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Industry Insights
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HR Insights
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Evan Cave
09 October 2025
1995: "I'll wait as long as it takes. I just need this job."
2025: "If the process drags or feels broken, I'll walk away."
The power dynamic in hiring has fundamentally shifted. Top candidates in supply chain and operations don't settle anymore. With unemployment for skilled professionals remaining low and companies competing fiercely for experienced talent, candidates hold more leverage than ever before.
According to Deloitte research, 80-90% of talent say a positive or negative candidate experience can change their minds about accepting a role or joining a company. Your hiring process is critical to whether you successfully attract and retain the people you need.
The talent market has changed. Candidates have changed. Your hiring process needs to change too.
Unclear or changing expectations = red flag.
If you don't know what you want, candidates will figure it out and they won't stick around to watch you decide.
The most common hiring mistake isn't screening the wrong candidates. It's not defining what "right" looks like in the first place. When job descriptions are vague, requirements shift mid-process, or hiring managers can't articulate success metrics, top candidates recognize organizational dysfunction.
This misalignment manifests in multiple ways:
Job descriptions that are unrealistic drive away qualified candidates who assume you're not serious.
Changing requirements mid-interview signals that leadership doesn't have clarity on business needs or organizational priorities.
Conflicting feedback from different interviewers reveals internal disagreement about what the role actually requires.
According to McKinsey's 2025 HR Monitor Survey, overall hiring success stands at just 46% in Europe, with only 56% offer acceptance rates. This difficulty often stems from unclear role definition and inconsistent evaluation criteria.
Organizations seeking to build world-class operations teams must first get internal alignment on what success looks like before ever posting a job description. Create a detailed scorecard that defines must-have skills, nice-to-have qualifications, and objective evaluation criteria. Share this with everyone involved in the hiring process.
When candidates experience a hiring process where every interviewer asks relevant, coordinated questions that build on previous conversations, they recognize organizational competence. That confidence translates directly into offer acceptance rates.
Top talent won't stick around for a 3-month process with 8 interviews.
While you're scheduling the sixth round of interviews, your best candidates are accepting offers elsewhere. According to Gartner research, 65% of candidates have cut short the hiring process because they found certain aspects unattractive, and lengthy, inefficient processes are a primary driver of candidate drop-off.
Organizations often confuse "comprehensive" with "time-consuming," creating unnecessarily complex processes that accomplish little beyond frustrating candidates and slowing time-to-hire.
Consider the typical drawn-out process:
Week 1: Initial phone screen (that could have been addressed in the application)
Week 3: First interview (delayed by scheduling conflicts)
Week 5: Second interview (because the first round didn't cover everything needed)
Week 7: Third interview (with someone who should have been involved earlier)
Week 9: Final decision (after internal deliberation that could have happened faster)
By Week 9, your top candidate has received two other offers and is three weeks into their new role with your competitor.
A defined scorecard and decisive process wins stronger hires faster. Organizations that streamline their hiring process see dramatic improvements. Companies focusing on candidate experience report up to 30% lower turnover rates, largely because they're capturing top candidates who would have otherwise gone elsewhere.
The best supply chain recruiters understand this timing dynamic. They know that speed and quality aren't opposing forces - structured processes actually enable both.
Budget hires don't save money. They cost more in turnover and missed growth.
The temptation to hire at the lowest acceptable salary is understandable, especially when budget pressures are real. But this short-term thinking creates long-term costs that far exceed the initial "savings."
Consider the actual costs of a budget hire who leaves within 18 months:
Recruitment costs for the initial hire and the replacement
Training investment that walks out the door and must be repeated
Productivity loss during the learning curve - twice
Team disruption from turnover and knowledge gaps
Opportunity costs from projects delayed or initiatives not pursued
Companies that prioritize competitive or above-average compensation see better retention and faster hiring. More importantly, they attract candidates with options - the ones who could go anywhere but choose you because you demonstrate you value their expertise.
