As the Growth Lead for a rapidly expanding tech startup, you've been tasked with improving the company's hiring process for the growth team.
Treating hiring as a growth funnel, you've implemented a new system. After three months, you review the following data from your hiring tracker, along with industry benchmarks:
- Stage 1 (Awareness): 1000 potential candidates reached (Industry average: 25% conversion to application)
- Stage 2 (Application): 200 applications received (Industry average: 30% conversion to interview)
- Stage 3 (Interview): 50 candidates interviewed (Industry average: 25% conversion to offer)
- Stage 4 (Offer): 10 job offers extended (Industry average: 70% acceptance rate)
- Stage 5 (Acceptance): 4 offers accepted
Based on this data and the industry benchmarks, which stage of the hiring funnel requires the most immediate attention?