FOMO is all around us and we encounter it with most decisions. Whether we’re looking for a new sweater, a home or our latest hire, human nature encourages us to “shop around” to make sure we’re getting the very best option that fits every requirement at the very best price. If we’re just patient enough to look around or wait a bit, we believe, the perfect option will present itself.
In hiring, FOMO often presents itself at a very inopportune time. For instance, leaders may have interviewed one or two highly skilled candidates who meet most of the listed job requirements. Hesitant to make the wrong decision or be too hasty, FOMO causes these leaders to suddenly pump the breaks and reach out to their recruiters to say one or more of the following:
The candidates we’ve met are solid. But we don’t have a big enough pool for comparison. We need to see more to make sure we’re not missing anyone.We really want a candidate who has a bit more experience or a degree from one of our preferred universities.Many firms are continuing to lay off. We should see more good people come on the market soon and would prefer to wait.We think we should hold off until we get a perfect match on our job description. In the meantime, we’ll spread the work out amongst the team or hire contract staff.
There’s a moment of relief once you’ve put a decision on hold — because you’ve postponed your fear of making a mistake. But that relief is very short lived. Putting yourself in the shoes of the leader who interviewed two good candidates, here’s the sequence of events that often follows:
You put the two candidates on hold, noting that the search is ongoing.
Either or both may have been highly interested in the job and felt an offer was likely. But now they see their interest isn’t reciprocal. So, they continue looking for other roles.
Existing staff take on overflow work from the vacancy and may train a contractor to help.
Weeks go by and the right resume hasn’t materialized. There are fewer people on the market than you thought, and no one matches the skills of the first two.
You determine you had the best applicants at the start after all. When you reach out to resume the process or extend an offer, both decline, because they accepted another role or decided to stay in their current job. What they might not share is that they also felt let down and disrespected by the process.
Hiring for the position begins again from scratch.
One of your existing team, feeling burned out and underappreciated, gives notice to take a job elsewhere. Another on your team goes on medical leave unexpectedly. And the contractor is leaving to take a full-time job.
Your fear of missing out has created the exact scenario you were trying to avoid in the first place: You actually missed out on the best people for the job.
You lost valuable time while the seat was vacant. Not only is the role still open, but you now need to figure out how the work will get done with two more employees and a contractor on your team also departing. The hit to internal morale will take time to rebuild, as will service levels and trust for those you depend on your team. The candidates you originally set aside may always feel negatively about their experience. Talk about a perfect storm — it’s hard to start solving problems when there are so many created by this single action of delaying the original decision.
You can see how this scenario can become very damaging very quickly. With the right tools, however, you can change this mindset and set yourself up for a more positive hiring process.
