It is a common complaint that hiring takes too long. Especially for small companies that might hire only a few times a year. Shortening the time it takes to hire someone can have an enormous impact on the company. Often the hiring process is reactive instead of proactive. Most managers don't enjoy hiring so getting them actively involved can be difficult. Couple that with the fact that most managers aren't properly trained and it isn't difficult to understand why the process takes a long time and often fails.

Hiring fast rarely includes hiring the very best. The best way to shorten the time it takes to hire someone is to have a pool of qualified people available when you need them. The problem is that most companies start the hiring process when they need someone, which often happens after one of their best people just gave notice. Companies then expect that at that exact moment in time a highly qualified candidate will also be searching, the stars will magically align and they should be able to hire this person. Wouldn't it be nice if every time you were looking, highly qualified candidates were also looking? It just doesn't work that way. Most hiring processes are reactive. To change your situation your hiring process must become proactive.

Highly qualified candidates don't search based on your hiring schedule. They search based on their schedule, so hiring can't be a one time event that happens when you decide you are ready to hire someone. This option will only provide you the best available candidates at that moment in time. Companies that excel at hiring top talent know that hiring is a process and having a queue of qualified candidates is critical. Your hiring managers should always be on the lookout for potential people, even if your company only hires once a year. Every manager should have at least two or three potential candidates for the key positions in their department. This means that your hiring managers will have to dedicate at least some time each month to hiring.

They should engage potential hires, identify who might be a potential hire, attend professional groups where these potential hires exist, respond to unsolicited resumes that have potential instead of deleting them, use LinkedIn to connect with potential candidates and follow-up with potential candidates when contacted. None of these takes a lot of time to do, maybe an hour a month. These small things can dramatically shorten the time it takes to hire someone and also increase the quality of those hires.

Download our free chapter on "Sourcing Top Talent" from our best selling book, "You're NOT The Person I Hired." Go to http://impacthiringsolutions.com and click the FREE tap on the menu bar at the top of the homepage.

IMPACT Hiring Solutions is a retained executive search and best practices hiring company. To learn more about our products and services go to http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.