Fixing the Hiring Bottleneck

Angelica Patlán
Jan 27
2 min read

Focus

Recruiting workflow optimization through process mapping, system ownership, and standardization

Context

An outside recruiting firm was managing the recruiting cycle for a PNW non-profit that I worked at. As part of my role, I was asked to take ownership of the recruiting strategy to understand what was working well and what could be improved.

Problem

One issue was a time-to-fill of 75 days, which felt long for both business needs and hiring managers. Manager feedback was that the process felt lengthy and unclear, while on the People side, much of the process was manual and difficult to track.

Approach

I wanted to understand the root causes of the delays, but we did not have full access to recruiting data since it was owned by the external firm.

Given that constraint, I focused on analyzing the process itself. I mapped each step of the recruiting workflow in Miro and created swim lanes for the external recruiting firm, the People team, and hiring managers to document the current state.

Through this visual map, I identified several points where the process was stalling and creating bottlenecks. Based on these findings, I designed a future-state process that moved recruiting in-house using Paycom. This approach improved visibility into each stage of the process, standardized interview request communications, centralized interview notes, and allowed the organization to own and analyze its recruiting data.

Outcome

Before proposing a full overhaul, I piloted this approach by owning the end-to-end recruiting process for an administrative assistant role. Rather than managing the process externally through Outlook, I used Paycom to standardize communications, create clear workflows for the hiring manager and interviewers, and establish a more consistent candidate experience.

This pilot resulted in filling the role in 48 days compared to the previous 75 days, full access to candidate data, and standardized interview logistics.

What I’d Do Next

If I were still in this role, I would expand the pilot to more technical or advanced roles while adding candidate and hiring manager surveys. This would provide additional data on experience and process effectiveness, supporting future iterations and continuous improvement.