Hiring the right people is hard enough without a slow, tangled process making it harder. A long-winded hiring routine can frustrate everyone involved; HR teams, hiring managers, and candidates. We appreciate there are many reasons why this happens and we also understand that most professionals in TA have a desire to improve the process. Many also recognise that in today’s competitive market, an efficient hiring process isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s a must. An extended timeline means losing great candidates (often to faster-moving competitors) and duplicating wasted effort when candidates drop out mid-process.
In this post we are looking to share practical tips to help streamline your hiring process, leverage the right applicant tracking system (ATS), and get your hiring managers more engaged, all to help you secure the best talent as effectively as possible. Our team has worked internally and therefore has a balanced perspective on hiring from both sides of the partnership. As ever, we adopt a neutral standpoint, but also want to ensure that we are all operating in the most efficient way possible to help companies achieve their objectives and for candidates to secure the role they desire.
We’ll cover:
- Speeding up your hiring process to reduce time-to-hire: How to cut unnecessary steps, improve coordination, and avoid costly delays between interview stages. (Long hiring processes often result in lost candidates and wasted effort, we’ll explain why and how to fix it.)
- Choosing and using an ATS for efficiency: Common questions about selecting an ATS for small to mid-sized businesses, how the right software can save time and improve candidate experience. We’ll also discuss how to know when it’s time to invest in an ATS.
- Boosting hiring manager engagement: Tactics to encourage busy hiring managers to move quickly, from setting expectations to improving communication and accountability. We’ll include some peer-to-peer advice and NEUTRA’s observations on what really works in practice.
Let’s dive into building a faster, candidate-friendly hiring process that benefits everyone involved.
Streamline Your Hiring Process to Reduce Time-to-Hire
Hiring timelines have a way of stretching longer than planned. Perhaps interviews get spaced out over weeks, or internal sign-offs add lag. However, lengthy hiring processes come with real risks. Research confirms what many suspect: protracted hiring means more top candidates drop out. In one LinkedIn survey, candidates reported that too many interview stages were a top reason they bowed out, and it concluded that businesses with lots of interview rounds are at a higher risk of losing good candidates. In-demand talent, just won’t wait around forever.
Why Speed Matters: Top candidates are frequently in multiple interview processes at once, particularly if they are actively seeking a new opportunity. This is less prevalent if they are more passively considering options. But if your process is slower or more cumbersome than others, you could lose excellent people to a faster offer elsewhere. If you have a 4 or even 5 stage process versus a competitor that completes interviews in 1-2 stages, you may lose out. There has to be depth and comprehension in the process, but efficiency wins. It’s not just anecdotal, either. Data indicates that the best active candidates can be off the market in as little as 10-20 days, whereas the average hiring process can take several weeks (often 30-40+ days). In other words, if you drag your feet, someone else may snap up that star candidate. Every extra day between steps is an opportunity for them to accept another offer or gradually lose interest or through lack of momentum.
Beyond losing talent, drawn-out hiring cycles have other downsides. They consume more team time and resources, and they can damage your employer brand. Candidates grow frustrated when weeks pass with little communication, research suggests that 25% of candidates lose interest if they haven’t heard back within just one week, and that jumps to 50% after two weeks with no feedback. Some will simply drop out or develop a poor impression of the company. In fact, 26% of job seekers in one survey said they would leave an anonymous negative review if they felt strung along by a hiring process.
A reputation for a slow, disorganised hiring experience can hurt your ability to attract talent long-term. The bottom line: a sluggish process doesn’t just delay one hire; it can ripple out to affect team productivity, existing employee morale, and your attractiveness as an employer.
Practical Ways to Shorten the Timeline: How can you streamline your hiring process without sacrificing quality? Here are several strategies NEUTRA recommends to our clients to cut down time-to-hire:
- Align internally before you start: Lack of internal alignment is a sneaky cause of delays. Before posting a job, make sure all key stakeholders (recruiters, the hiring manager, HR, etc.) agree on the role’s requirements, selection criteria, and hiring steps. If you can iron out questions upfront, like the must-have skills, who needs to interview the candidate, and what the hiring timeline should be, you’ll prevent slowdowns later. It helps to have a kickoff meeting for each new requisition to set clear expectations and a target timeline (more on that in the hiring manager section). This way, everyone is on the same page from day one, and you won’t lose days chasing down clarifications mid-process.
