As a recruiting or talent acquisition pro you have probably heard and read so much about skills shortages, vacancy booms and the great resignation, that you are already starting to get tired of it. When the pressure of the pandemic on economies around the world slowly lifted last fall, talent acquisition found itself in a brand-new reality. A reality in which the roles have been reversed and candidates now recruit companies. The responsibility of engaging with and convincing potential new team members shifts from recruitment to a common goal shared across all business units looking to retain and grow their teams.
Hiring in a candidate-driven market means that processes need to become more two dimensional: Rather than asking candidates to present themselves to you the focus should lie on an equal dialogue where both sides explore the possibilities. Where in the past candidates could get kicked out of a process for something as small as a typo or missing email attachment, they themselves are now strictly evaluating companies based on criteria you might not even have considered to be significant up to now. Your chances of getting ‘hired’ by your candidates are the highest if you succeed in facilitating them to self-evaluate their match with your organisation.
Facilitate your candidates to self-evaluate their match with your organisation.
More and more organisations are realising that recruitment is a crucial element fuelling their future business growth. This means that HR and recruitment teams are in charge of leading an all-hands-on-deck approach in cooperation with business leaders and hiring managers, who can bring some valuable insights to the table.
66% of employees and job seekers trust employees the most when it comes to understanding what diversity & inclusion really looks like at a company.
As ambassadors of their department and team, hiring managers can provide a very authentic insight into what it is really like working in the role they are hiring for. You can use that knowledge to set your organisation and vacancy apart from the competition throughout the entire candidate journey. Are you trying to write a job description that stands out from all the generic ones out there? Your hiring manager can surely provide you with a new perspective. Looking for ways to catch a candidate’s attention in their overflowing LinkedIn inbox? Why don’t you ask your hiring manager to record a short video message to introduce the role? Want to highlight your company’s commitment to diversity? According to Glassdoor 66% of employees and job seekers trust employees the most when it comes to understanding what diversity and inclusion really looks like at a company. As a comparison only 6% of the respondents said they trusted recruiters on this matter. That sounds like a hiring manager superpower you would not want to miss out on, right?
Engaging hiring managers in the entire hiring process allows them to build a personal connection with candidates early-on in the process. Adding a more personal touch to candidate communication and having a familiar face in your messages and conversations can make a significant difference in building trust and reducing ghosting.
As the head of your candidate’s future department, your hiring manager will have a lot of job-related knowledge to bring to the table. This will make them the right person to oversee realistic job descriptions and evaluate a candidate’s skills, but also a valuable source of information on what makes your company or their department different from all the others. Just like it is a best practise in marketing to interview existing customers about their thoughts and decision making leading up to a buying decision, you can investigate what motivated your colleagues in a certain department to come work for your company? Is there a certain software you are using for daily routines that is exceptionally handy? Are you pioneering when it comes to certain industry trends? Is your team structure set-up in an unconventional, new way? All these details could be just the information that makes a difference to your top candidate.
Relevant network
As experts in the field, you are recruiting for your hiring managers are highly likely to have a relevant network to spread the word about your vacancy. Ask them and their team to share it on their social media but for example also in alumni groups or with industry friends. Especially if both of you have already invested in making sure the vacancy reflects the reality of working in that department and uncovers the uniqueness of this role, the hiring team can make a substantial impact on reach and therefore the number of relevant applicants.
Engaging hiring managers (early-on) in the selection process leading up to a collaborative hiring decision has various advantages. Allowing multiple perspectives on a candidate’s personality, skills, competencies, and knowledge will make it easier to predict a good cultural and job fit. Multiple perspectives are also a great tactic to help you reduce bias in the selection process. Although every person involved in the recruitment process brings their own biases, a collaborative approach improves the transparency and allows for a more complete assessment. As a positive side effect candidates can already get to know their future team which paves the way for a smooth onboarding process. So now that you know how impactful great cooperation with your hiring manager can be, please stop reading and run to grab a coffee with them. HAPPY HIRING!
In this interactive webinar, Marie van Kerckhoven, Head of Talent Acquisition at Galapagos, tells you all about how she and her team successfully includes the hiring managers into talent acquisition processes on a daily basis.
How strategically engage hiring managers early-on?
TA vs. Hiring managers: Time to end the feud!
What superpowers do your hiring managers bring to the table?
