The easiest way to lose out on top talent is a drawn-out recruitment process that lasts far longer than needed, and more importantly far longer than the market average. If your recruitment process takes longer than 40 days, you are on par with some of the longest hiring processes worldwide.

So, where is the balance between a quick hiring process and an effective hiring process? It is important to move quickly, but speed will do you no good if a bad hire costs your company more time and money than the hiring process itself.

1. Write a Job Description That Attracts Top Talent

Here are three tactics to consider as you generate a job description:

• List five core skills: While you should be clear about the critical expertise needed for the job, do not get overly specific, or you could risk people not applying because they perceive themselves to be underqualified.
• Not-so-fun fact: Men will apply for a job when they meet just 60% of qualifications, whereas women need to be closer to 100% to feel confident enough to apply.
• Provide a breakdown: Explain what this person will spend most of their time doing, which teams they will be working closely with, and what their general day-to-day will look like.
• Discuss markers of success: What does a job well done look like? What types of metrics will this person need to track? What will they report on?

3. Manage your expectations and focus on skills

All too often we see companies looking for that unicorn candidate. Be careful when you are looking for that perfect candidate as they often do not exist, and even if they do, all those requirements on a job ad can often come across as overwhelming and potential will scare them off. Keep that in mind when writing your job description as well.

Remember, if someone is talented you will be able to train them to be even better suited for the position. Offering development, training opportunities, and making sure they are utilizing their skills, our research finds, is crucial to retaining talent.

Focus on skills vs degrees. Skills-based hiring allows you to tap into a much wider talent pool and improves diversity and retention.

If you continue to evaluate resumes and people based on whether they have a degree or whether they went to a prominent university or college instead of focusing on their skill sets, you are missing a much wider, more diverse talent pool.

Put Yourself in Candidates’ Shoes

When it comes to improving and speeding up your hiring and recruiting process, the best way is to experience it firsthand. If you improve your process, have your hiring managers “apply” and walk through the new steps along with you. If all of you find certain steps confusing or lengthy, chances are your candidates do, too. Identify where you can eliminate cumbersome procedures, streamline work, and improve communication.