Three keys to help increase your speed to hire

In today's labor market, where recruiting top talent is a challenge, every moment counts in the hiring process. Top candidates are typically only available for about 10 days, which means that efficient hiring processes can sometimes be the difference between securing outstanding new hires and losing them to competitors. 

While it's important to hire quickly, finding candidates that have the right skills, experience and education is also crucial. HR leaders and hiring managers are seeking to maximize not only speed to hire, but also speed to productivity. That means assessing candidate capabilities and experiences as well as making sure they mesh well with the employer's culture. 

An effective recruiting, hiring, and onboarding process can begin the moment a potential candidate interacts with a brand and extends throughout the new employee's first months on the job — which means that a company's people, processes, and technology all need to be aligned around high-quality, efficient hiring. 

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Here are three keys to help increase your speed to hire while recruiting top candidates. 

1. Hold hiring processes to a high standard 
A well-defined, efficient hiring process begins with readily available, up-to-date process maps for recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new candidates. Depending on the industry and the size of the company, hiring may be a fairly infrequent event. If that's the case, teams and hiring managers might not be familiar with the process. Creating and articulating a hiring process that aligns with the organization and brand — from job descriptions and postings, through reviewing applications and conducting interviews — can minimize delays in hiring, help fill vacancies more quickly, and reduce impact on productivity.

And that leads back to the core reason why any employer is hiring. When a company has an open position, it likely signals one of three things: that there's a significant amount of work not being completed, that the work is being completed by someone who's overloaded, or that there's an important new need that the company doesn't have the capability to fill. In short, either current talent is being tasked with more work than they may be reasonably able to complete, which may lead to burnout, or a certain amount of work isn't being completed at all, which can impact customers and the company's bottom line.  

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2. Make talent every person's priority 
Another part of holding the hiring process to a high standard is involving all necessary parties from the start. When each person understands the need, as well as the process and timeline, they can rally around the shared priority. This spans from the recruiter who makes the first phone call to the candidate, to the managers involved in the interviews, to the HR team members who conduct the onboarding process and show the new hire how to sign up for benefits during their first week on the job. 

Speaking of benefits, they can be a powerful tool in any company's recruiting playbook. Benefits should demonstrate value to the individual employee while also reflecting an organization's unique culture. Importantly, the way in which benefits are communicated often provides an opportunity for employers to shine. Whether it's explaining the difference between medical plans or highlighting unique services such as identity protection services for the whole family, leading employers recognize that benefits provide a prime opportunity to communicate culture.

And when new hires feel good about the essentials — like their benefits — it can help them focus more quickly on their work. This is all part of having an organization with a talent mindset. Because when talent is every person's priority, professionalism and respect shine through in a way that makes the new hire feel valued and even more engaged when they start their new role.  

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3. Use technology to your advantage 
It's impossible for processes and people to perform at their best without having effective, scalable tools and technology to help support the entire hiring process. The backbone, of course, is having a streamlined, user-friendly applicant tracking system that is integrated into the company's HR systems. Background screeners can also provide ready partners in leveraging digital criminal background checks as well as verifications of education to help expedite and enhance the hiring process. Additionally, instant and automated pre-hire verifications of employment can help accelerate hiring as well as improve retention rates. 

Many companies also find that sending new hires a single automated new-hire packet with required digital forms like the Form I-9, state-specific forms, tax withholding forms, and direct deposit signup makes onboarding easier for the employee and employer. And when it's easier for new employees to complete required forms, they can spend less time on onboarding tasks and more time learning about their new role and responsibilities.

By prioritizing processes, people, and technology in the talent acquisition process, companies can often speed up hiring, create better experiences for current and future employees, and get new employees up to speed more quickly.