The Secrets of Successful Hiring (Part 1): Start with Clarity – Not a Job Ad

Most hiring processes fail before they even begin – not because of the candidates, but because the recruitment process starts without clarity. Writing a job ad without fully understanding the role often leads to poor hiring decisions, employee turnover, and missed opportunities for growth.

But successful hiring doesn’t start with a job ad. It starts with a business conversation.

According to a McKinsey study, up to 80% of employee turnover is linked to poor hiring decisions – often caused by lack of role clarity or misaligned expectations. Harvard Business Review reports that a single bad hire can cost up to 30% of that employee’s first-year salary. The U.S. Department of Labor places the cost even higher – up to $240,000 per bad hire, when considering lost productivity, team disruption, and rehiring.

In Finland, the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) has estimated that a failed hire can cost a company €20,000–€50,000, depending on the role, onboarding time, and business impact.

Further, Duunitori’s employer insights highlight that poorly planned recruitment increases the risk of the new hire leaving during their probation period, especially when role expectations are unclear or the onboarding lacks structure.

So why do so many companies skip the clarity step?

Because it feels intangible. Slower. Less urgent. But here’s the reality: investing just 45–60 minutes upfront to align your leadership team on what the business actually needs saves weeks of missteps later in the process.

One major reason hiring feels rushed is because it often is. Most recruitment processes are reactive, triggered by a resignation, sudden growth, or organizational pressure. That urgency creates tunnel vision — companies jump to action without pausing to understand what they truly need.

At DreamIt, we’ve have experience over 500 recruitment processes. And the most successful ones have all started the same way:

• We begin with the business objective. What’s really driving this hire?

• We map out what success in the role looks like in 6–12 months. Or even longer especially in executive level hires.

• We define the skills, mindset, and working style needed to get there.

Only then do we write an external-facing job ad. And more often than not, it looks very different from what the client first imagined.

What happens when you lead with clarity?

• Interviews - or discussions as we say, are sharper and easier to structure.

• Stakeholders align faster and give more consistent feedback.

• Candidates self-select more effectively – reducing time-to-hire.

• New hires ramp up faster, stay longer, and perform better.

Your checklist for role clarity:

• What is the strategic purpose of this role?

• What does success look like at 3, 6, and 12 months?

• What skills are essential vs. just nice-to-have?

• What kind of working style fits your culture and current team?

• What’s at stake if this role remains unfilled for 3–6 months?

Recruitment is a strategic investment – not a last-minute task. So if you’re planning to hire in the fall, now is the time to slow down, think clearly, and design the right role before rushing to fill it.

This blog post is part of our five-part series: The Secrets of Successful Hiring.

👉 Learn more about our strategic recruitment services

Part 2: Timing is Everything – Why Urgency Kills Quality → Coming soon.


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