There seems to be a common belief specifically within the domain of Recruitment & Selection, that time kills all deals. In other words, if organizations want to hire the best talent they must act quickly, especially in a market with vast opportunities.
A belief of this kind distracts us from the realization that time is relative, and the context of situations influences our relationship to time. Take, for example, two talented individuals. One is actively looking for a new opportunity due to being unemployed, while the other is passively looking and is currently still employed. We assume the former is going to feel the effects of time in the recruiting process quite differently than the latter. These are two examples of an infinite number of scenarios and possibilities. The same could be said from an organizational standpoint. One organization is looking to identify an individual for a role, has been searching for 6 months, and has interviewed 100 individuals. While another company just began its search for an individual, have been searching for 1 day and interviewed zero individuals.
However, there does seem to be a dilemma in how time is managed within the recruitment and selection process. Some organizations have a long complicated process, others a short easy process and the rest fall somewhere in-between. The difference in recruiting and selection processes is expected, as each company should design a process that fits them. However, when individuals who are looking for new opportunities interact with organizations that have vastly different processes, or processes that do not match the pace they are looking to move, it can create a complicated and uneasy scenario for all parties involved.
Recap:
- Individual’s season of life and current situation influences their expectations of pace during the recruitment and selection process.
- Organization’s season of life and current situation influences their pace during the recruitment and selection process.
- External elements influence many aspects of the recruitment and selection process, sometimes influencing or restricting the pace in one direction or another. The same way a heavy rain can influence the pace we drive, or the view of Police Car in the distance.
Expecting everything to align in such a way for all parties to experience time the same way and to move at the same pace during the selection process, seems unlikely. While the timing may kill many deals simply because of misalignment, it’s not the main culprit. Communication and clarity of pace with all stakeholders involved are what give “time” power in the recruiting and selection process.
This advice for organizations to move faster on individuals or they will miss out seems half true and heavily depends on the context. Instead, organizations can outline the pace they can honestly move at and communicate that to all stakeholders. If the opportunity is a great match for an individual and the individual a great match for the organization but the pace or timing doesn’t align, the timing doesn’t align. The idea of there being a finite number of talented individuals is simply not true, identifying them is another story.
Pressuring an individual or an organization to make a decision because of the notion “time kills all deals” or “the best talent/opportunities will not wait around” seems unfair, because these notions are not always true. While sometimes we do need some motivation and deadlines to make decisions, those should be defined and created at the beginning, not the end.
