Why Hiring Problems Begin Before Recruiting Starts

When a critical role stays open, the first reaction is often:

“We need more candidates.”

Sometimes that is true. But after nearly 25 years working across recruiting, staffing, business development, hiring systems, and talent operations, I have learned that many hiring problems begin long before the search starts.

They begin when the business has not aligned on what it needs, who will make the decisions, how the interviews will work, what the market will require, or what the company is truly prepared to pay.

Recruiting can find great people. But recruiting cannot make up for decisions the business has not made.

A Critical Global Leadership Hire

Several years ago, I supported a critical search for the person who would lead a global sales organization.

It was an important role with significant visibility. Multiple senior leaders were involved, including equity leaders whose schedules were understandably difficult to coordinate.

The challenge was that we began recruiting before determining how the interview process would work.

We had not clearly established:

• Who would interview each candidate

• What each leader would evaluate

• How the interview stages would be organized

• Who needed to be involved in the final decision

• How we would coordinate already-busy executive calendars

• What compensation the market would require for the experience we wanted

Those questions became much harder to answer once strong candidates were already in the process.

The Best Candidates Do Not Always Apply

For a role of this level, particularly in a specialized SaaS market, we could not assume the strongest candidate would see the opening and apply.

Often, the best candidates are employed, successful, and not actively looking. Someone has to identify them, approach them, and create a reason for them to consider the opportunity.

That is what I did.

But when you proactively approach a high-caliber candidate, you are asking that person to trust you with their time and possibly their career. They are evaluating the company just as carefully as the company is evaluating them.

If interviews are repeatedly delayed, leaders appear misaligned, or the process feels uncertain, candidates notice.

It can make the organization look as though it is not on top of its game—and that is not the impression any company wants to make when competing for senior talent.

The Market Was Telling Us Something

Compensation became another major issue.

The candidate market—and the candidates I was speaking with—showed that the compensation budget was too low for the level of leadership, SaaS experience, global scope, and specialized industry knowledge the company wanted.

I raised the concern, but the market information was not acted on soon enough.

Sometimes recruiting has to deliver a message leadership does not want to hear: the experience you want costs more than the amount currently budgeted.

That does not mean the company should automatically increase the compensation. It does mean leaders need to make an informed decision.

They may need to:

• Return to the board and explain what the market requires

• Adjust the compensation range

• Reconsider which qualifications are genuinely essential

• Look at adjacent industries or transferable experience

• Redesign the role

• Change the timing of the hire

  
  

What does not work is continuing to pursue candidates who meet every expectation while hoping the market will eventually accept a budget that does not match those expectations.

What Does Lost Time Really Cost?

Ultimately, we were unable to move forward with the search at that time.

Think about all the time that had already been invested:

• Recruiting and market research

• Candidate outreach and conversations

• Scheduling and rescheduling

• Executive interviews

• Leadership discussions

• Compensation conversations

• Follow-up communication

• Repeated attempts to align the process

  
  

That was not only recruiting time. It was the time of senior leaders who could have been focused on customers, revenue, operations, board priorities, and other strategic work.

SHRM’s 2025 recruiting benchmarks reported that the average cost per executive hire was $35,879. Yet only 20% of organizations tracked quality of hire. Those numbers are important, but they still do not capture every indirect cost of an unclear or unsuccessful hiring process—the lost leadership time, delayed business results, candidate attrition, and damage to the company’s credibility in the market.

Source: SHRM 2025 Recruiting Benchmarking Report

We Were Lucky

There is a positive ending to this story.

Our top candidate was available again the following year. The company was able to hire that person, and they continue to lead the organization today.

But we were lucky.

The right candidate could easily have accepted another opportunity. The company could have lost that talent permanently because it was not prepared to move when the candidate was first available.

Luck is not a hiring strategy.

Five Questions to Answer Before Recruiting Begins

Before opening a critical role, leaders should answer five questions:

1. What business outcome must this role create?

Start with what the company needs to accomplish—not simply the title it believes it needs to hire.

2. What must the person accomplish?

Define success in terms of outcomes, priorities, relationships, and evidence of capability—not only years of experience and a list of responsibilities.

3. Are the decision-makers aligned?

Agree on the role, the profile, the interview process, compensation, evaluation criteria, decision ownership, and timing before candidates enter the process.

4. Does the right candidate know the opportunity exists?

The strongest person may not apply. Determine how you will identify, reach, and engage people who are not actively searching.

5. Can the hiring system support the decision?

Make sure the interview structure, scorecards, ATS workflows, communication, scheduling, and approval process can support a timely and consistent experience.

Clarity Before Activity

The goal is not to create more process.

The goal is to create enough clarity that everyone’s time is used well, candidates see the company at its best, and leaders can make informed decisions with confidence.

If you are responsible for bringing talent into a business—whether you lead the company, a revenue function, operations, or the People team—these questions are worth answering before the search begins.

Preparing to make a critical hire, or trying to understand why an important search is not moving forward?

Explore how People & Talent Connect can help you clarify the need, strengthen the hiring approach, and build the systems behind better hiring.

You can also schedule a conversation with me to talk through what your business needs next.

Connecting People. Building Talent. Driving Results.