Collaborative recruiting and hiring is a hot topic at the moment, with more and more high profile businesses stressing its importance, including Netflix, Google and Apple.
In fact, Steve Jobs even stated that all businesses “need to have a collaborative hiring process.”
Adopting a different approach to recruitment is hardly surprising when Oxford Economics and Unum revealed that the average bad hire costs a business £30,165.
The truth is, trying to take on that kind of responsibility without any support can be extremely stressful, especially when you’re tight for time or working in a high profile company with a high turnover.
Research even states that working collaboratively helps people stick to their task for 65% longer, as well as reducing fatigue and making them more successful.
So, if you want to make smarter decisions for the foreseeable future, you need to invest in measures to implement collaborative recruiting and hiring.
What is collaborative recruiting and hiring?
The textbook definition of collaborative recruiting and hiring is a method in which the HR team and other departments come participate in the recruitment process.
Instead of relying on one or a small handful of individuals, you’re giving the wider business a chance to voice their opinions.
Collaborative recruiting is also called team-based hiring.
What are the benefits of collaborative recruiting and hiring?
While it might seem like an effort to change your recruitment model, implementing it will vastly improve your whole recruitment process and have a positive effect on your company culture.
Essentially, having more minds working on the hiring process should give you better results.
There’s no excuse for skipping processes or missing things, as there will be more eyes focusing on the job in hand.
You’ll also be able to form a more rounded opinion on candidates, with diversified perspectives weighing in.
What’s more, getting different professionals to focus on certain areas will free up more time to focus on improving the candidate experience, which is imperative in this competitive world we live in.
Finally, collaborative recruiting and hiring boost employee engagement as well, with everyone feeling like their opinion matters.
Let’s face it, there’s nothing more empowering than knowing you’re valued and playing a key role in shaping the future of a company.
How to build a collaborative recruiting and hiring process
Now you can see the benefits of collaboration, it’s time to put this idea into practice.
A true collaborative recruiting and hiring process requires employee contribution during every stage of the recruitment process.
Allow me to break this down for you into digestible sections.
Preparation
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
It’s a classic adage which still rings true.
The key to getting your collaborative recruitment process off to a good start is to have various employees working together to review and tweak the job description, the candidate persona and the job advert.
If possible, get an employee who works in the same role as the one you’re recruiting for to share their thoughts on daily tasks, duties and responsibilities.
After all, they know the job better than anyone else in the business.
It’s worth involving management too.
Do they think there are certain personalities which would improve or hinder staff morale?
Other employees can even give you pointers on why they love working at your company.
This kind of feedback will look great in a job advert and on social posts.
Finding and attracting candidates
The next part of the recruitment process to think about is the way you find candidates.
Have you got an employee referral scheme in place?
If not, you need to do it right away.
Not only does it make employees feel involved, but they wouldn’t give bad recommendations as it would reflect badly on them.
It’s a free and simple way to guarantee quality candidates.
They can also help spread the word by sharing your job posts on their social media profiles.
Another key element in finding and attracting candidates is to get employees to help with improving the company’s reputation and profile online.
Can you get the marketing team to write a blog about a recent charity or social event?
Or can the social media guru post regular updates on team bonding days and employees?
All of these things help boost brand awareness and make your company look a more attractive place to work.
Shortlisting and hiring candidates
The final stage to think about in promoting a collaborative recruiting and hiring process is making the all-important decision.
Gather your whole team to look over CVs and assemble the best interview questions to ensure you gain the best insight into candidates.
During the interview, bring an employee or manager in to help make a separate assessment.
Perhaps they could focus on body language signs while you concern yourself with the interview questions.
Try arranging a tour of the business with a trusted employee where the candidate is introduced to the team.
It’ll allow everyone to see the candidate in a slightly more relaxed environment outside of the pressures of an interview room.
Remember, every opinion matters here.
It’s not just you who will have to work with the candidate every day.
So, give your business a voice and make stronger choices.
How can we help?
At AdBuilder, we offer our clients an innovative solution to creating effective job adverts.
Our platform gives you the tools required to build an advert that attracts top candidates, taking out any of the guessing work.
It’s the ultimate way of enhancing collaborative recruiting and hiring, freeing time up for the rest of the team to focus on the candidate experience.
For more information, take a look at our AdBuilder service page.
James is the founder and owner of AdBuilder and a recruitment expert from Sutton Coldfield in the UK. He regularly advises companies on how to improve and get the maximum ROI from their recruitment processes and advertising.
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