Could a slow recruitment process result in missing out on the best finance director candidates?

July 24th 2020 | Posted by phil scott

Could a slow recruitment process result in missing out on the best finance director candidates?

Could a slow recruitment process result in missing out on the best finance director candidates?

It’s never been more important for a business to ensure that it makes data-based expert financial decisions.

In order to do this, businesses must ensure that they have the right finance director (FD) in place.

This makes recruitment an area that requires a great deal of focus, dedicated to ensuring that the recruitment process is not too slow to attract and engage top performers.

Why slow hiring can be a detriment

Employers may be tempted to take a long time to make decisions regarding the hiring of an FD, in order to ensure that they get the right person.

However, this can be dangerous as the best candidates are likely to be deterred by a process that is too lengthy. They will have other opportunities awaiting them in what is a competitive environment.

Another danger of taking too long to find the right person is that the balance and financial situation of the business can suffer. Bearing all of this in mind, it’s a good idea to pay attention to factors that can cause delays in the recruitment process.

Potential speed bumps in the FD hiring process

There are some important aspects of bringing in the best FD for a business that can lead to delays.

Availability of interviewees

It’s unlikely that top candidates for an FD role will have a lot of availability. For this reason, businesses need to be flexible. It’s often a good idea to conduct video interviews in order to resolve availability issues.

The ongoing back and forth

No top performer is going to retain an interest in a role if there is a seemingly endless amount of back and forth before decisions are made.

In order to make this less likely to happen, the most successful businesses establish a timescale at the start of the process. This involves determining the availability of interviewers and decision-makers as well as determining how and when feedback will be provided.

Having this timescale in place makes it less likely that there will be any stalling of the process.

Stages in the process

Normally, it’s advisable for a business to include at least two stages in the interview process. This involves holding an initial interview and then calling two or three candidates back for the next stage, including aspects such as presentations, psychometric testing and meeting the finance team.

Some businesses only concentrate on the second stage of the process once the first stage is complete. This is a mistake. Instead, it makes sense to ensure that all aspects of the process are determined initially and those involved have the relevant dates scheduled in their diaries. Taking this approach helps a business to ensure that its recruitment process is not too slow.

Offers that are not competitive  

Even after a business has selected a successful candidate, there can be unwanted delays in the FD recruitment process. One of the most common of these delays is initial offers being rejected because they are not competitive.

In order to avoid this type of delay, the most effective recruitment processes include prior research in order to create a package that includes a competitive salary as well as additions such as performance bonuses and share options.

It’s clear that a slow recruitment process can be instrumental in a business losing out on hiring the right FD for its requirements. Taking the actions outlined in this article can help businesses to speed up recruitment and hire the top-level FD they are seeking.

If you are interested in hiring an FD or CFO, contact us.