Perhaps it’s because I’m sitting at a desk and not out where I ideally should be, namely grouse shooting on the Glorious Twelfth—damn this uptick in the jobs market—but I feel something of a rant coming on. In my line of work there are a multitude of frustrations, from there being too many links in the recruitment chain, fears of disintermediation by interested parties and lack of focus on the hiring process, to a reluctance to take a broader view on candidates or be bold with hiring initiatives.
The best ‘hires’ take place when all four parties involved—the hiring manager, the HR person, the recruiter/headhunter (we are talking of relatively senior hires only here, the balance being hired via jobsites or direct hiring) and the candidate—carry out their roles correctly and, more importantly, all play together to achieve the desired outcome, ie, matching the optimal candidate with the open position.
The hiring manager should be clear in what they’re looking for, be able to articulate that to their HR business partner, be responsive to CVs submitted, be fully available for interviews, and provide timely and concise feedback. They should accept guidance from both the HR partner and the recruiter, each of whom should have more experience in their relevant parts of the hiring process. The HR person should work closely with a single or very low number of chosen external recruiters—better service is invariably received when only one is chosen per specialist role—to provide a range of relevant and interesting CVs to the hiring manager. The recruiter/headhunter should source the desired number of highly relevant CVs, using industry knowledge as well as knowledge of the specific hiring firm to find the right set of skills, cultural fit, level of ambition and remuneration, etc, that is required.
The candidate should be open and honest with the recruiter initially, and then if matters progress, the HR person and hiring manager, about their experience, skills, career aims and ambitions. Additionally, they should be candid with their recruiter about other opportunities so that the former can advise and manage the expectations of the hiring firm.
This process can fall down at any stage, and can be complicated and delayed by extraneous factors such as sickness, holidays, change of staff, revised career aims or remuneration requirements on behalf of the candidate, changes of budget and changes of strategy, leading to frustrations, fingerpointing and a breakdown in relations between the various parties.
Should this happen, my strong suggestion would be for all parties to remain calm, stay polite, take a step back, review the situation in light of the new information or changed circumstances and then, if appropriate, re-approach to achieve the shared aim of a successful hire. As the current UK prime minister himself said recently, we are all in this together after all…
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