- Cut unnecessary steps and interviews: Take a critical look at how many stages your hiring process really needs. Each additional interview or assessment adds days (or weeks) and opportunities for scheduling conflicts. Of course, you want to be thorough, but too many interview rounds can become redundant and actually cause candidates to lose interest. If you currently have, say, four separate interviews, ask if that can be compressed. Perhaps two of those could be combined into one panel interview, or a later-stage presentation could be done in the same visit as another round. Avoid “over-testing” candidates with project after project, define a balanced assessment that gives you confidence without dragging things out. You might be surprised: some companies find they can make excellent hiring decisions with a streamlined two-stage process, instead of a marathon of meetings. Not only will you save time, but you’ll project decisiveness and organisation to candidates. As one hiring leader put it, companies must remember that “the candidate is also choosing you.” Their advice: if you want to hire the best talent, cut long processes (e.g. don’t stretch to 3-4 months of interviews) and avoid endless rounds of hoops to jump through. Candidates appreciate a concise process, it shows you respect their time as well as your own.
- Tighten up the gaps between stages: Often, the schedule gaps between interviews cause more delay than the interviews themselves. It’s all too common for a candidate to have a great first interview, then wait two weeks to be scheduled for the next round because everyone’s calendars are booked. To prevent this, try to coordinate availability in advance. For example, when you know you’ll be doing first-round interviews next week, block some tentative slots in the hiring manager’s calendar the following week for second rounds. That way you can quickly slot in the top candidates without a long pause. Some companies even book all necessary stakeholders’ time for final interviews at the start of the process (e.g. holding a block of time for candidate interviews every Friday), and then cancel as needed, rather than scrambling to find time later. The faster you can move a qualified candidate from one step to the next, the less likely they are to lose momentum or get scooped up elsewhere. Aim to have no more than a few days, a week at most between interview stages. Avoid “dead air”: even if logistics prevent a quick next interview, keep communicating (a quick email: “We’re excited about your interview and will be back with next steps by Friday”). That keeps candidates warm and engaged, rather than wondering if they’ve been forgotten.
- Empower faster decision-making: Decision delays at the end of the process can also derail your time-to-hire. Over the years we’ve seen scenarios where all interviews are done, but then the team takes two more weeks to make the final decision or get approval to extend an offer. Wherever possible, streamline your decision and approval steps. This might mean aligning all stakeholders early so that final offers don’t require weeks of bureaucratic review (nothing’s worse than losing your first-choice candidate because the offer sat waiting for a signature). Set a goal, for instance, to decide on the finalist within 24-48 hours of the last interview. Have your evaluation scorecards or debrief meeting immediately after candidate interviews conclude so that impressions are fresh and consensus can be reached quickly. If multiple people need to sign off, try to gather them (even virtually) for a quick huddle rather than a long email chain. Speed is key – not only in interviewing but in the decision phase, too. Remember that delaying an offer by even a few days could be the difference between acceptance and losing the candidate. If you’ve found someone great, be prepared to act fast and get that offer out.
- Utilise technology to eliminate bottlenecks: Certain tedious parts of recruiting can now be sped up dramatically with the right tools. For example, scheduling interviews is often a huge time sink, the back-and-forth of “What time works for you?” with candidates and interviewers. Consider using an automated scheduling tool or features that let candidates self-schedule from pre-set slots. Nothing slows down hiring like phone tag or email ping-pong to set up meetings. Automating this can cut days out of the process. NEUTRA has seen clients have success with calendar integration tools that allow a candidate to pick an available slot from a hiring manager’s calendar directly. Similarly, CV screening and even initial interview questions can be sped up with AI or assessments, so you’re not spending weeks reviewing hundreds of CVs or scores manually. (Just ensure any automation still aligns with a human touch for fairness and personalisation.) The idea is to free up your team from low-value tasks, so they can focus on interviewing and evaluating candidates rather than administrative chasing. So, use technology as an accelerator, whether it’s an interview scheduler, an online assessment, or even templated emails to keep things moving swiftly.
- Keep candidates in the loop throughout: A streamlined process isn’t just about internal efficiency; it’s also about maintaining candidate engagement. One cause of drop-off is poor communication, the candidate doesn’t know what’s happening or assumes silence means rejection. Being proactive in updating candidates on their status and next steps really helps. For example, send a quick note after each interview stage thanking them and outlining what comes next and an expected timeline. Or keep your partners updated to do this for you. If there’s an unforeseen delay, a brief update can hugely improve the candidate’s experience (“we need a few more days to finalise our shortlist, but you’re still in consideration”). This level of communication prevents the situation where a candidate fades away because they “never heard anything.” It also projects an image of an organised, caring employer. Even if you need a pause, keep channels of communication open. It keeps candidates patient and reassured that the opportunity is still active. Some companies use text messages or automated emails for speed, but even a personalised email or call is great. The goal is to make the process feel smooth and transparent from the candidate’s perspective, even if you’re frantically coordinating behind the scenes.
