Are You Aligned With Everyone In The Interview Process?

• Businesses looking to streamline their processes and make recruitment campaigns more efficient will often bring together a range of hiring managers to assess candidates with a view to placing them in the most appropriate positions within the organisation.
• When conducted with clarity, a process such as this will be very effective, but when disparity occurs, it can result in lengthy timescales, confusion, disconnect and the very real risk of losing the best talent.



Why use multiple hiring managers?

There are generally two reasons as to why an organisation will choose to embed multiple hiring managers into the recruitment process.

1. There are multiple managers within the organisation seeking new staff and combining campaigns can deliver a wider range of candidates who may be suitable for one of the roles on offer.

2. The successful candidate will need to engage across multiple departments and a good cultural fit needs to be established at the outset.

There are pros and cons to this strategy. Each manager is an individual and will make their own assessment of each candidate based upon their personal experience, perspective, and requirements.

Where hiring managers are assessing each candidate for their own role, this can be beneficial as a candidate who does not appeal to one manager may be ideal for another. However, where they are aiming to make a single hire that will benefit the whole organisation, this approach routinely results in conflict as the perfect person probably does not exist.

As such, the managers will need to agree in advance as to the essential qualities of the ideal candidate and where they are prepared to compromise. There is no right or wrong answer here as every situation is distinctly different. What is important is that everybody agrees on these qualities up front.

Preparation is key

Failing to take the time at the outset to agree on a set of standards and compromise areas will likely result in candidates feeling overly pressured as hiring managers all vie for their attention at interview, potentially asking conflicting or contradictory questions. Taking a scattergun approach to recruitment increases the risk of high-quality candidates dropping out before the end of the selection process and should be avoided wherever possible.

It is already challenging to find suitable candidates in any marketing recruitment campaign, so avoiding hiring manager conflict or confusion is essential in order to deliver a streamlined interview process that engages the candidates and builds their interest and trust in the hiring organisation.

Hiring is a complex process at the best of times, but there is a significant shortfall of available talent at the moment and talented candidates who decide to move jobs are often headhunted rather than applying via job portals. The best candidates know their worth and will select the job that not only suits their salary requirements and career aspirations but wherein the hiring process empowers them and generates confidence.

Strategy for success

• To become the type of organisation that candidates really want to work for, hiring managers must deliver a perfectly executed recruitment drive every single time they go to market.
• They must be crystal clear ahead of launching a job advert about what the role will entail and what the key responsibilities will be. They must understand what skills and experience are essential, which are desirable and which they are willing to compromise on.
• They must agree whether being a good fit for the team is more important than experience, or whether qualifications will be the overarching factor in a new hire selection.

These qualities must be agreed and documented prior to assessing any candidate applications in order that only suitable candidates are invited to interview. The entire process can be expedited on this basis, reducing time to hire.

Help is available

At Reuben Sinclair, we are experts in recruiting for the marketing sector and as part of our talent partner package, we offer hiring manager support. You remain in the driver's seat, but are supported by a member of our team who can help you to implement the most appropriate strategy for identifying and securing that perfect hire.