Is Your Hiring Process a Leaky Bucket? (Stop Losing Top Talent!)
Guest Author: Marcia Torres, Founder at Imagen Talent Solutions
Let's be real – sometimes, hiring feels less like building a dream team and more like navigating a minefield.
Are candidates ghosting you?
Do hiring managers drag their feet?
And despite all the effort, are you still ending up with the wrong people?
You're not alone.
Many companies struggle with broken hiring processes. And now you’re probably asking, “How?”
Here are five tips from Marcia Torres, Founder at Imagen Talent Solutions, that she shares with clients who want to improve their hiring process and stop the leaky bucket.
5 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make in Their Hiring Process
1. Ditch the Jargon: Your Job Descriptions Shouldn't Require a Decoder Ring
If your job posting starts with "Seeking a highly motivated self-starter with 5+ years of experience in a fast-paced environment..." please stop.
Nobody talks like that (unless they're a robot).
Candidates aren't inspired by corporate jargon; they want clarity. They want to know what the job actually entails. And you can’t ask for 7+ years of experience if the technology has only been around for 3 years! It makes you look out of touch.
How to Fix it: Write like a human! Imagine you're chatting with a potential colleague. Focus on the day-to-day responsibilities, the challenges, and the impact the person will have. Instead of "Manage social media channels," try "Craft engaging social media content that drives brand awareness and customer engagement. You'll have the opportunity to experiment with new platforms and strategies."
Think "show, don't tell."
2. Hiring at Warp Speed (Not Snail Speed)
Imagine your ideal star athlete candidate waiting at the starting line. Your hiring process is the rusty old bicycle they must ride while their competitors are zipping by in high-performance vehicles. Ouch. A slow hiring process is a talent repellant.
Did you know that 72% of candidates say that the time it takes to hire reflects how a company values its employees? (Source: LinkedIn). No one wants to go through a gauntlet of interviews, assessments, interviews, project work, samples, and then a final interview.
Let’s be real!
How to Fix it: Set clear timelines and stick to them. If you can’t decide in two weeks, your process is broken. Keep candidates engaged, communicate often, and for the love of talent, don't make them jump through 10 rounds of interviews! Respect their time. Efficiency will not detract from finding the best talent as long as your process is set up to assess the best talent.
3. Ghosting Candidates: The Ultimate Employer Brand Killer
Let's shout this from the rooftops: Ghosting candidates is a terrible look. It’s disrespectful, unprofessional, and damages your brand.
No one likes sending a resume into a black hole.
And guess what? They will talk about it.
CareerArc says that 72% of job seekers who had a bad candidate experience told others about it online or in person. (Source: CareerArc)In today's connected world, word spreads fast.How to Fix it: Close the loop! Even if the answer is "no," have the decency to tell them. A simple rejection email is better than silence. But you know what’s even better? Provide specific feedback. Especially if they made it through multiple rounds of interviews. It shows you value their time and effort. And you may convert that candidate into a loyal consumer or customer instead of losing one – think about the bottom line.
4. Gut Feelings and Biased Hiring: A Recipe for Disaster
Hiring based on a "gut feeling" is just a fancy way of saying, "I hire people who remind me of myself."
That’s how those biases creep in and you end up with a team that looks, thinks, and sounds the same. And let's be honest, that's not a recipe for innovation and growth.
How to Fix it: Use structured interviews, clear criteria, and data-driven decision-making. Structured interviews involve asking the same set of pre-determined questions to every candidate. This reduces bias and allows for a more objective comparison. Develop questions that assess key skills and competencies. And use the data. Track key metrics like time-to-hire and candidate satisfaction. Your gut might be great at picking restaurants, but it’s not a hiring strategy.
5. Culture Fit vs. Culture Add: Embrace the Difference
"Culture fit" often translates to "people I want to have a beer with."
Remember the biases I pointed out earlier, well, here they are again creeping in.
So let’s be real – if everyone on your team looks, thinks, and acts the same, you’re not building a strong culture; you’re building an echo chamber.
How to Fix it: Focus on culture add, not culture fit. While the concept of 'culture fit' has been around for a while, it can sometimes lead to a lack of diversity and stifle innovation. Instead, forward-thinking companies are embracing 'culture add.' Hire people who bring new perspectives, skills, and ideas to enhance your business. That’s how you build a team that actually drives innovation.
And the data backs this up.
McKinsey found that companies with greater gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability. (Source: McKinsey & Company)Embracing 'culture add' isn't just the right thing to do; it's also good for business.
And by the way, diversity isn't just a buzzword; it's a business imperative, and for those companies that are turning away from that “scary” word, let’s check in to see how you are doing in the next 5 – 10 years.
The Bottom Line: How to Spot & Stop Leaks in Your Hiring Process
If you’re seeing high turnover, candidate drop-offs, or struggling to find the right talent, don’t blame "the talent pool."
Look at your process.
A leaky bucket doesn't fix itself. Hiring is a two-way street.
While you're evaluating candidates, they're also evaluating you.
A great candidate experience can make all the difference. And you can gain a few new consumers and customers along the way!
Ready to stop the leaks and build a hiring process that attracts top talent?
Take the free Talent Challenge to identify your biggest weaknesses in your hiring process and get actionable insights to improve your hiring!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marcia Torres shakes up talent ecosystems with bold, data-driven strategies that attract, develop, and retain top-tier, diverse teams. From startups to powerhouses and everyone in between, Torres help build inclusive talent pipelines that fuel growth and turns complex talent challenges into game-changing opportunities.
