Relationship Issues: Do your Hiring Managers Trust You?

 What do these couples have in common: teenagers and their parents; staff and management; recruiters and hiring managers? The common denominator is that these are all pairs with classic conflict and relationship management problems. As the recruiting function evolves, recruiters like you are becoming more stretched and faced with greater expectations. You and your hiring manager may begin as virtual strangers, but your job is to engage that individual, treat him or her like a client, build up your understanding of the hiring need at hand, and bring that relationship to trusted advisor status. Each hiring manager is another person you need to win over.

From the Hiring Manager’s Perspective

I’ve spent time as a hiring manager in a large organization and felt both the relief and anticipation after getting approval to add a new hire. Following the requisition procedure and necessary approvals, I would get a call or email from my assigned recruiter—a complete stranger to me. Typically this recruiter had never met me or anyone working in the department. The task of hiring a great new person just got more challenging. I was inevitably working against the clock because of rumors floating around about an imminent hiring freeze. So, not only was I a hiring manager with a recruiter brand new to me, but I was also straining to work quickly.

“I worked with Jan last time I hired someone new in the department,” I would comment. “Can I work with her again as she already knows what I am looking for?”  Usually I received one of two answers:

“Sorry, Jan isn’t with us any longer.” Or, “She’s knee deep in that special IT project and has no time to add a new req.”

So it begins that another recruiter and hiring manager have to start from scratch to build trust and a productive working relationship.

Building Trust between Virtual Strangers

Every hiring manager feels that his or her new hire should be assigned to the best recruiter on the team; someone with extensive experience hiring for similar skill sets in the past. Today’s reality in talent acquisition is not conducive to that kind of specialized treatment.  But, there are a few strategies you can use to improve the relationship with your hiring managers right out of the gate:

• Focus on the hiring manager and the inner workings of the department. This is personal. Whether it’s a department he or she built from scratch or inherited, there is a cultural element to each manager and each department that requires some time investment.You may not fully understand why and how the team dynamics work, but making a genuine attempt to learn will earn respect. If the hiring manager is amenable, offer to spend time with key folks in the department. Choose the ones who will be the closest colleagues to the new hire. Showing that you understand the inner workings of the department builds trust.

• Test your understanding. Show that the time with the team was well spent. Recruiting is a “sales” job, after all. Test your understanding by summarizing expectations and producing a few sample candidates – maybe even provide an example of a candidate you’d pass on, just to reinforce your understanding and build consensus with your hiring manager. Beyond that, there’s nothing better than getting to know candidates with that inside working knowledge of the hiring manager and the department. Savvy job candidates expect you to be a strong representative of the role. Better matches come when you, the candidate, and the hiring manager are all on the same page.

• Use their connections. If it is a new area of focus, why not leverage the hiring manager’s expertise and connections? You still have to do all the work, but this targeted networking fast-forwards your progress, and benefits you in the long run. Note: If there is an internal fee exchange, be prepared to discuss it. Nothing made me more resentful as a hiring manager than forwarding many viable candidates and contributing significantly to the process, yet still getting internally charged the full placement fee in the end.

• Get face-to-face. Building trust becomes more complicated when the parties are all working remotely, relying on phone calls and pushing paper requisition forms, interview summaries, or resumes. When the technology for video interviewing is in place, consider this a bonus: You can use the exact same interviewing technology to meet with the hiring manager and the department’s key players. Join a team meeting through the video interview platform so you can observe the team dynamics first hand and become a better advocate for their recruiting and hiring needs. And, of course, get a deeper insight into the candidate’s many valuable offerings through a video interview. This benefits candidates too, as they are looking for key reasons to justify a job move. Confidence leads to better recommendations.

Boost Your Face Time

Everyone involved in hiring activities is starving for face-to-face attention because it contributes to better matches. That’s one nice advantage of the video interviewing technology easily at hand today. You feel more confident in the candidates you recommend; your hiring managers develop more trust and confidence when you send them better matches. It’s a wonderful cycle of success.