Dr John Sullivan

I’ve been called the father of speed hiring, perhaps because my first article on it appeared nearly 25 years ago. And today, I’m outlining a version of speed hiring that I call “Start Next Week Hiring” (or SNWH). This program’s primary goal is to first make a hiring decision within seven days, but then only hire candidates who can literally start work immediately.

Blame sourcing and its metrics when you’re not getting top candidates. It is increasingly important to focus on the effectiveness of both sourcing and recruiting. First, because all corporate overhead functions are being pushed to “do more with less.” Second, AI and machine learning are slowly creeping into sourcing and cannot operate without robust metrics and data.

Imagine your anger when, after a 3-month search, a finalist who said yes accepts a last-minute competing offer. Ouch! But this type of nightmare shouldn’t be a surprise. Today, 47% of candidates report that after saying yes, they would remain open to a late arrival offer. You can blame this new reneging phenomenon on shifting values or the new generation. Sadly, you must realize that receiving “a yes” today from your top finalist may no longer mean the end of your recruiting effort.

Quantum Computing (QC) is revolutionary because it can solve “unsolvable problems” and accurately forecast the future. Few corporate recruiting leaders realize that the demand for Quantum Computing (QC) talent already far exceeds the available supply. As a result, Quantum Computing will eventually become corporate recruiting’s #1 priority. I previously alerted you about “The War for AI Talent” in 2018. Today, I am alerting you that “The battle for Quantum Computing Talent” has already begun.

I’ve compiled a list of my most-read articles from 2024. First, to reveal the hot topics my audience found most relevant to them. And second, to provide quick access to must-read articles readers might have missed during their initial publication. I would also note that I now find that staying current in talent management can no longer just be something you do when you have spare time.

This article is in response to a recent social media discussion on the use of the “time to fill” metric. Its goal is to urge you to switch to the more effective “Need-on-Date” metric. If you’re familiar with the business term “just-in-time,” then you should realize that’s exactly when your hiring should be completed—not too early or not too late.

The demand for talent is at a record high, while aggressive recruiting is sadly at a 20-year low. Yes, it’s sad to report that aggressive recruiting is fading into the past, just like rock ‘n’ roll. As a result, most corporate recruiting functions have slowly transformed into conservative copycat functions. Today, even former recruiting powerhouse companies like Google and Amazon have slowly joined the crowd. They are becoming painfully conservative.

Over the last few years, during the “great resignation,” recruiters have been blessed with the opportunity to pick from a large talent pool who were eager to quit for a better job after the frustrating Covid lockdown. However, over the last 2+ years, inflation has made it difficult for the average employee to pay their bills on their current salary.

The Olympics produce the world’s greatest talent performances, so corp. leaders should learn why. In a world where the very future of a corporation may now be determined by its talent density in strategic areas like AI, Quantum Computing, data security, and technology development. Benchmarking against all industries and organizations that excel at building talent density (i.e., a high concentration of top-performing employees in a strategic area) makes sense.

Top employees are reluctant to apply for external jobs because it makes them appear disloyal. “Getting caught” would not only be embarrassing, but it would likely result in some career damage at their current company. However, this “no application required” strategy delays any formal job application.