offerProbably the single best way for a company to solve problems, increase efficiency and be more productive is to get the right people on board by making a job offer as quickly as possible.

So, why does this process take longer than picking ticks off an elephant’s butt?

Poor attitude. (See Why HR should get out of the hiring business.)

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. Get up, go down the hall — personally — and hand-walk the offer to whoever needs to process and sign it and don’t walk away until you have a signed job offer you can hand to your best job candidate.

Or, prepare to spend your valuable time interviewing more candidates after you lose your best candidate to a competitor.

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