Four key steps to ensuring your recruitment partner is in alignment with you.

A strong partnership is built on communication, currently virtual meetings, phone calls, emails, text messages or social media, with regular communication being essential at each recruitment stage.

Stage 1 The Brief

Good communication starts at the very beginning of the recruiting process. Whether virtual meetings or tele-conference, this ignites the recruitment process, gives the recruiter the necessary information to focus their search, promote your role and business as effectively as possible and to engage credibly with top talent.

• Set out your expectations for the search and overall recruiting strategy
• Brief recruiters on your business, culture and opportunity
• Talk about the role specifics; why it has arisen, what qualities you are seeking, ideal candidate fit, key challenges the successful candidate will face etc.
• Talk about previous incumbent, or team members; what skills, experiences and characteristics particularly work well in your working environment.
• Agree a timeline, ideally include interview dates and plan around any key decision makers diaries to ensure final sign off is not unnecessarily delayed
• Be as open and transparent as possible (if business sensitive, sign NDAs, good recruiters will be experienced in confidential appointments)

Stage 2 The Sell

Throughout the process you should never stop selling your company. If your recruitment processes are slick, move nimbly and there aren’t unnecessary delays, it will speak volumes to a candidate about what it will be like when working for you. If each person a candidate meets with (virtually or in person) in the process, from the recruiter to the receptionist to the interviewers, to the team, are engaged in the process, they will all contribute to promoting your organisation. Whilst you may not hire all the candidates you meet this time around, they could be employees in the future, or even potentially clients.

Stage 3 The Share

Feedback, should be regular, it should be thorough, and it should be coming from all parties.

As hiring manager, your feedback is key in:

• Arming the recruiter to be able to manage the candidates effectively. If the preferred candidate, this is to keep them engaged in the process. If the unsuccessful candidate to reject them professionally and informatively from the process (a candidates’ biggest gripe is lack of feedback at interview stage whether successful or not, they have invested time in the process and expect, quite reasonably, to be given constructive feedback).
• Redefining the candidate search if the shortlist of candidates is not working

As recruitment partner, their feedback is key in:

• Sharing market knowledge, trends, issues, competitor activity, salary benchmarking, feedback on your organisation
• Sharing candidate feedback from interviews and expectations

Stage 4 The Lines of Communication

Regular and clear communication is essential to build an effective relationship between hiring manager and recruitment partner. Your recruitment partner in turn should then be using this to ensure regular communication between themselves and the candidates.

In summary, ensure on your tick-list to:

• Set out clear expectations both ways
• Provide prompt and meaningful feedback
• Be available for discussions around offers, salary negotiations. Typically, your recruitment partner will act as the negotiator on behalf of both parties, but it may also work to discuss directly with the candidate
• Onboarding process agreed, in place and being followed.

Remember good communications will ensure positive recruitment experiences, hiring top talent in the market, building relationships with your recruitment partner ready for your next seamless hire and of course further building of your employer brand.