- Measure and refine: To truly streamline, start tracking your time-to-hire (from job posting to accepted offer) and time between stages. Having data will highlight where your biggest bottlenecks are. For instance, you might find that on average it’s taking 10 days from phone screen to first interview, that’s a clue to tighten up scheduling. Or perhaps the offer approval stage is dragging. By measuring, you can pinpoint and address the slow parts. Set targets (e.g. “We aim to cut our average time-to-hire from 45 days to 30 days over the next quarter”) and monitor progress. Many Applicant Tracking Systems (which we discuss next) have reporting features that make it easy to pull these metrics. Celebrate improvements when you shave off days, and continuously look for ways to improve. Efficiency is an ongoing practice, not a one-time fix. But the payoff is huge: a quicker process means less work duplicated and more candidates accepted before they slip away.
Why it Matters – A Quick Recap: Streamlining time-to-hire isn’t just about bragging rights for a low number; it directly impacts hiring success. Top talent tends to get snapped up quickly, so a faster process increases your chances of securing them before someone else does. It also saves your team’s time (shorter processes mean fewer hours spent interviewing replacement candidates because the first ones dropped out). And it prevents “process fatigue”, both your team and the candidates will feel less wearied. In today’s market, with many companies actively expanding and planning to add new hires in 2025 and yet a shortage of skilled talent (91% of employers report difficulty finding qualified professionals), speed can be a competitive advantage. If you can streamline your hiring while still making careful decisions, you’ll fill roles more successfully and build a reputation as an organisation that values people’s time.
So, tightening up your hiring workflow is one of the most impactful improvements a talent team can make. Also we understand that the internal role of HR and TA is diverse and demanding, so all of these steps are not always possible, but if there are elements of improvement you can make, you will no doubt see success.
Next, let’s look at another key piece of the efficiency puzzle: using the right tools to organise and accelerate your recruitment. Namely, Applicant Tracking Systems.
Choosing and Using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for Efficiency
One common question we get from HR teams at small and mid-sized companies is: “Do we need an ATS, and if so, which one is best for us?” For the uninitiated, an Applicant Tracking System is software that manages your recruitment process electronically, from posting jobs, to receiving applications, to tracking candidates through interviews, and even generating reports. Big corporations have used ATS platforms for years, but today there are many options tailored to smaller organisations as well. An ATS can be a game-changer for efficiency, collaboration, and candidate experience, but choosing the right one (and knowing when to implement it) is crucial.
How an ATS Makes Hiring More Efficient:
Let’s start with the benefits. At its core, an ATS is about automation and centralisation. Instead of juggling email inboxes, Excel spreadsheets, and piles of CVs, an ATS brings everything into one system. This saves a huge amount of time and reduces human error. For example, most ATS platforms allow you to post a job opening to multiple job boards and social media channels with just a few clicks. Without an ATS, you might be manually creating postings on Indeed, LinkedIn, your careers page, and more, a repetitive process for each site. With an ATS, you write the job description once and it syndicates it out everywhere, consistently. That’s immediate time saved.
Similarly, an ATS automatically collects all the incoming applications in one place (no more searching your email for that one candidate’s CV) and can often parse resumes, meaning it extracts the candidate’s info and presents it in a structured format. This makes screening faster, you can quickly filter or search by keywords, experience, etc., rather than reading every resume word for word. Many systems also let you set up knockout questions or basic screening questionnaires to filter unqualified applicants early. Again, that cuts down the time your team spends on initial screening.
Another efficiency boon is scheduling and communication. Good ATS software will have built-in emailing tools or even calendar integrations. You can send batch emails to candidates (“Thank you for applying” or scheduling links) directly from the system, and often candidates can self-schedule interviews via the ATS’s portal. For instance, some ATS platforms allow candidates to book interview slots themselves from pre-set times the hiring team provides. This eliminates the tedious back-and-forth and speeds up the process. Some ATS platforms even support texting candidates or sending automated reminders, which helps reduce no-shows and keeps things on track.
Crucially, ATS platforms improve collaboration among your team. Hiring is rarely a one-person job; you have recruiters, HR staff, hiring managers, and sometimes external agencies all involved. An ATS gives everyone a shared view of candidate progress. Team members can leave notes or ratings on a candidate’s profile after an interview, so the hiring manager can see HR’s feedback, and vice versa. There’s no need to chase people over email for their opinions, it’s all logged in the system. This not only saves time, but also leads to better hiring decisions (since feedback is centralised and not forgotten). In addition, collaboration on hiring decisions is much easier, with multiple people/teams having access. Instead of one overwhelmed HR/TA person handling it all, the whole hiring team stays in the loop via the software.
