Back in 2014, time-to-hire stats had reached near epic portions. According to the Wall Street Journal, the time-to-fill average in the United States was 25 days. As we entered 2015, all eyes seemed to be focused on a number of emerging trends that was sure to increase this hiring metric. The skills gap was to blame for lengthy recruiting and hiring processes; particularly in specialty or niche positions. Next, if we were to coin 2015, we'd say it was the year of the passive job seeker. Forbes reminded us that even your happy employees were consistently on the hunt for a new position; 86% of employees to be exact. Finally, HR technologies, like mobile and social recruiting, continued to become more heavily adopted, and as a result, clog up recruiting and talent acquisition efforts.
Flash forward to 2016, and news for hiring managers, especially ones in the IT industry, isn't looking much better. ERE Media released is 2016 forecasts and predictions, and long fill times make it on the list yet again. In addition to tight talent markets, the growing number of full-time employees actively looking for work comes in 5 percentage points higher than in the same survey conducted a year ago. And, if that isn't enough, many top analysts and industry professionals are reporting between a 2 and 3 percent average increase in wages for key positions.
Just like finding the perfect diet, every organization comes with its own set of unique hurdles. With that said, here are the top three reasons the time-to-hire has slowed down.
How to Speed Up Hiring
The combination of new technologies and behaviors might be enough to revisit your existing hiring process. To move the needle on hiring in 2015, you have to measure the effectiveness of your hiring process from end-to-end. Understanding what to look for and where to spot inefficiencies is mission critical. But before approaching it like a fad diet, realize impulsive decisions with little to no research will produce short-term lackluster results, if any at all.
Putting organizational diplomacy aside, we understand this exercise sounds easier in theory than in practice. That's why we've created this short checklist of what you should look for during the evaluation process. These talking points are sure to get the conversation going in the right direction with your hiring team, senior managers or top brass. Good luck and happy hiring in the New Year!