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From The Archive

43. Hand-walk the offer.
Probably the single best way for a company to solve problems, increase efficiency and be more productive is to get the right people on board as quickly as possible. So, why does this process take longer than picking ticks off an elephant's butt?

Poor attitude.

It's easy for a manager to think, "I've got the right candidate. Now it's HR's job to put the offer together and make this happen." Or, "My boss has to sign off on this. It's in her court." And, "I'm a busy manager. I don't have time to babysit the job offer process."

If you're the kind of manager who waits for the system do its thing, another manager in another company is doing his thing. He's hand-walking a job offer through the system, pushing aside the obstacles, waiting in his boss's office until the paperwork is signed, and getting everything processed the same day. The "return" on this manager's time investment is huge.

Meanwhile, your investment just went south. Impressed with the other manager's can-do attitude, "your" candidate took his offer.

Next time, don't be so busy. Hand-walk the offer. Or, prepare to spend your valuable time interviewing more candidates.