Better Candidate Experience and Reporting:
Beyond raw efficiency, an ATS can noticeably improve the experience for candidates, which, as we discussed, is a big factor in keeping top talent engaged. For example, an ATS ensures timely, consistent communication with applicants. You can set up automated emails at each stage: application received, interview scheduled, rejection sent, etc. Candidates aren’t left in the dark wondering if their application was seen. Even a simple auto-confirmation of application receipt sets a positive tone. Some systems provide a candidate portal where applicants can check their status or fill in additional info, which makes the process feel transparent. And because things are less likely to slip through the cracks, candidates get quicker responses. A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce report pointed out that small businesses spend nearly 30 hours over a couple of months just to hire one person when doing it all manually, leading to delays for candidates. By automating pieces of that (like scheduling and notifications), an ATS helps candidates move faster through the pipeline with less idle waiting.
Features like allowing candidates to self-schedule interviews or complete pre-screening questions online not only help you, but they give candidates more control and clarity. They can pick a convenient interview time right away rather than playing phone tag, for instance. This convenience reflects well on your company. Moreover, an ATS makes it easier to deliver rejections or next-step communications promptly. Unfortunately, many HR/TA teams get so busy that they forget to send rejection notices, which leaves applicants with a bad impression. An ATS can automate that courteously, so even those you don’t hire feel respected for their time.
On the reporting side, ATS platforms shine in providing data and analytics about your hiring. With everything tracked digitally, you can generate reports on time-to-fill, sources of hire (which job boards are giving you the best candidates), diversity metrics, and more. This is invaluable for improving your process. For instance, you might discover that candidates from one source tend to get stuck at a certain interview stage, maybe indicating a mismatch in sourcing. Or you might simply want to present to your executives how the talent pipeline looks this quarter; an ATS can often produce slick dashboards or at least exportable data to show exactly that. Without an ATS, gathering these insights is a manual slog (if it happens at all). With one, you can make data-driven decisions to further streamline and optimise your recruiting. Just be sure when evaluating systems to look at their reporting capabilities, some basic ATS options have limited reporting, which might frustrate you if you’re trying to analyse your hiring process. Many ATS will let you customise reports or integrate with analytics tools if reporting is a priority.
Choosing the Right ATS:
The good news is there’s no shortage of ATS options on the market, but that’s also the bad news, as the choice can be overwhelming. How do you pick the best one for your organisation? Here are a few key factors and a brief comparison of popular platforms:
- User-Friendliness: If your team is small and none of you are full-time tech admins, pick an ATS known for ease of use and quick implementation. The easier and more inviting the software, the more your team (especially hiring managers) will actually use it, which is key to getting the value from it.
- Key Features: Think about what features matter most to you. Multi-posting of job ads? Most ATS can do that, but check how many sites they can post to. Candidate sourcing tools? Some ATS have AI sourcing built-in, or large resume databases you can search. Interview scheduling? Ensure the ATS integrates with your calendars and offers candidate self-service scheduling if that’s a priority. Assessments and screening? A few platforms include integrated skills tests or video interview capabilities. Onboarding? If you want to extend into the new-hire onboarding process, some ATS will cover that, while others stop at offer stage. Make a list of must-have features and use that to narrow options. For example, if texting candidates is important, note that some systems include it natively while others might require a third-party integration. NEUTRA can also share insight on features we see clients benefiting from often, simpler is better if you won’t use a fancy feature, but something like easy interview scheduling or robust resume parsing is nearly always worth it.
- Scalability and Integration: If you’re a growing company, consider not just your needs now but a year or two ahead. An ATS that works great for 10 open roles might strain if you suddenly have 50, unless it’s built to scale. Also, check what other systems the ATS needs to play nicely with e.g., does it integrate with your HRIS for when candidates turn into employees? How about your email and calendar (for Outlook/Office 365 or Google Workspace integration)? If you use Slack or other tools, some ATS can send notifications there too. Having integrations can save a lot of duplicate data entry and ensure your recruiting process is connected with the rest of your HR workflow.
- Cost: Budgets are a reality. The good news is many ATS platforms are priced in tiers that are accessible to all size companies. Some charge by number of employees, others by number of job openings active, others by recruiter seats, and some even have free versions or free trials. There are also a few free ATS options (or free for a single user) out there. However, free versions often have significant limitations. In general, expect to invest some money, but it’s usually a subscription model, meaning you can treat it as a monthly operational cost rather than a big capital expenditure. When comparing costs, also factor in the time saved (30 hours per hire adds up in monetary value of your team’s time!) and the cost of a vacant position remaining open longer. An ATS generally pays for itself by helping you fill roles faster and with less manual work.
