Recruitment is one of the most important things to get right in an organisation, but one of the easiest things to get wrong. The consequences of a bad hire, let alone a string of bad hires, could be the financial equivalent of Armageddon starring Bruce Willis. In this guide we’ll look at the importance of getting co-workers on board with your hiring process.

Why recruitment should be a team effort

Hiring talent is difficult. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but not every cod can code a website. So in order to identify the right talent, it simply makes sense that you’ll need more than just one pair of eyes to screen candidates. As we’ll explore, sourcing talent simply isn’t possible if you and your colleagues are working in silos, but there are techniques you can employ to make your hiring strategy more of a team sport.

The value of getting recruitment right 

We’ve written before about the perils of a volume-based approach to hiring. Given that quality trumps quantity when it comes to assembling a team, it makes sense for any organisation to have a forensic, laser-focus on recruitment.

Brian Chesky, founder and CEO of Airbnb, attended the interviews of the company’s first 300 hires. He asked every interviewee, “if you had 10 years left to live, would you take this job?” Chesky knew that making the wrong hire – even once – could be perilous for his burgeoning brand. Today, Airbnb is one of the world’s most ubiquitous tech companies, but it didn’t land out of a clear blue sky. Organisations that understand the value of recruitment are simply better optimised for success.

Hiring managers are human

When recruiters quit a job, it’s often because the organisation fundamentally doesn’t understand recruitment, and stubbornly refuses to change. What does this look like in practice? For example, if engineering managers or hiring managers can’t be bothered to interview candidates, then even the best recruitment strategies will quickly turn to dust. Or if the senior team doesn’t recognise the value of recruitment, and pays little attention to recruiting from the bottom-up, then the organisation is on a one-way street to mediocre hires. All of this can result in expensive hires, wasted hours, referrals done badly, a poor candidate experience, and sapped morale of you and your recruiting team. Ultimately, any organisation needs a happy hiring team, or the whole pack of cards could collapse.

What does collaborative recruitment look like?‍

Collaboration is at the centre of an effective recruitment strategy. Here are some techniques for how to get more people involved in the hiring process.

• Share the comms burden. If you’re a candidate, who would you rather receive a call or email from – a hiring manager or someone who works for the company? No one likes an email that feels ‘spammy’, so getting your head engineer to send the occasional email to a prospective employee could be worth its weight in gold.
• Hire proactively. No company should simply sit around waiting for vacancies before looking for talent. Filling a role is not a shotgun wedding; your managers need time to make the right decision, so the more communication with your co-workers about their hiring needs, the better.
• Referral parties. Any organisation is a human enterprise, so making referrals as fun as possible could incentivise your colleagues to take recruitment more seriously. Sourcing jams, or referral parties, could brighten up their day and give you some valuable leads.
• Get senior buy-in. The decision makers at your organisation are ultimately the people who can write cheques and sanction hires. Making sure you get regular face-time with these stakeholders, and trying to speak their language, could help you underscore the importance of recruitment to your whole organisation.
• Reward your co-workers. Every hiring manager knows the value of getting co-workers involved in recruitment, but do you need to introduce some extra powers of persuasion? Incentives like vouchers, meals out, or good old finders fees, could give your colleagues a much-needed nudge.
  

Read our creative ideas to boost referrals for a fresh perspective on how to optimise the way you hire. 

Looking to hire more collaboratively? Take a free trial with Intrro to see how referrals can be a valuable part of your recruitment strategy.

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