Building a Culture of Recruiting

When I ask accomplished recruiting executives to name the biggest factor in their success, the reply is often something to the effect of, “We just have a culture of recruiting here.” A simple answer with an obvious follow-up question: How?

That culture starts with strong relationships with hiring managers. When hiring managers find value from interacting with recruiters, they genuinely engage in recruiting activities, talk about their experiences with peers and superiors, and contribute to a healthier line-Recruiting relationship at the strategic level. This isn’t just warm-and-fuzzy—it drives real improvements in candidate quality (members only).

But again, how? Consider focusing your efforts in the following areas:

Note: RR’s Hiring Manager Partnerships Topic Center (members only) has resources to help you get these done, including customizable, ready-to-use training and tools for hiring managers and recruiters.

• Set Goals—Add some definition to relationships by defining what you’re trying to accomplish with them. Like any recruiting initiative, building better hiring manager partnerships requires setting clear, measurable goals for hiring manager partnerships. Then, use a tool like the Recruiting Effectiveness Dashboard (RED) to track hiring manager feedback on the recruiting process, a key indicator of the health of those partnerships.
• Provide Supportive Infrastructure—Recruiters have trouble building meaningful hiring manager relationships when faced with significant internal barriers. For instance, recruiters are often unfamiliar with initiatives going on in the businesses they serve, making their recruiting efforts ill-informed and plagued with unexplained delays. Give recruiters business-immersion onboarding and set up expanded SLAs to clarify roles and increase communication quality.
• Build Recruiters’ Consultative Skills—About two-thirds of hiring managers do not feel their recruiters understand the jobs they are trying to fill, and a similar proportion do not feel their recruiters set reasonable expectations. Provide recruiters with training and day-to-day resources to help them consult with hiring managers.
• Engage Hiring Managers—Hiring is not the full-time job of hiring managers (many hire only one person per year), and they can easily become disengaged in the recruiting process if it seems too complex or time-consuming. Make the case for great hiring using proven research and customize training and tools to integrate into hiring manager activities.