- Candidate Experience Considerations: Different ATS systems have different front-ends that candidates interact with. You want one that makes it easy to apply (especially on mobile devices) and doesn’t create a black hole experience. Many modern ATS allow for quick apply options, LinkedIn profile parsing, etc., so candidates aren’t turned off by a laborious application process. Some older or clunkier systems might still have lengthy forms or require candidates to create an account to apply that can deter applicants. So, take a demo from the applicant’s point of view. Test an ATS by submitting a test application: Was it straightforward? Mobile-friendly? Also, what kind of communication do candidates receive? You might also want an ATS that lets you easily build a nice-looking careers page or integrates a jobs widget into your website. Some offer this in-app, or you can use their API. If employer branding is important, ensure the ATS supports that (e.g. allowing your logos, company information, custom questions, etc. on the application form). A positive candidate experience means more applicants complete your application and stay engaged directly improving your hiring outcomes
When Is It Time to Invest in an ATS?
If you’re a small operation hiring just a person or two a year, you might manage fine with manual methods. But many companies reach a point where spreadsheets and email become unwieldy. Here are some signs it’s time to consider an ATS:
- You’re hiring more people, more frequently. Maybe your company is growing, and suddenly you have 5, 20, 50 open roles to juggle this year. That’s a lot of CV’s and interviews to track. An ATS brings order to the chaos. If it feels like recruiting is consuming too many hours or you’re dropping balls, it’s a clear indicator to upgrade your tools.
- Candidates are slipping through cracks or response times are slow. If you’ve ever found an email buried in your inbox from a great applicant that you accidentally missed, or you realise it’s taking you two weeks to get back to people because it’s hard to keep track, an ATS will help ensure every candidate gets seen and responded to promptly (with much less effort).
- Your hiring involves multiple collaborators. Once you have a hiring manager (or a team) who wants visibility into candidates, notes, and process, email becomes a poor collaboration tool. An ATS shines here by giving shared access. No more forwarding resumes one by one and tracking who has reviewed what.
- You want better reporting and insight. Perhaps leadership is asking, “How long is it taking us to fill roles?” or “How many candidates are we seeing per hire?” If you shrug because it’s too hard to compile that info manually, that’s a nudge towards an ATS. The ability to quickly pull metrics can justify the investment by itself, as it helps you optimise and prove HR’s effectiveness.
- Consistency and compliance are concerns. An often overlooked aspect: an ATS can ensure you handle candidates consistently (everyone gets the same fair chance, same questions, etc.) and help with compliance like GDPR or EEOC record-keeping. If you’re starting to think about data protection, equal opportunity tracking, or just maintaining a database of past candidates for future openings (talent pool), an ATS is the proper and secure way to do it.
- Your current system (or lack thereof) is hurting candidate experience. If you’ve received feedback like “I applied and never heard back” or you know your career email inbox gets difficult to manage, it’s probably time. A professional ATS presence signals to candidates that you take hiring seriously. Candidates won’t feel like their application went into a void.
- You find it difficult to manage partner (ie agency) applications. When partnering with external support you have new streams of candidates being presented internally to you and hiring managers. By using an ATS you can ensure that candidates receive equal treatment, plus all activity is time stamped to help with application management and possible duplication issues.
The beauty is that ATS solutions are highly scalable, no matter what size organisation you are. You don’t need a massive IT department or budget to start using one, or even upgrade to a more effective one. We suggest clients test-drive a couple of top contenders with a trial job posting to see which interface they prefer. Remember, the best ATS is the one you’ll actually use. It should make your process easier, faster, and more insightful.
In summary, consider an ATS as a force-multiplier for your hiring efficiency. It automates repetitive tasks (posting jobs, scheduling, emailing, candidate management, reporting), keeps everything organised, ensures no candidate is ignored, and gives you data to continuously improve. That means you can achieve hiring results comparable to much larger firms without needing an army of recruiters. And most importantly, it frees up your HR and talent team to focus on what really matters: engaging with people and making good hiring decisions, rather than pushing paperwork. If you haven’t yet, evaluate whether now is the time to adopt an ATS, or consider whether your current ATS is working effectively for you, it could be the single biggest upgrade to your recruiting process.
(NEUTRA doesn’t sell ATS software, but we are happy to advise our clients on selecting one that fits their needs. We work with companies using everything from spreadsheets to world-class ATS platforms, and we’ve seen that the right tool can make a night-and-day difference in hiring efficiency.)
