Becoming a Better Hiring Manager: Your Vital Role in the Hiring Process

Hiring managers play an essential role in any organization’s recruitment process. Behind every company’s success is the employees hard work. But as a hiring manager, your decisions about hiring and retaining workers significantly affect an organization’s growth potential.

Managing the recruitment and hiring process is a huge responsibility. You’ve likely contemplated ways to attain top talent and support the existing workforce. There are several essential actions that can take you from being an adequate to an outstanding hiring manager. Considering the following steps can help improve both your skills and your organization’s hiring process.

Planning

To become a better hiring manager, you must evaluate the company’s current needs. Look at the numbers. It is your responsibility to forecast and identify the number of employees and the skills needed.

As head of talent acquisition, you must have a clear understanding of the following:

• Overview of roles or positions that need to be filled.
• Accuracy of titles for proper candidate filtering.
• Skills requirements, work experience, and candidate qualifications.
• Details of the job description and duties.
• Personal skills and attributes of candidates that match the roles.

The important factors above must be identified first before taking the steps towards recruiting people. Once you have identified and recorded the necessary items, then you can move towards the hiring process itself. It’s also imperative that your candidates know exactly what you are looking for to fit a position. This helps set proper expectations from the get-go and avoid employee turnover later on.

Execution

If recruiting or opening new positions is the best option to meet business demands, the following must be executed thoroughly:

1. Market the company to attract the right people. Ads and hiring programs must be relevant to the type of workers you’re seeking. Make sure that you are reaching the right audience and have top quality candidates apply for open positions.

 

1. Be clear about the compensation package. When offering the job to a candidate, ensure that you are clear about the compensations and benefits. Set proper expectations and never over promise.

 

1. Introduce the company culture early on. You must not only embody the values of the organization but also discuss the company’s culture with your candidate. Candidates should be a good fit to the culture and vice versa. A positive, supportive culture encourages loyalty among workers. And you want to attract people who have the same vision and goals as the company.

 

1. Nail proper onboarding. A crucial step in the recruitment process is proper onboarding of the new talent. Onboarding helps them get used to the work environment and learn the ropes quickly. This is also a very important item when it comes to employee retention and motivation. Ensure they feel like they are part of the team.

Evaluation

Once hiring is complete, you’ll evaluate if the newly hired people produce quality work and contribute to the company’s growth. This can take some time as candidates learn and acclimatise at different rates. Performance must be measured at specific and strategic times. This requires that you work hand in hand with your training team.

The recruitment-training-operations life cycle of an employee is tracked to determine if the hiring process needs to be altered. Strategic evaluation of the entire process helps pinpoint which areas need attention and improvement. This focus then allows you to identify or develop new tools for each area. New tools can enhance recruitment procedures, candidate targeting, and workforce retention programs.

As a hiring manager, you must be flexible to make any necessary changes for improvement. Changes can include switching to a new applicant assessment tool or interview process. Once you pinpoint where charges are needed, you must be willing to make those changes. Some modifications can be implemented at your personal level. Others will require a more structured implementation and organization-wide involvement.

Your goal as a hiring manager is to innovate all the time. Strive to keep your department learning, growing, and advancing. Consistently examine hiring processes and keep up with current hiring trends. Your actions directly align with your company’s ability to remain competitive in the business world.

Also, keep in mind that employee turnover can be very costly for the company. It is your goal to hire the right people the first time. Investing in sound practices at the start of the process decreases the need for excessive spending down the line.

Conclusion

From planning to execution to evaluation, no step is complete without action. Hiring managers have one of the most significant positions in an organization. A role that is tied directly to company success. The first and most crucial step for company growth is having an effective and comprehensive hiring process. Invest ample time in the preparation of an effective recruitment and retention program. Commit to helping employees be successful from hiring and onboarding to subsequent evaluations. Be ready to assess your data and make changes accordingly. Each step is equally essential. If you want to become a better hiring manager, start with the above measures. Before long, you and your company will see the tangible evidence of your efforts.