Firing up the recruitment process!



A member of the Heads team recently engaged with a Senior Category Manager on LinkedIn.

We had several procurement jobs available he would be perfect for, and wanted to find out if he would be open to discussing new opportunities.

It transpired that the Senior Category Manager hadn’t had his eye on the procurement market, but when presented with such an exciting position he wanted to find out more.

Part of his commitment to engaging with us included a full update of his social media representation and his CV.

No sooner had his LinkedIn profile been polished off than he was contacted by three recruiters, each wanting to represent him for new senior procurement roles.

Luckily, Procurement Heads mostly engage with forward-thinking businesses with swift-acting and decisive hiring teams.

This particular business made sure things were rescheduled so that they could meet our candidate as soon as possible.

If we hadn’t been in a position where we could act so fast, he would have been engaging with other organisations, all of whom would have wanted to compete for his skills.

Best case scenario; our client would have had to negotiate hard to secure him, worst case they could have lost him to a key competitor.

This type of situation happens too often in procurement recruitment, often because companies don’t realise the full implications of sluggish hiring which, ultimately, goes far deeper than just losing great applicants.

One of the biggest mistakes made by hiring companies is believing that a long, drawn-out interview process with multiple stages and various steps is the safest way of making sure the right hire is made.

Yes, it’s important to be thorough, but you risk losing the best people halfway through and reducing your candidate pool to a smaller, less impressive group of applicants.

It’s true that you can revisit the market, but once a job has been advertised for too long, people start to wonder why it hasn’t been filled and you’ll have a harder time attracting the calibre of talent you need.

Another problem with drawing out the interview process is the impact it can have on the business and your existing team.

An empty chair is bad for productivity. You’re losing an experienced pair of hands and increasing the workload of existing members.

A gap in the workforce can also cause unease, particularly if that gap stays open for an extended period of time.

Often, businesses can find that resignations call like dominos; one moves on and the rest follow. If managed in a timely and sensitive manner, losing a team member doesn’t have to cause too much damage.

The hiring process is pivotal to distinguishing an employer’s brand, and exceptional candidates will not be so easily tempted to explore opportunities with organisations that deliver anything less than an impressive candidate experience.

As recruiters, we appreciate that appointing new employees can be a demanding process and that for hiring managers, the day-to-day demands of a business can always cause slow-down proceedings.

To help avoid the pitfalls, it can be really useful to map out the process beforehand by confirming key elements such as advertising timelines and interview dates.

It’s also important to confirm the availability of everyone involved at the interview stage.

Try and offer as much flexibility around times as possible to ensure the people you really want to see can get to see you before they’re enticed away by your competitors.

It’s time to fire up the hiring process and make sure your organisation is the one to attract, secure and retain the best talent!

Sign-up for job alerts.

By entering your email you agree to receive job alerts and marketing communications from Procurement Heads. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. See Privacy Policy.

Scroll to Top