Facilitating Hiring Managers to Engage (and Hire) More Quickly
One of the most frequent complaints we hear from talent acquisition teams is about delays in the process because of the many moving parts. You’ve streamlined your HR process as much as possible, maybe you have great tools in place, but you still need the hiring managers (the department heads or team leaders who are filling a role) to do their part swiftly; review CVs, provide feedback, interview candidates, and make decisions. When hiring managers are slow to respond or view hiring as a low priority, it can bring the entire process to a crawl. This is especially frustrating because, as we discussed, every extra day of delay increases the chance of losing candidates. So how can we encourage and enable hiring managers to be more responsive and engaged in recruitment? We believe this is a partnership that can be improved with the right approach and mindset.
The Busy Hiring Manager’s Perspective:
First, it helps to understand why hiring managers may seem unresponsive. It’s not because they don’t care about filling the role, they definitely want that new team member on board. The issue is usually that they are extremely busy juggling their “day job” responsibilities. A study by Gartner found that 62% of hiring managers feel constrained by other, competing priorities during the hiring process. Also, consider that interviewing and screening might be outside their comfort zone and gets continually bumped down the to-do list by more urgent operational tasks. Many are also involved in multiple hires at once or have unpredictable schedules, making it hard to lock them down for interviews.
Additionally, some managers might not realise how much impact their delays have. They might think, “Taking an extra week to get back to HR won’t hurt, the candidates will wait.” This, as we know, is not true in today’s job market. Part of our role in HR/talent acquisition is to educate and align managers with the reality: a slow hiring process can lose the very talent they need. Remember that statistic: 46% of candidates will lose interest in a company if there are delays in the interview process. It’s our responsibility to allow hiring managers to understand that we’re not just being pushy for fun; speed matters for securing the best people and providng the best experience.
Aligning Incentives and Urgency:
One effective way to get hiring managers on board is to align hiring speed with their own goals. For example, remind them that every day a position remains unfilled is a day their team is understaffed or a project is delayed. If a key role stays vacant for weeks longer than necessary, it can hurt their team’s productivity (and probably add to the manager’s workload/stress in the meantime). In fact, estimates suggest an open position can cost a company hundreds of pounds (or dollars) per day in lost productivity. Frame a slow hiring process as a risk to their objectives, because it is. Conversely, an efficient process means they get a capable person in situ faster, relieving pressure on everyone. Sometimes, sharing a success story or data can drive the point home. Previous examples of success and efficiency, through being engaged in the process.
Hiring managers may also find that they interview fewer candidates with better results, partly because they attracted more referrals by being active in the process. You can relay this to your managers: “When you’re responsive and involved, we fill your role in, say, 4 weeks instead of 6, that’s two extra weeks your team has that new member contributing. And you won’t have to slog through 20 interviews because we’ll zero in on the right people quicker.” It helps them see a direct payoff for their time investment. Sometimes we can even pose it as a question: “Hiring manager, if spending 15 minutes a week now means you hire 30% faster, what’s that worth to you?”
Usually, it clicks that a small time investment up front yields a big gain (a filled role) sooner.
Set Expectations Early and Clearly:
One of the best practices is to have a frank discussion with the hiring manager at the very start of the hiring process, essentially a service-level agreement for hiring. In the kickoff meeting or role discovery meeting (where you gather the job requirements), also discuss the timeline and each person’s responsibilities. For example, agree that “We aim to have first interviews done by X date, finalists by Y date, and an offer by Z.” Then outline what needs to happen to achieve that: “To hit these targets, we’ll need you to review CVs within 48 hours of receiving them, and we’ll schedule interviews perhaps two days a week.” When the manager understands the cadence from the outset, they are less likely to become a bottleneck. It’s also worth explicitly stating the cost of delay: “If feedback is delayed, it will push our timeline out and we risk losing candidates to other offers. So, are we aligned that we’ll try to keep a tight 2-day feedback loop for applicants?” Managers are often agreeable to this in theory; the key is getting that commitment early. Document these expectations in an email if helpful, not to “hold it against them” but so everyone remembers the plan.
Another tip: share market data about candidate behaviour in that kickoff. For example, you might mention that competitors are recruiting for similar talent, or the speed at which candidates are currently receiving offers or moving on. Any data that can back up your discussion is useful and credible. This isn’t to scare, but to ensure the hiring manager sees urgency not just as an HR preference, but as a market reality. NEUTRA Talent Partners often provide our clients with appropriate insights at the start, so they know we’re in a race together, so to speak, if that is definitely the case. Or can provide insight on other companies that are competing for similar talent.
