When it comes to successful talent acquisition, it is not only about professionalising HR. We think you should include hiring managers more into the hiring process. We have collected 6 reasons why. But before going into detail, let’s clarify what a hiring manager actually is. “The hiring manager is the employee who requested a new position to be filled or an employee to fill an open job. The hiring manager is the employee to whom the new employee will report when hired.”
(Read on here)
Recruiting is changing, we know that. Due to global skill shortage in certain sectors, there is a need to adapt talent approaching techniques and hiring process management. Why not make hiring managers become business partners and provide them with bigger responsibility when selecting talent? This would also provide HR with more time for focusing on strategic items.
1. Candidates and hiring managers speak to each other as equals
As a matter of fact, candidates want to be treated fairly and respectfully. Unfortunately, many companies still treat applicants as if they were begging for a job and just one among hundreds of other applicants. But if you want to engage qualified candidates and win them for your company, you should definitely give them the chance to speak directly about the job with your hiring managers.
2 The more specialized the skills for a job, the less HR can contribute
How can HR possibly evaluate a candidate’s competencies given the highly specialised profiles that technical departments are looking for? They would need to be an expert in the field but time issues prevent them from going deeper into detail. So, can hiring managers possibly screen through applications and pre-select the best ones?
3. Employee Referrals – Benefit from your hiring managers’ social networks
Employee referral programs have become more and more important in recruiting. The social network of your employees can be of great value when it comes to finding the right person for a particular job. Your hiring managers may have friends working in the same area or may know a lot of potentially interesting people within their job community. However, the recruitment decision will still be a team decision.
4. Hiring managers can source actively for candidates!
If you have trouble finding qualified candidates with special profiles, your hiring managers could do a great job. They know on which platforms, forums etc. potentially interesting applicants tend to be. They could directly get in touch with them via those platforms and connect with them.
5. Hiring managers are the best to check the team fit!
It is equally important to make sure potential employees fit into the team. You can hire a genius, but, that will not be of use if he/she is rejected by the team they will be working with. Up to now, this cultural fit is too little tested in the selection process. Sure, you are testing general team skills, but the best option will be to include your hiring managers into the process to make sure the candidate matched one particular team.
6. Give your hiring managers smart technology for evaluating candidates properly
One may argue that hiring managers lack of knowledge when it comes to making diagnostically sound conlusions or selection decisions. In today’s recruiting, there are some easy-to-use tools like structured video interviews that help hiring managers assess a candidate’s skills and culture-fit according to highest diagnostic standards. New technologies can be a powerful way to optimise your hiring process management.
Did we miss anything?
What do you think: To what extent could/should hiring managers be part of the hiring process management?
