone, what is the frame of mind of most hiring managers after 2 or 3 months of the position being empty? Our experience tells us the hiring manager is becoming desperate. When a hiring manager hires out of desperation, they generally make a poor hire. When desperation hiring sets in, the hiring process becomes one of “can they fog a mirror” if “yes” hire them. Someone is better than no one.

To be effective at hiring top talent and avoid “desperation hiring” you have to become proactive when hiring. The reactive process used by most companies has to stop. Hiring managers must separate the hiring process from the recruiting process. It is imperative to recruit 365 days a year, even if you only hire once a year.

Hiring manager resources are key to proactive hiring. Hiring isn’t just providing interviewing techniques and interviewing questions, these are important, however, if you are hiring from desperation these don’t matter.

As a company leader it should part of your culture that all managers recognize the importance of recruiting even when not hiring. It is time consuming, but it should be as much a part of the job description for a hiring manager as the duties, tasks, activities and responsibilities that come with the job. After all they are a “HIRING MANAGER.” Recruiting is implied in the title. Meeting potential top talent is always a good activity for a hiring manager.

Recruiting is a process, hiring is an event.

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