Regular Check-Ins and Communication:
Even with initial buy-in, day-to-day busyness can cause drift. That’s why establishing a regular check-in with the hiring manager is extremely useful. This could be a 15-minute weekly meeting between TA and the hiring manager to review pipeline status. A short, standing meeting (or call) each week keeps the process at the forefront of their mind and allows quick course corrections. In these meetings, you can quickly go over new candidates, see if the manager has reviewed CV’s, discuss who to interview, and address any hurdles. It creates accountability simply because it’s on the calendar, the manager knows each week they’ll be asked “What do you think of the latest candidates? Can we schedule interviews for these three?” It’s much harder for them to go AWOL for a week when they have a commitment to speak with you regularly. And if they’ve been too busy, that meeting is a chance for you to help remove blockers (“Okay, you didn’t get to those CVs, let’s scan them together right now,” or “Shall I go ahead and schedule those interviews based on the availability you gave me?”). It’s proactive project management.
Make these check-ins as painless as possible for the manager: come prepared with a summary of what’s happening (so they don’t have to dig through emails). For instance: “We have 10 applications this week; I’ve shortlisted 3 that look promising (attached). Candidate A and B I recommend for interview – can we confirm times? Candidate C I’m on the fence about, would love your quick insight. Also, last week’s interview with Candidate X – do we move them to final stage? If so, we’ll need to line up the director for approval round.” Bringing a quick-hit list like this shows respect for their time and makes it easier for them to engage. Many hiring managers actually appreciate these focused discussions once they see that it reduces long email threads.
Make it Easy for the Manager to Do Their Part:
A big part of our job is enablement. The easier we make it for hiring managers to participate, the more they will. Some ideas: prepare interview kits or question guides aligned to company information (values, mission, personal characteristics), therefore reducing time figuring out what to ask and providing a uniform process for all. Use scheduling tools to present them with an already-vetted interview schedule (“Here are 3 slots next week where candidate is free and I booked conference room, please just pick one that works for you”). Also, manage as much of the admin as possible: if they need to fill out a scorecard or send feedback, provide a simple form or template. In short, remove opportunities for procrastination by doing the legwork for them.
Another common pain point: reviewing CV’s. A busy manager might get a stack of 20 CVs and feel overwhelmed (hence delaying it). Instead, consider sending only the top 3-5 CVs at a time, with a brief summary of each from you. This curation makes it more likely they’ll respond (“Yes, interview these two, pass on the others”) quickly. If they trust your screening, they often prefer you just send fewer, better candidates. Always communicate the candidates’ situation in your submission – e.g. “John Smith has 5 years in our required tech and already has another offer in hand that he’s considering by next Friday” – that kind of info can light a fire under a manager to not sit on that CV. Sharing a candidate’s other offers or availability timeline in writing is a subtle way to create urgency: the manager sees that if they don’t act, a competitor might. It turns abstract candidates into real people who could vanish soon, spurring quicker action.
Encourage Accountability (Without Blame):
If despite all this, a hiring manager is consistently slow, it may be that you need to adopt new tactics. In some organisations, hiring metrics (like time-to-hire or how long a manager takes to give feedback) are actually included in performance goals. If you have that structure, use it. For example, by sharing quarterly reports that show which departments are meeting hiring SLAs and which aren’t. Peer pressure can work too: nobody wants to be the bottleneck that leadership sees in the report. However, be careful to maintain a spirit of partnership. The goal isn’t to shame, but to help them succeed. Sometimes simply pointing out “We’ve lost three candidates at the final stage likely due to the delays” will prompt a conscientious manager to adjust.
NEUTRA’s approach when working with client hiring managers is to be a friendly and charming nag: we’ll send polite reminders, reiterate the agreed timelines, and stress that we’re here to help. We might say, “I know you’re swamped, but this is a top priority for both of us. What can I do to make this easier?” This openness can reveal issues, maybe the manager is unsure how to evaluate candidates and that’s why they stall, in which case we can provide better evaluation criteria or join the interviews to assist. Or maybe they’ve had bad past hires and are hesitant, which means we need to build their confidence in the process or widen the candidate pool quality. Tackling the root cause of reluctance can unlock engagement.
Acknowledge and Celebrate Speed:
Finally, positive reinforcement goes a long way. When a hiring manager does move quickly or gives thorough feedback promptly, thank them and show the result. For example, “Thanks to your quick turnaround on those interviews, we were able to get an offer out in 10 days and the candidate happily accepted!.” This reinforces the process you want. It also helps the manager feel ownership and success in hiring, rather than viewing it as a chore. In the end, most managers want to build a great team. By making the hiring process feel like a well-supported, efficient path rather than a slog, you’ll get their buy-in.
What We See Working: In practice, NEUTRA has observed a few tactics that consistently improve hiring manager engagement:
- Initial role briefing meetings that cover more than just the job description, they also cover timeline and process agreement. When both HR and the manager leave that meeting with a shared plan, things start on the right foot. It’s much easier to call someone to account later by referencing that initial plan (“As we discussed, we wanted final interviews by next week; what can we do to get back on track?”).
