From a Headhunter’s Perspective: What Hiring Managers Can Do to Find and Hire Great People

Hiring can be difficult. It can also be expensive. And it’s certainly time-consuming. Doing it in a way that produces the best candidates is likely more time-consuming still, but your company’s culture will benefit in the long run.

The following insights are the result of decades of recruiting experience (from multiple headhunters) and conversations with thousands of candidates and hiring managers. The goal with this tutorial are to provide insights and understanding of the employment environment and candidate hot buttons, and suggest tactics to help Hiring Managers find and hire the best people. Incorporating an mindset that recognizes that humans ultimately hire other humans will increase engagement with candidates and improve outcomes.

ALWAYS BE RECRUITING: Hiring managers don’t know today that their best employee is leaving tomorrow. Networking with people who solve problems similar to your own can prove beneficial in the long term. Collect resumes and LinkedIn profiles for people in similarly key roles to develop a pipeline.

Depending on the size of company, it may be beneficial to allocate marketing budget to recruiting initiatives and web content
The hiring process is reflective of company culture, so the messaging can be valuable for passive candidates
Establish a corporate Mission Statement, and communicate internally and within the hiring channels how the company continually demonstrates its mission

THE COLLABORATION: Hiring is a collaboration between the hiring team (hiring manager(s), HR, other internal sources and agency partners) and candidates. As with any collaboration, strong communication and a mutual objective to achieve a common goal are necessary. The collaboration begins with the job requisition and continues until the candidate’s first day on the job. A lack of communication from employers is the most-often cited complaint we hear from candidates. Communication begins on the employer side of the discussion.

Define the job objectives within the requisition
Define and articulate the problems that need to be solved by the person in the role
Articulate what success will look like and invite candidates to reflect similar successes in their applications
COMMUNICATE internally and with all candidates throughout the hiring process
Look first for reasons any candidate can provide value to the company. DON’T look for reasons to disqualify candidates. Remove all assumptions and biases. Companies frequently pass on great candidates due to arbitrary assumptions or biases
- Short employment stints don’t necessarily mean that candidates jump around. If other attributes are in line with the job’s need, connect with the candidate and ask questions about their career path
- Out-of-work candidates aren’t broken candidates. If their skillset aligns with the role, have a conversation
- Ageism is a big problem, either overtly or subconsciously. Assuming that a candidate is “overqualified” is a big mistake. Assuming that a candidate will want to retire “too quickly” is an oversight. “They’ll get bored” is a common refrain from Hiring Managers. Have a conversation if their experience can be valuable to the company.
Facilitating the collaboration starts on the employer-side of the discussion. Invite collaboration

THE SEARCH: Networking with peers, coworkers and through LinkedIn can provide valuable leads to both active and passive talent.

Offer referral incentives to current employees
People don’t generally refer people they don’t want to work with or don’t feel are up to the task
Ensure that referral incentives are meaningful. A $1,000 bonus is a great incentive, while a gift card will yield poor results and will likely be ignored
Job posts can work, but networking can provide stronger candidates for managerial or leadership jobs. Posting on a job board is like hanging a sign in your window, hoping the right person sees it
If posting the job, certainly post to the company Careers Page, but also utilize industry-specific trade publications (if they have job boards) rather than generic boards like Indeed. We’ve found that LinkedIn typically provides a better candidate pool than others
Look first for reasons any candidate can provide value to the company. DON’T look for reasons to disqualify candidates. Remove all assumptions and biases
Partner with one or several search agencies (headhunters). Contingency search is still very common, so you only pay for candidates you actually hire. Getting multiple eyes into the market can be beneficial. And, agencies often come with a ready-made network of potential candidates. The insulation that an agency can provide is also beneficial

INTERVIEW PROCESS AND CADENCE: Hiring process momentum is exceptionally important in part because the process is reflective of company culture, and importantly, many candidates will have multiple options. Hiring Managers risk losing their best prospects to other companies if the process is overly burdensome or slow.

This is a human-to-human process. AI and other tools can be used to supplement decision-making but should be kept to a minimum and should never ultimately decide the outcome
- E.g. results from using a one-sided video interview platform at any stage should not disqualify a candidate
Keep the number of interviews to a minimum. Ensure that the team’s questions are answered, and that candidates’ questions are also addressed. It’s a two-way street and both parties have to feel comfortable moving forward with each step
Ask behavioral-based questions, recognizing that the plug-and-play candidate is someone who has already been doing what needs to be done
- One of the problems you’d address in this role is “x”. Tell me about a situation where you solved a similar problem and what the result was?
- What success are you most proud of and why?
- What do you love about your current job?
Once the process begins, keep momentum going. Hiccups in the process may cause candidates to lose interest, and restarts take additional time. Time is money
Develop a score card that assigns a score to the most important attributes the company is seeking. Use the score card to remove biases and assess competencies. This provides the entire hiring team a standard and consistency
When the candidate who meets 80% of the requirements is identified, make the offer if the cultural fit is also there. 10/10 candidates are unicorns. Waiting for a perfect candidate usually means losing an excellent one
Because candidates will define and rank the following objectives uniquely, it’s important to internalize the fact that hiring managers are overtly or tacitly interviewing for these six objectives to ensure that candidate and corporate objectives align

* CHALLENGE * LOCATION * ADVANCEMENT * MONEY * PEOPLE * SECURITY *

AFTER THE OFFER: Because this is a two-way street, and because there is risk for both the company and the new employee, ensure that communication continues after the offer is made.

Articulate the onboarding timeline and process
Continue to woo the candidate, including face-to-face meetings or meals. Invite the candidate’s significant other to meet the hiring manager
Counteroffers are more prevalent than ever, so constant communication through the notice period lessens the likelihood your candidate will take a counter

This is a simplistic list of ideas to help companies improve their hiring practices. These ideas are designed to start an internal dialog to ensure that the hiring process continues to improve and accurately reflect positive company values. Further consultation is available by emailing:

Automotive Aftermarket, Mark Osmundson: mark@jamisonsearch.com

Banking, Mike Jamison: mj@jamisonsearch.com

Construction and Manufacturing, John York: york@jamisonsearch.com

Written by a real, live human