Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
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Hiring Team
Gone are the days when one person managed the hiring process and made the decision. Collaborative hiring teams are much more effective. Let's look at how they can work for your organization.
What Is a Hiring Team?
A hiring team is a group of people committed to interviewing and selecting the right candidate for a vacant position. Most companies have moved from the traditional way of having one individual make hiring decisions because collaboration reduces hiring bias, promotes diversity, includes more perspectives, and reduces time to hire.
Who Should Be Included On the Hiring Team?
It's important that interviews include only people who have a decision-making role and that the candidate not be overwhelmed. Here are the people who should ideally be on the hiring team.
- Recruiter/talent acquisition/HR manager/HR lead. Basically, this is whoever is responsible for the recruitment process in the organization. For small organizations, one person handles all HR activities, while in medium to large-sized organizations, there are more specialized roles like a recruiter or talent acquisition professional.
- Hiring manager. This is the person who manages the vacant position and is responsible for directly hiring for that role. The hiring manager defines the job requirements and description and is responsible for interviewing candidates and making the technical-fit hiring decision. Since they have a broad understanding of the role requirements, they should definitely be a part of the panel.
- Core team members: It's good to include one person from the team that will work with the new hire. They bring a different perspective and are able to recommend if the candidate would fit well in the company environment or not.
- Immediate supervisor. In some cases, the hiring manager isn’t the immediate supervisor. For example, the chief people officer may hire a people associate, but the immediate supervisor would be the people manager, so they need to be included.
- CEO/COO. This CEO/COO should not be left out of the process. They may be brought into the final stage of the hiring process (most times, companies call it the cultural fit stage) because of the nature of their role. They are able to sell the vision of the company and take questions the candidates might have about the company's history and plans. They are also able to gauge if the candidate is a cultural fit.
The Importance of Building a Strong Hiring Team
There are many reasons companies choose a more collaborative approach to hiring.
- Increases hiring efficiency. Collaboration increases the quality of hires and the time to hire. It might even indirectly increase the offer acceptance rate because a strong hiring team might have a positive effect on their decision.
- Eliminates unconscious bias. Having more interviewers reduces bias because you get multiple perspectives and everyone’s input.
- Improves the candidate experience. A strong hiring team boosts the candidates’ view of the company because they get to experience the company from different perspectives. Also, when the responsibility is shared among the team, they take more ownership and the process is naturally more seamless.
- Reduces recruiter/hiring manager burnout. When you have a hiring team, the responsibilities are shared and the burden isn’t on one person. Tasks like shortlisting, reviewing resumes, drawing up pre-screen and interview questions, etc. are shared across different members of the hiring team.
Roles and Responsibilities of Hiring Team Members
Each person on the hiring team holds different roles and responsibilities.
Identifying Job Requirements and Specifications
The hiring manager needs to draft a job description, which contains job requirements, specifications, duties, title, etc. The recruiter needs a job description so they can identify the “best” candidates for the vacant position. There is usually a briefing between the hiring manager and the recruiter so there is clarity between them.
Interviewing Candidates
The recruiter shortlists candidates after a profile review and possibly a phone assessment. The shortlisted candidates are then selected by the hiring manager, and there’s a technical interview with the hiring manager and other members of the interview panel. After the technical fit, most companies do a cultural fit interview, and as previously discussed, this is where the CEO/COO comes in.
Selecting the Right Candidate
The hiring team are all decision makers. Their feedback is collated to determine who the best fit is for the vacant position. Different perspectives and conversation increase the odds of a good hire.
Onboarding the Employee
The hiring manager, core team members, and the immediate supervisor all have a role to play in onboarding the new employee after they are hired. They all ensure the new hire acclimates well into the company and its culture.
Key Competencies of Hiring Team Members
Wondering what makes a good hiring team or what makes a hiring team effective?
Right Selection
This is where the hiring team’s anti-bias training, self-awareness, and ability to be objective and fair all through the hiring process are essential. The team needs to evaluate all the candidates based on job requirements, specifications and qualifications. They should also consider the future goals and broader vision of the role and the company.