- Pre-scheduling interviews or setting aside interview blocks. Scheduling is always going to be an issue, so you can implement a practice where as soon as a manager says “let’s interview this candidate,” you could immediately pencil in an interview slot within the next 3-5 days. Tell the manager “hold Tuesday at 10am for this candidate.” Having it on their calendar reduces rescheduling and subtly pressures everyone (including the candidate) to be ready.
- Weekly pipeline emails or calls. As mentioned, consistent communication is key. Keep the hiring managers in the loop, without them having to ask. Note important updates such as “5 candidates in process: 2 interviewing this week (on track), 1 awaiting your feedback (please review by tomorrow if possible), 2 newly applied. This level of clarity makes it easy for them to engage in bits rather than feeling overwhelmed.
- Sharing candidate enthusiasm or movement. For instance, if a candidate expresses strong interest in the role or conversely, if they mention another offer, pass that on to the manager immediately. It humanises the process, the manager starts rooting for a candidate or realises they might lose them. Hearing “Candidate X said our role is her top choice, she’s really excited about our project” can motivate a manager to not let that person slip away due to delays.
- Leadership emphasis. In companies where senior leadership explicitly prioritises hiring, managers tend to follow suit. If your CEO or department head is asking in meetings “How are we doing on filling that vacancy? Do you need any support to move faster?”, it sets a tone that hiring is important work, not an afterthought. HR/TA can encourage this by feeding data upward when you have this forum, for example, “We risk losing offers if we can’t speed up stage Y, perhaps [VP’s Name] can stress to their team the importance of timely feedback.” It’s amazing how a single email from the VP saying “Team, let’s aim to finalise our interviews by X date” can galvanise action that HR alone might struggle to elicit.
In summary, getting hiring managers to engage quickly is about partnership, education, and enablement. Set the stage with clear expectations and data (so they know why it’s critical), maintain ongoing communication to keep things on track, and make it as easy as possible for them to do their part. When they see hiring as a supported, efficient process, not a burdensome sideline task, they’re more likely to treat it with the urgency it deserves. And when HR/TA and hiring managers work in sync, the hiring process truly sings: candidates get quicker decisions (and often better experiences), roles are filled faster, and everyone’s happy with the outcome. Our shared goal at NEUTRA and in your organisation is to secure the best talent in the most effective way and that absolutely requires teamwork with those who ultimately make the hiring decisions.
Building a More Efficient, Candidate-Friendly Hiring Process
In today’s fast-paced talent market, efficiency in hiring isn’t about cutting corners, it’s about respecting the time and effort of everyone involved and seizing opportunities before they slip away. By streamlining your process, leveraging tech tools, and actively engaging your hiring managers, you create a win-win scenario: candidates get a smoother, quicker experience and your team fills roles with less hassle and better results.
To recap, start by examining your hiring steps and eliminating any unnecessary friction. Long, drawn-out processes are proven to scare off top talent, so design a workflow that is thorough but as swift as possible.
Use the data out there to instil urgency in your team’s culture. Then, arm yourself with a good systems or at least good organisational methods, so that you can handle tasks efficiently and keep candidates engaged through timely communication. The right technology is not a magic bullet, but it will make your life significantly easier and give your company a professional edge in how you recruit.
Crucially, bring your hiring managers on the journey. They are your partners in this process, and when they understand the importance of speed and feel equipped to play their part, amazing things happen, faster hires, better hires, and fewer great candidates slipping through the cracks. Sometimes it just takes a bit of expectation-setting and hand-holding to turn a busy, hesitant manager into a hiring champion. And when that happens, you’ll wonder how you ever managed before.
At NEUTRA, we share the same objective as our clients: to secure the best talent as effectively as possible. We’re not fans of red tape or endless bureaucracy, we believe a hiring process can be both thorough and nimble. Every organisation will have its own nuances, but we hope the strategies outlined here spark ideas for improvements in yours. Whether it’s shortening your interview lineup, or starting a Monday morning hiring huddle with your managers, even small changes can yield big results over time.
Remember, an efficient hiring process isn’t just an operational nice-to-have; it’s a competitive advantage and a mark of respect towards candidates. In the end, it’s about creating a process that works for everyone: your team fills the role with a fantastic new hire, and the candidate joins you feeling positive about how they were treated. That’s the outcome we’re all striving for.
Here’s to faster, smarter hiring and landing the talent you deserve. NEUTRA is here to support you at every step, from refining your strategy to rolling up our sleeves alongside you in the trenches of recruitment. Together, let’s build a hiring process that truly helps you shine as an employer of choice.
