If you’ve ever felt like your business is missing an element of speed in some aspects, then knowing your lead time is going to be a great way for you to calculate where improvements can be made. Especially through the recruitment process, speed is a necessity. Why waste time when you can have the most effective strategies in place to save money and labor?

What is lead time?

The definition of lead time is how long it takes a process within your business to be completed from start to finish. It applies to every process, from recruiting to manufacturing to project management. When your business is proactive about calculating lead time for your key processes, it becomes much easier to spot inefficiencies and target their solutions. 

How does it apply to small businesses and staffing agencies?

You may be thinking that as a staffing agency or a small business has little use for tracking their lead time, especially if they’re not producing a physical product. However, for recruitment, it is especially vital to these businesses. For staffing agencies, recruitment of individuals is your product! And for other small businesses who may not have a large human resources department, cutting down on recruitment time and costs is a vital way to preserve funding. 

The time is calculated by recording the time you first start implementing recruitment strategies to the time a new hire becomes official. How long is your average lead time for a position? 

Why is knowing your lead time important?

It can tell you where your work can be streamlined. If you’re spending weeks or even months trying to fill an open position, then that work is being done by your other employees during that time. Those employees are far more likely to experience burnout as a result of being overworked. 

It can also help you know whether your recruitment strategies are effective. If getting from the recruitment stage to the interview stage takes abnormally long, you might be prompted to research ideas for finding candidates through other sources.

Essentially, knowing your lead time for any process helps you see whether your company’s actions are aligned with what values are most important to you. If they aren’t, then you’ll find opportunities to change and streamline your process to make a difference in your workspace. 

Improved efficiency works to earn you more revenue. Additionally, for staffing agencies, you’ll find yourselves with happier contingent workers. When your workers are happy, your credibility increases as well, providing more future opportunities for you to work with your clients and find more business. 

Has your staffing agency or small business measured lead time before? What findings did you see and how were you able to reframe your processes to become more efficient? We know that as you calculate your time and analyze the data you find, you’ll be able to ensure your processes are the best possible.

Timerack offers time tracking software that can help with your staffing and recruiting needs.