Stuck in the same recruiting routine? Take a deeper dive into client groups to improve recruiting value

“Deep Dive” Business Knowledge

Very few recruiters would say they are not interested in developing deeper knowledge of the businesses they support.  The problem often comes from the client groups.  Managers do not always see the value in conducting kickoff recruiting strategy meetings, providing detailed feedback information, and/or providing a level of detail about their business that would be valuable to recruiters and candidates alike.  And many recruiters allow this to happen.  Let’s look at why gaining deep knowledge of the business is worth the effort and how to develop this strategy with your client groups. 

This is a simple idea and surprisingly so few companies invest in it.  Recruiting teams need to know the business with the goal of knowing it as well as those in the business.  The obvious benefit is the more you know the business the better you can describe it to prospects and identify the best candidates for openings.  But there is something else that may be even more important – credibility.  Great recruiters want to understand the business.  They ask hiring managers questions to understand why people would want to work in that department, what sets the business apart from competitors, etc.  These questions may be enough to earn credibility but aren’t enough to know the business as well as the business does.  Ask to attend meetings, go on ride-a-longs, get details on why the group is adding roles or downsizing, etc.  Be visible as much as possible.

If these activities allow recruiters to obtain credibility, is that even important? Great recruiter/manager interaction is a partnership.  Managers should rely on the recruiter’s expertise to guide the search, asking for their professional opinion throughout the process.  Unfortunately, most relationships begin as administrative transactions.  Recruiters have access to resumes and pass them along.  Managers ask for more resumes and the “transaction relationship” is born. This kind of relationship can work but does it add value? Even great recruiters with great ideas won’t be able to share them if managers don’t recognize their expertise and want to tap into it. 

I came across a company where the recruiting team was frustrated with some hiring managers because they treated outside recruiting agencies much better than the internal team.  It didn’t take much research to see why.  Recruiters sent resumes to the managers and, when they failed to find viable candidates, managers turned to their “agency experts” to fill the role.  There was no partnership with the recruiting team.  The team didn’t seek to better understand the business or provide data and insights as to the reason why they weren’t seeing a robust candidate pool.  The agencies provided “funnel” information on candidate pool, number of screens, etc. They shared what the were seeing in the market, why people were interested or not interested in the role, job characteristics restricting the candidate pool, etc.   The recruiting team did not invest in reaching true “Business Partner” status yet wanted that relationship.

There may be barriers to segmenting recruiting strategies and investing in being a true business partner (budgets, investment of time, willingness of the client group). Opportunities to visit business locations or attend meetings may be limited.  But be creative with what you can do and don’t let the opportunity slip by.  This is the perfect time of year to let the business know your recruiting team is fully committed to supporting their business needs.  And also a perfect time of year to shake up the routine and breath some energy into your recruiting efforts!

If you would like to explore additional ideas on this subject, check out Tom Bradley’s article, “When Talent Acquisition and Business Strategies align – The Steps to High Performance“.

Share your experiences by commenting on this article or feel free to reach out to me directly with any comment/questions.