The Hidden Costs of DIY Hiring
In a ‘Do-It-Yourself’ world, HGTV and Pinterest make everything seem so easy. One thing we hear from clients who try DIY when it comes to hiring is that they felt they wasted so much time only to discover that the candidates they were interviewing weren’t really the right ones.
Hiring, done well, has costs associated. Some of these are obvious:
· Posting job ads on various sites and subscribing to job boards and associated social media and maintaining these platforms with content
· Conducting background checks
· Cost per assessments
But other costs are less obvious:
· Hourly rate of interviewers and related staff; (reviewing resumes, determining invites, scheduling, prepping, interview time, debriefing, follow up, starting over for a multi-interview approach)
· Time spent checking references
· Investments in the wrong candidates
With over dozens of years combined in the search and recruitment business, we have learned a few things about the hidden costs of the DIY mindset:
1. Investing in the hiring process: Oftentimes, organizations lack the time and resources to put a hiring strategy in place and maintain it. A solid operations manager, for example, may not be a good interviewer only because he has not been trained to do so. With proper training, the operations manager will not only become a good evaluator of talent but also have the ability to become a competitive recruiter when there is a candidate who brings a great skillset along with interest and opportunities from other companies.
2. Post it and they will come: Many organizations are missing out on top talent because they are only accessing active, job-seeking candidates by placing ads and interviewing applicants. This process of attracting and tracking candidates is time consuming and costly. Organizations may actively choose this strategy or are limited to this approach because of regulatory or compliance factors. This process impacts the ability to generate diverse and inclusive candidates as well.
3. Candidate Experience: Organizations get a bad reputation when the hiring process is failing—the candidate experience is the first impression of the organization and their hiring brand.
4. Timing is Everything: When the right candidate is selected, the time to hire matters. We’ve all heard ‘slow to hire, quick to fire’, but when it’s too slow to hire because of a broken process, the dream candidate may now have explored what other opportunities are of interest and pursued those based on responsiveness.
5. Bias and Influence: Hiring managers are sometimes too close to the need to be unbiased in their assessment of talent and fit with the organization. An outside recruiter has the ability to assess candidates beyond the resume and determine skillsets that can transfer and transform an organization. Out-of-the-box candidates can disrupt a business in a positive way and help companies thrive. These non-traditional candidates are overlooked due to a culture of ‘we’ve always done it this way’ or ‘we only hire people with this background and experience’.
6. Overworked or Limited HR Means: Some industries such as the “Not for Profit” sector as well as others may not have a dedicated HR resource or when they do, that time is spent with other tactical employee-related responsibilities, not in the sourcing and recruiting of top talent. A search for a key role in the organization may not get the attention it needs, only because the needs of current employees are prioritized.
The potential for making a bad hire goes up exponentially without a clearly defined process and professional assessment. With so many risks, can you afford to make the wrong hire?
