Can Companies Afford Slow Hiring Processes Anymore?

My colleague recently started a new assignment in the Netherlands, and three weeks later the signed contract was already on the table. This speed is almost unimaginable for the German market.

But why does it move so fast there and so slowly here?

My assumption is that the difference in notice periods plays a major role. In the Netherlands, one month is the standard. This changes the entire pace, because companies know that if they make a quick decision, they can also hire and onboard someone quickly. As a result, everyone involved automatically moves faster. Candidates can start earlier, clients make decisions more quickly, and the overall momentum stays consistently high. Also because if the other companies move faster, they get the candidates.

In Germany, a three month notice period is standard, ​in Treasury sometimes even until the end of the quarter or up to six months. So when a company decides to fill a new position, it is often expected that a new employee can start in three months at the earliest. I suspect this immediately takes pressure out of the process. Decisions drag on, and the urgency and necessity to move the process quickly simply isn’t perceived, because a placement will happen no sooner than three months anyway.

One thing, however, should be clear to every company: SPEED LEADS TO DECISIONS!
Candidates often choose the position where the company was simply faster and had the offer on the table first. Fast processes force decisions to be made earlier, and declining a good offer that doesn’t come back, often leads candidates to choose the first offer!

It shouldn’t be too much to ask to decide within 48 hours of receiving an application whether an interview is wanted, and to then schedule it for the following week or even the same week. Just like it was possible for my colleague ​in three weeks to finish the whole process.

Is that simply not achievable in Germany?

Just from the perspective of work hours saved if a process takes 3 weeks instead of 3 months, it should be a no brainer for every company in my opinion. Plus, the access to the candidates that are choosing the faster offer, should at least make companies rethink how they want their recruitment departments to function.