Active Listening
This advanced skill is very important for every member of the hiring team. The hiring team should be able to pay close attention to what the candidate is saying. It goes hand in hand with decision-making, and hiring requires making a decision between several options.
Decision-Making
Every member of the hiring team should definitely have this competency. Hiring criteria should be set up, and notes should be taken and reviewed after the process in order to make the decision-making easy for every member of the team.
How to Evaluate the Success of the Hiring Team
There are several ways you can measure the performance of a hiring team based on your expectations as a company. It is important to note that the following might not always be indicative of success but are important metrics that will serve as a guide.
Candidate Experience Feedback
This is the best way to get feedback about your hiring process. Find out the most difficult and helpful parts of your process from the people who go through it. You may learn that your response time to candidates was too long or that the way the hiring team members addressed the candidate made them uncomfortable. How to measure this: use Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) surveys, feedback from employees, and online reviews, e.g. Glassdoor, Indeed, etc.
Quality of Hire
It’s important to hire talent fast, but speed doesn’t necessarily translate into good hires and success for the company in the long run. How to measure this: This is typically measured using quantitative metrics depending on role type, turnover rate, retention rate, etc. However, this can only be measured months after closing the role.
Time to Fill the Role
This is the time it takes for a candidate to move through your hiring process. How to measure this: Calculate the average time to fill a role from when the role was put up to when it was closed.
Interview-to-Offer Rate
This can be helpful to evaluate the interviewing capability of the hiring manager/interviewer in the hiring process. It also shows the average number of hours spent on interviewing in the hiring process. How to measure this: Compare the number of offers extended in relation to the number of interviews had. For example, if you conduct 10 interviews to extend one offer, then your interview-to-offer ratio is 10:1.
Topics
Adeteju Adeleye
Adeteju is a People & Culture Manager with about 5 years experience across the financial services and technology sector. Her experience cuts across the entire employee lifecycle. However, her strengths lie in Employee Engagement & Experience, HR Strategy and Talent Management. She is very passionate about her job and the people she works with. When she’s not working, you can find her watching movies, listening to good music or having a good time!
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
Hiring Team
Gone are the days when one person managed the hiring process and made the decision. Collaborative hiring teams are much more effective. Let's look at how they can work for your organization.
What Is a Hiring Team?
A hiring team is a group of people committed to interviewing and selecting the right candidate for a vacant position. Most companies have moved from the traditional way of having one individual make hiring decisions because collaboration reduces hiring bias, promotes diversity, includes more perspectives, and reduces time to hire.
Who Should Be Included On the Hiring Team?
It's important that interviews include only people who have a decision-making role and that the candidate not be overwhelmed. Here are the people who should ideally be on the hiring team.
- Recruiter/talent acquisition/HR manager/HR lead. Basically, this is whoever is responsible for the recruitment process in the organization. For small organizations, one person handles all HR activities, while in medium to large-sized organizations, there are more specialized roles like a recruiter or talent acquisition professional.
- Hiring manager. This is the person who manages the vacant position and is responsible for directly hiring for that role. The hiring manager defines the job requirements and description and is responsible for interviewing candidates and making the technical-fit hiring decision. Since they have a broad understanding of the role requirements, they should definitely be a part of the panel.
- Core team members: It's good to include one person from the team that will work with the new hire. They bring a different perspective and are able to recommend if the candidate would fit well in the company environment or not.
- Immediate supervisor. In some cases, the hiring manager isn’t the immediate supervisor. For example, the chief people officer may hire a people associate, but the immediate supervisor would be the people manager, so they need to be included.
- CEO/COO. This CEO/COO should not be left out of the process. They may be brought into the final stage of the hiring process (most times, companies call it the cultural fit stage) because of the nature of their role. They are able to sell the vision of the company and take questions the candidates might have about the company's history and plans. They are also able to gauge if the candidate is a cultural fit.
The Importance of Building a Strong Hiring Team
There are many reasons companies choose a more collaborative approach to hiring.
- Increases hiring efficiency. Collaboration increases the quality of hires and the time to hire. It might even indirectly increase the offer acceptance rate because a strong hiring team might have a positive effect on their decision.
