How Can Recruiters Set Expectations with Hiring Manager?

If recruiters and hiring managers are on the same page, the hiring process becomes smooth and effective. But this is hardly the case when recruiters are unable to meet hiring managers’ expectations. Their common goal is to find the best-fit candidate as quickly as possible. However, hiring managers often complain about the low quality of the talent pool or recruiters not finding enough qualified candidates with the desired skill set. On the other hand, talent sourcing partners struggle to meet hiring manager expectations during candidate sourcing. A discord between them may result in delays in closing the hirings.

In this article, we will share a few tips on aligning talent sourcing tactics with hiring manager expectations for a seamless recruitment process. Some of the common problems between hiring managers and recruiters are related to the quality of candidates, unrealistic expectations, hiring time, and hiring strategy. With the following tips, you will be able to stay in lockstep with your hiring manager during the candidate sourcing process.

How to Align Talent Sourcing Tactics with Hiring Manager Expectations

1. Treat the hiring manager as your customer

A hiring manager’s satisfaction is crucial to successfully closing a hiring requisition. Recruiters should treat hiring managers as their customers and work around identifying their needs. Talent acquisition specialists should develop a sourcing strategy to address such hiring needs. Although hiring managers may not have spare time to discuss talent sourcing strategies with recruiters, it is important to get their advice on the requisitions of a strong candidate. Befriending hiring managers and treating them like customers can be highly effective in improving the quality of communication and understanding each other’s problems.

2. Set basic job expectations right

Streamline qualifications as per the hiring manager’s expectations. Recruiters and hiring managers should agree upon what qualifications are indispensable for the role and which desired traits are expendable. Before setting the basic job expectations right, recruiters should make the hiring managers aware of the marketplace and expected salary range.

Talent acquisition specialists must align on the must-have or nice-to-have qualifications as soon as they receive a requisition. The first thing to do is to narrow down the job description. Ask your hiring managers for at least three to four of the most important qualifications to look for in the desired candidate. Before they begin their candidate search, recruiters must be aware of the deal breakers, the role’s minimum requirements, and the soft skills.

It is also beneficial to discuss the market scenario with hiring managers to align the candidate quality requirements. Use data analytics and talent insights to present a clear picture of what skill sets are available at what price, in which region, and industry.

3. Discuss the hiring process and sourcing channels

Discuss with your hiring managers the best sourcing channels to connect with potential candidates. Ask them to help you build a list of all sourcing channels where candidates with the required skill sets may have a presence. Prepare a list of role-specific keywords together to search for the right talent. It can be helpful to conduct a few searches together and discuss why a candidate may or may not be a good fit for the role.

Agree on the recruitment process and align your strategy with the hiring manager’s expectations. It is essential to know about the hiring manager’s availability when setting up the interview process. Before contacting potential candidates, recruiters must send a written summary of the process to all stakeholders.  The recruitment process must be realistic and not overly cumbersome for hiring managers who have many other goals to work on. It is of great help to keep the process transparent by employing an applicant tracking system accessible to all hiring managers.

4. Agree on a realistic timeline

Recruiters manage a lot of hiring requirements at the same time. Hence, they need to know the date and timeline by which they must fill the openings. So to stay on the same page as your hiring manager, it is essential to discuss a realistic timeline to source and qualify candidates. Weekly meetings and regular updates with hiring managers will help monitor the progress and manage their expectations.

5. Get timely feedback on candidates

Discuss your hiring manager’s commitment to being responsive before beginning with the talent sourcing process. Timely feedback helps recruit the best talent within a reasonable amount of time. Check in frequently with the hiring manager for feedback after the interview process of the first few candidates. This will help recruiters address the manager’s concerns and check if references are on target. If not, recruiters can realign their sourcing tactics before proceeding further.

Presenting candidates is a learning process for both the recruiters and hiring managers. Together they should review the talent pool to determine if qualification requirements for a role need to be relaxed further or tightened up in order to find the right candidates. Timely response and regular feedback from hiring managers will help recruiters fine-tune their search for right quality and quantity of candidates.

Aanchal Jain

Originally published Apr 25, 2022 07:04:05, updated Dec 20 2024

Topics: Candidate Sourcing, Recruitment Challenges, Recruitment Outsourcing, Talent Sourcing