This doesn't mean overpaying for every role. It means understanding market rates for the specific skills and experience you need, then positioning your offer competitively. Organizations that try to get "a deal" on critical talent end up paying premium prices through turnover costs and lost productivity.
SCOPE Recruiting has been recognized by Advisory Excellence as one of the best supply chain recruiters specifically because we help clients understand this dynamic and make strategic compensation decisions that drive retention.
That role you've reposted for 12 months? Candidates see it too and assume there's a leadership or culture problem.
In 2025, candidates research companies more thoroughly than ever. The vast majority investigate company culture, read employee reviews, and evaluate employer branding before deciding to apply. Organizations with strong employer brands see significantly lower cost-per-hire and better applicant quality.
This means your hiring patterns are visible. When the same role appears repeatedly, candidates draw obvious conclusions:
The role has unrealistic expectations that nobody can meet
The company has retention problems and people keep leaving
Leadership can't make decisions and keeps restarting the search
The work environment is problematic and people leave quickly
Each of these assumptions damages your ability to attract quality candidates. The best talent simply moves on to opportunities that don't raise these concerns.
Beyond chronic reposting, candidates notice other red flags:
Glassdoor reviews mentioning specific problems that your job posting ignores
LinkedIn showing high turnover in specific departments
Indeed reviews highlighting poor management or lack of career growth
You can't completely control your employer brand, but you can address legitimate concerns proactively. If a role has been open repeatedly, diagnose why before posting again. If reviews mention specific issues, address them rather than hoping candidates won't notice.
The best candidates want to grow. If they don't see it with you, they'll see it somewhere else.
Retention begins at the offer stage. When candidates evaluate opportunities, they're not just considering the immediate role - they're assessing whether your organization offers a future worth investing in.
Career pathing doesn't require detailed five-year plans for every position. It does require:
Clear skills development opportunities that build toward advancement
Visible examples of people who've grown within the organization
Honest conversations about realistic timelines and requirements for promotion
Investment in learning through training, mentorship, or challenging projects
When supply chain and operations professionals evaluate opportunities, they're looking at whether your organization develops talent or just consumes it. Logistics recruiters consistently report that career development opportunities rank among the top three factors in offer decisions for experienced professionals.
The best candidates have options. They're choosing not just a job, but a trajectory. Organizations that can articulate compelling career paths win the talent they want and retain them longer.
The shift from employer-driven to candidate-driven hiring isn't temporary. It's the new reality of talent acquisition in supply chain, operations, and logistics.
Organizations that thrive in this environment share common characteristics:
They respect candidates' time with efficient, well-organized processes
They communicate clearly and frequently throughout the hiring journey
They make competitive offers that reflect market reality rather than wishful thinking
They address visible concerns rather than hoping candidates won't notice
They invest in career development that makes talented people want to stay
This isn't about making hiring easier - it's about making hiring effective. The companies that adapt to candidate expectations don't just fill positions faster. They build stronger teams, reduce turnover costs, and create competitive advantages through superior talent.
Ready to Transform Your Hiring Approach? Building an effective hiring process that attracts and retains top supply chain and operations talent requires both strategy and execution expertise.
Work with SCOPE Recruiting to find supply chain and operations professionals who fit your needs while implementing hiring best practices that keep top talent engaged throughout the process.
Want to hire smarter and faster? Download our FREE Interview Guide & Candidate Scorecards. This resource helps hiring managers streamline interviews, ask the right questions, and evaluate candidates fairly and consistently.
SCOPE Recruiting is a boutique supply chain recruiting firm founded by former ABB global category managers, Friddy and Melissa Hoegener. Unlike generalist staffing agencies, every recruiter at SCOPE has hands-on supply chain experience before moving into executive search. That insider perspective allows us to speak the language of procurement, logistics, planning, and operations - delivering smarter matches, stronger retention, and faster hiring results.
If you're building or scaling a team and want to work with one of the best supply chain recruiters in the U.S., visit scoperecruiting.com.
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