- Eliminates unconscious bias. Having more interviewers reduces bias because you get multiple perspectives and everyone’s input.
- Improves the candidate experience. A strong hiring team boosts the candidates’ view of the company because they get to experience the company from different perspectives. Also, when the responsibility is shared among the team, they take more ownership and the process is naturally more seamless.
- Reduces recruiter/hiring manager burnout. When you have a hiring team, the responsibilities are shared and the burden isn’t on one person. Tasks like shortlisting, reviewing resumes, drawing up pre-screen and interview questions, etc. are shared across different members of the hiring team.
Roles and Responsibilities of Hiring Team Members
Each person on the hiring team holds different roles and responsibilities.
Identifying Job Requirements and Specifications
The hiring manager needs to draft a job description, which contains job requirements, specifications, duties, title, etc. The recruiter needs a job description so they can identify the “best” candidates for the vacant position. There is usually a briefing between the hiring manager and the recruiter so there is clarity between them.
Interviewing Candidates
The recruiter shortlists candidates after a profile review and possibly a phone assessment. The shortlisted candidates are then selected by the hiring manager, and there’s a technical interview with the hiring manager and other members of the interview panel. After the technical fit, most companies do a cultural fit interview, and as previously discussed, this is where the CEO/COO comes in.
Selecting the Right Candidate
The hiring team are all decision makers. Their feedback is collated to determine who the best fit is for the vacant position. Different perspectives and conversation increase the odds of a good hire.
Onboarding the Employee
The hiring manager, core team members, and the immediate supervisor all have a role to play in onboarding the new employee after they are hired. They all ensure the new hire acclimates well into the company and its culture.
Key Competencies of Hiring Team Members
Wondering what makes a good hiring team or what makes a hiring team effective?
Right Selection
This is where the hiring team’s anti-bias training, self-awareness, and ability to be objective and fair all through the hiring process are essential. The team needs to evaluate all the candidates based on job requirements, specifications and qualifications. They should also consider the future goals and broader vision of the role and the company.
Active Listening
This advanced skill is very important for every member of the hiring team. The hiring team should be able to pay close attention to what the candidate is saying. It goes hand in hand with decision-making, and hiring requires making a decision between several options.
Decision-Making
Every member of the hiring team should definitely have this competency. Hiring criteria should be set up, and notes should be taken and reviewed after the process in order to make the decision-making easy for every member of the team.
How to Evaluate the Success of the Hiring Team
There are several ways you can measure the performance of a hiring team based on your expectations as a company. It is important to note that the following might not always be indicative of success but are important metrics that will serve as a guide.
Candidate Experience Feedback
This is the best way to get feedback about your hiring process. Find out the most difficult and helpful parts of your process from the people who go through it. You may learn that your response time to candidates was too long or that the way the hiring team members addressed the candidate made them uncomfortable. How to measure this: use Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) surveys, feedback from employees, and online reviews, e.g. Glassdoor, Indeed, etc.
Quality of Hire
It’s important to hire talent fast, but speed doesn’t necessarily translate into good hires and success for the company in the long run. How to measure this: This is typically measured using quantitative metrics depending on role type, turnover rate, retention rate, etc. However, this can only be measured months after closing the role.
Time to Fill the Role
This is the time it takes for a candidate to move through your hiring process. How to measure this: Calculate the average time to fill a role from when the role was put up to when it was closed.
Interview-to-Offer Rate
This can be helpful to evaluate the interviewing capability of the hiring manager/interviewer in the hiring process. It also shows the average number of hours spent on interviewing in the hiring process. How to measure this: Compare the number of offers extended in relation to the number of interviews had. For example, if you conduct 10 interviews to extend one offer, then your interview-to-offer ratio is 10:1.
Topics
Adeteju Adeleye
Adeteju is a People & Culture Manager with about 5 years experience across the financial services and technology sector. Her experience cuts across the entire employee lifecycle. However, her strengths lie in Employee Engagement & Experience, HR Strategy and Talent Management. She is very passionate about her job and the people she works with. When she’s not working, you can find her watching movies, listening to good music or having a good time!
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
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