As businesses experience rapid growth, one of the most common challenges is balancing the need to expand their team with finding the right talent. The dilemma often sounds like this: “I have lots of new customers, but not enough staff to service them. Should I hire quickly to keep up with demand or hold out for the perfect candidate?”
It’s a critical decision for any business, especially one on an upward trajectory. If you hire too soon, you risk bringing someone on board who isn’t the right fit. If you wait too long, you might be left with a mountain of unfinished work and stressed-out teams. So, how do you find the right balance?
The Risks and Benefits of Hiring Quickly
In a period of rapid growth, the temptation to hire quickly can be strong. After all, without enough staff, customer satisfaction can quickly decline. Customers won’t wait around for you to find the perfect candidate—they want their products or services delivered on time and to a high standard. If you don’t have the workforce to meet demand, it could damage your reputation and lead to lost business.
Hiring quickly allows you to keep up with your workload and prevent burnout among your existing employees. It can also give you time to train new hires before they’re fully integrated into your operations. With this in mind, hiring early can help you develop your workforce’s potential while maintaining service quality.
However, hiring too quickly without thoroughly assessing candidates can be risky. Rushing the process could lead to hiring people who don’t fit your company culture or lack the skills necessary to succeed. Misaligned hires can lead to higher turnover, increased management time, and inefficiencies in your operations—all of which could ultimately slow your growth.
One way to mitigate these risks is to identify the attributes of the high performers already in your workforce. Knowing what skills and attributes are already proven in your organisation will make the hiring process far more efficient. More on that later.
Waiting for the “Perfect” Candidate
On the other hand, waiting for the ideal candidate has its own advantages and challenges. A candidate who perfectly matches your criteria in terms of experience, skills, and personality can have an immediate positive impact on your business. They might need less time to get up to speed and could help drive growth more efficiently, particularly if the role involves leadership or specialised skills.
However, perfection is rare. The longer you wait to find the “perfect” candidate, the more likely you are to experience bottlenecks in your operations. In today’s competitive job market, top talent doesn’t stay on the market for long. If your hiring process drags on, you could miss great candidates who accept competing offers.
Another consideration is cost. The perfect candidate often comes with a higher salary expectation, which can strain your budget—especially during a growth phase. While hiring someone with more experience and skills may seem like the best choice in the short term, it’s important to weigh whether the additional cost is worth it. In many cases, it’s better to hire someone with potential and invest in their development, rather than waiting for someone with a ‘perfect’ CV.
Striking the Right Balance: Strategic Hiring
Ultimately, the best hiring strategy is one that balances speed and quality. While it’s important to fill vacancies quickly to meet the demands of a growing business, you shouldn’t compromise on key attributes that are necessary for success in the role. By focusing on a few core qualities proven within your organisation—such as adaptability, communication, and problem-solving skills—you can hire candidates likely to grow and thrive within your business.
Rather than aiming for perfection, consider hiring candidates based on their potential. Knowledge can be learned, and skills can be developed, but qualities like curiosity, determination, and cultural fit are harder to teach. By focusing on these attributes, you can make hiring decisions that benefit your business in the long run.
5 Signs It’s Time to Hire
If you’re still unsure whether to hire quickly or wait for the perfect candidate, here are five signs that it’s time to bring new staff on board:
Strong Growth Period: If your business is constantly expanding, you’ll need more staff to handle the increased workload.
Limited Capacity: When your current employees are stretched too thin, it’s a clear indication that more staff are needed to maintain efficiency and quality.
Increased Workload: If overtime is becoming the norm and deadlines are missed, you’re likely to need additional support.
New Opportunities: As your business grows, new opportunities may arise that require different skills or expertise. Hiring strategically can help you seize these opportunities.
New Skill Sets Needed: As your business evolves, so do the skills required to succeed. Bringing in new talent with the right skill sets can help you stay competitive.
A Data-Driven Approach to Hiring
When making hiring decisions, it’s easy to fall into the trap of either rushing to fill a vacancy or waiting endlessly for the elusive “perfect” candidate. But hiring should be about more than just finding someone to fill a seat. It’s about identifying the skills, experience, and personality traits that will help your business grow and thrive in the long term.
One of the best ways to navigate this challenge is by using a data-driven approach. Start by outlining 3-5 key attributes that your ideal candidate must possess. These attributes should be split between professional skills (such as technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and industry experience) and personal qualities (such as communication skills, adaptability, and leadership). By doing this, you create a clear, achievable framework for your recruitment process, making it easier to evaluate candidates objectively.
While a candidate who ticks all five boxes might seem ideal, the reality is that very few people will meet every requirement. That’s why it’s important to assess whether a candidate meets most of your criteria and has the potential to grow into the role. For example, if a candidate excels in 3 of the 5 attributes you’re looking for, they could still be worth considering—especially if they show willingness to learn and develop.
Creating a Hiring Scorecard
We suggest using a hiring scorecard to bring greater objectivity and clarity to your hiring decisions. This tool allows you to measure each candidate against your predefined criteria, making it easier to compare candidates and avoid superficial factors. Identifying the metrics of a successful candidate should be easy. Analyse your team and pick out the key traits that lead to their success, and use them as a basis for hiring in the future.
At ACR, we prioritise matching candidates perfectly to the unique needs of each business. By setting clear metrics, we can quickly identify which candidates are worth pursuing and which ones are unlikely to be a good fit. This will also help avoid disqualifying promising candidates for minor shortcomings that can be improved with training. Think Potential, not Perfect.
Using a scorecard doesn’t mean you should lower your standards. Rather, it helps you balance the risk of hiring quickly with the long-term potential of the candidate. It ensures your hiring process is consistent, fair, and focused on the qualities that matter most for the role.
The Cost of a Bad Hire
One of the biggest risks of hiring quickly is making a bad hire. A misaligned candidate can disrupt team dynamics, lead to inefficiencies, and increase turnover. According to research, the cost of a bad hire can be as much as 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings. For small businesses, this can be a significant financial burden.
That’s why it’s essential to approach hiring with both speed and caution. Don’t let the pressure to fill a vacancy lead you to make a hasty decision. Instead, take the time to evaluate candidates against your core criteria and focus on their potential for growth.
Conclusion: The Best of Both Worlds
When it comes to hiring during periods of growth, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The best approach is to be strategic and data-driven, focusing on a balance between hiring quickly and ensuring quality. By outlining the key attributes you need in a candidate and creating a structured hiring process, you can make informed decisions that benefit your business in the long run.
At ACR, we’re here to help you navigate this process. With our extensive experience and deep understanding of recruitment, we’ll work with you to identify the best candidates for your business—whether that means hiring quickly or waiting for someone with the right potential. Together, we’ll build a team that can support your growth and help your business realise its potential.