I’ve been totally slacking with the blog lately, my bad. Big topic this week, and it’s one I’ve been wanting to write for a while.
You hear a lot about companies or hiring managers who complain about their recruiting team and how they can’t find the right people. Well...maybe, I mean sure..some recruiting departments suck but a lot of the time it’s a company wide issue but its much easier to just blame the recruiters. Why take accountability when you can just thrash the recruiting folks? It's easy, that's why. However, the truth is recruiting is a company wide project, everyone needs to be all in or you all fail. It’s that simple. Here are my quick thoughts on what each person in the company needs to do in order to successfully recruit...leaving out the recruiters of course because um you guys just do your job.
Hiring Managers - So, these guys are key. If you’re a hiring manager you've got a huge job to do here. You need to respond quickly to resumes and be decisive. If you meet someone great..hire them..don’t play games, hire the person. Another key way to contribute as a hiring manager is to help sell candidates and close candidates on joining the team. The last one, and this is important...hiring managers need to be engaged. They need to listen when the recruiters push back on the process or decision making process. Recruiters and managers are partners in hiring.
The rest of HR - The rest of HR play a huge role in recruiting. The biggest, and frankly the hardest is attrition. HR absolutely needs to focus on making sure people are leaving out back door as fast (or faster) than the recruiting team can hire them. A lot of HR teams don’t like to hear that but it’s true. If you have high attrition, you could have greatest recruiting team on earth and you’re still screwed. HR also can focus on compensation, benefits and all the cultural stuff to make a company attractive. Like I said above, it’s a team effort and HR/Recruiting are the essence of team so make sure you’re truly supporting each other.
Interviewers - Ahhhh, the interviewers. Honestly, probably the most unappreciated piece of the recruiting puzzle. Hiring Managers, HR and Recruiters can all do their job but if the interviewers are late, disrespectful, uncalibrated or just plan bad…….everyone fails again. As an interviewer you've got pretty clear responsibilities. Be prepared, be positive and make sure you give the candidate a great experience. When you’re done, give prompt and decisive feedback to the recruiters so they can hire great people.
Executives - For senior leadership it’s pretty easy. Stay engaged. Don’t float above the fray and assume hiring will be easy. Get into the process, talk to candidates, review resumes and generally do the things you’d have done before you became an Exec. A lot of exec are “too busy” to interview or give timely feedback….I call BS. If hiring and recruiting is a priority...get it done or delegate the authority to someone who can and will meet the companies hiring objectives.
The moral of the story here is simple. Recruiting and hiring is a company wide project. It’s not just the recruiters who are responsible for hiring...sure, we carry the heavy load but if the rest of the company can’t convert the pipeline to hires….you lose. It’s that simple.
