For a CEO, good teamwork between recruiters and bosses is very important to find out what jobs we need. This helps us meet those needs better. We have done very well with methods like long meetings to find out role needs, making sure our job details are fair, and changing ads in papers or online just for the best people. Using scorecards has been very helpful in reducing unfairness when hiring people. We keep our hiring process the same and find out how people feel during their job interviews by asking for input. It's important that we talk about pay openly and give a good amount from the start. This big-picture way has very much increased how quickly and well we choose new workers.
One particularly successful collaboration I had with a department manager involved job shadowing to gain a deeper understanding of their hiring needs. We implemented a job shadowing program where human resources spent a day closely observing the team's daily operations, workflow, and challenges. This hands-on experience allowed me to grasp the nuances of the roles within the department and identify the specific skills and qualities they were looking for in potential hires.
As a recruiter, I work closely with hiring managers often, and sometimes they're hesitant to reach out and include department managers in our hunt. I don't think it's exclusionary so much as a fear of too many cooks in the kitchen. But I always recommend bringing in a department head if possible, and recently did so on a big contract that had us sourcing several crucial roles in the advertising sector. What the department manager knew -- and the hiring manager didn't -- was that the advertising team had a very specific communication style honed over many shared projects. Adding in workers accustomed to another approach would have upset cohesion on the floor. Once we all worked together, we more easily found the right personality type, and were able to land qualified workers who shifted seamlessly into the role. Rob Reeves CEO & President, Redfish Technology https://www.redfishtech.com/fintech-recruiting/
One successful collaboration I had with a department manager to better understand their hiring needs was when we decided to have a "reverse interview" session. Instead of me asking the typical interview questions, I asked the manager to interview me as if I were a potential candidate for their team. This allowed me to experience firsthand the type of questions and criteria they were using to evaluate candidates. It also gave me valuable insights into the skills and qualities they were looking for in new hires. By putting myself in their shoes, I was able to better align our hiring process with their needs and make more informed decisions.
By shadowing the department manager, I had the opportunity to observe their team dynamics, work environment, and the challenges they faced during the hiring process. This provided valuable insights into their hiring needs and allowed me to better understand the skillset and qualities they desired in candidates. For example, during the shadowing experience, I noticed that the department manager's team had a strong collaborative culture and required candidates with excellent teamwork and communication skills. This firsthand observation led to adjustments in our recruitment strategies, including emphasizing these qualities in job descriptions and evaluating candidates for their ability to thrive in such an environment. Shadowing the department manager allowed for a deeper understanding of their perspective and fostered a collaborative relationship between HR and the department.
Implementing employee feedback surveys to gather insights from current employees in the department, enabling a better understanding of their hiring needs, experiences, and challenges. This overlooked collaboration helps align recruitment efforts with employee perspectives. For example, in a collaboration with the Marketing department, we created a survey to gather feedback on required skills, team dynamics, and suggestions for improvement. The responses helped refine our job descriptions, screening criteria, and sourcing strategies, resulting in more targeted and successful hiring.
By working together with the department manager on designing employee onboarding programs, HR gains a deeper understanding of the department's hiring needs. This collaboration ensures that the onboarding process aligns with the department's specific requirements, resulting in better long-term hiring outcomes. For example, in a previous collaboration, the HR team and the sales department manager designed an onboarding program that included a mix of product knowledge training, mentorship from experienced salespeople, and role-specific skills development. This collaboration allowed HR to understand the unique challenges faced by the sales team and tailor the onboarding process to address those challenges effectively. As a result, new sales hires quickly integrated into the team, ramped up their performance faster, and had a higher retention rate.
One great success was when I partnered with the R&D Department Manager to fill vacancies for software engineers. We organized an 'Automation Hackathon' to find pioneers in automation technology. Candidates were given a business problem to solve using automation and the quality of their solution, creativity, and approach to problem solving helped us find the best talents. It was efficient, creative, and we saw great results, both in terms of hiring and promoting our brand amongst automation professionals.