Achieving success in recruitment: The importance of stakeholder collaboration

zinc logo icon
Jordie Black
Updated on:

Human Resources acts as an umbrella term, comprising various activities such as performance management, compensation, organisational development and employee relations. But, it doesn’t act alone. A high-performing recruiting team relies on the involvement of other stakeholders in the business to achieve success.

HR ensures all relevant criteria is considered by engaging stakeholders in the recruitment process. This ensures that candidates are not just the perfect fit but also the best choice for the company. Furthermore, involving stakeholders in the recruitment process helps with due diligence, legal requirements and compliance with industry regulations.

Involving stakeholders such as the founders of the business in the recruitment process allows for:

  • Greater transparency, with each party understanding the desired outcome and the criteria for success. 
  • Alignment between departments improving cross-team collaboration
  • Ability to identify potential issues, and develop solutions around hiring issues

The benefits of stakeholder collaboration extend beyond recruitment and other areas of HR, such as talent management and employee engagement.

Planning the role

When it comes to successful recruitment, defining the role that needs filling is essential. This involves working closely with hiring managers, Human Resources, and other relevant departments including the founders of the business to identify what the job role entails and what skills and attributes would make a candidate well-suited for the position.

Step one:
The first step in this process is to define the role's objectives. Outline what the hiring manager expects the role to be and how the applicant can contribute to achieving organisational goals. Once established, the team should consider the qualifications and experience of a person to fulfil that role. This will help recruit candidates with the technical expertise and soft skills required for success.


Step two:

Next, stakeholders should develop an ideal candidate profile. This profile helps narrow potential recruits by focusing on skills such as years of experience, types of roles and educational qualifications. It’s also important to think about traits such as temperament, communication style, work ethic, and cultural fit, which may only be apparent from resumes or interviews alone. It helps develop targeted recruitment campaigns to attract more suitable candidates for a particular opening.

Step three:
It is crucial to create a detailed job description. An accurate job description provides potential applicants with an overview of what is expected from them and information about the benefits such as salary banding and company perks. These details give candidates the information they need before submitting their applications. Ideally, you want complete alignment about the role’s expectations between the hiring manager and the candidate. 

Top tip: consider creating a briefing pack that outlines the role and allows stakeholders and hiring managers to better think about the role from a strategic standpoint and iron out what type of candidates would be best suited.

Sourcing supported by stakeholder buy-in

Recruiting success requires collaboration among stakeholders throughout the hiring process, beginning with sourcing. Sourcing encompasses all the steps before candidates apply: job boards, social media, and employee referrals all play a part in identifying potential candidates. However, successful sourcing involves more than just casting a wide net - it requires having the right tools and collaborating with the right team members.

Recruiters, sources and hiring managers must be involved and work together to identify the best talent for each role, outlining criteria and supporting each other throughout the process.

With teamwork among stakeholders at the root of any strong recruitment program, having everyone onboard from the start is paramount. We would recommend sourcing 2-3 ideal candidates' profiles as a group so that you are all aligned on the type of experience required. 

Top tip: At this stage, it’s useful to define the interview process, and ensure there is a clear understanding of how many stages there will be, who will be involved in each stage and what responsibilities each stakeholder has.

Communicating with candidates

Communication with candidates during the recruitment process is critical to achieving success in any organisation, yet, it is often an overlooked skill set when bringing on board new talent.

Recruiters should be sure to familiarise themselves with the various technologies available for candidate outreach and communication and keep apprised of etiquette guidelines and helpful tips for maintaining open communication and trust with potential hires.

Top tip: Consider using an Applicant Tracking System(ATS) to streamline these efforts making communication between recruiters and candidates easier.

Each step of the recruiting process involves stakeholders from both parties, like recruiters, hiring managers, Human Resources personnel, and stakeholders within the department for which new talent will be joining -all of whom are sources of essential information for making an informed hiring decision.

Therefore, effective collaboration between these individuals is crucial for giving prospective candidates a superior candidate experience throughout their communication with your organisation. 

This includes timely responses to inquiries, fair assessment of relevant qualifications pertinent to the position, automated friction-free background checks and clear information related to processes involved while interviewing/onboarding into company roles. Giving feedback, whether positive or negative is paramount and should not be overlooked. People have given you time to take an interview so it’s important to provide constructive feedback for their careers.   

Getting these aspects in sync will culminate in the successful placement of employees who will remain motivated to perform at a high standard.

Make better offers with aligned HR functionality

Offering a job to a candidate is an exciting step in the recruiting process. However, this step should be taken seriously as it takes collaboration amongst many key stakeholders to generate successful results.

Hiring managers, founders, recruiters, and HR professionals all have a critical role in ensuring that the candidate fits with the team and that their offer fully meets the candidate's expectations and needs.

Timelines and professional etiquette are essential when extending and negotiating offers, as a timely response could mean the difference between a rejected or accepted offer. Ultimately, achieving success in recruitment requires strong teamwork from each stakeholder involved in a way that honours both the new hire and the organisation's best interests.

Stakeholders’ involvement during onboarding

Onboarding is an essential step in the recruitment process and plays a significant role in supporting newcomers to feel confident and competent as they transition into their new employment.

It can involve many stakeholders, including HR, the employee’s hiring manager, and department heads depending on the tasks outlined in the job role. All parties must come together to provide new team members with the necessary onboarding documents and resources to complete duties correctly.

Onboarding gives new employees other vital details, such as learning about company culture or familiarising themselves with professional standards. Involving all relevant stakeholders during this transition period helps it progress smoothly and successfully.

Top tips: to make people feel welcome, consider implementing the following:

  1. Welcome email from involved stakeholders
  2. Team lunch to introduce the new hire to the wider company 
  3. Create a notion board or tracking system to keep track of the onboarding tasks 
  4. Have a company hub or dashboard to allow the new employee to access pertinent information about the company they might need to know in their initial weeks. 

Conclusion

Recruiting new employees is a complex but crucial process that requires collaboration from multiple stakeholders, who should be actively involved from beginning to end. From developing influential roles and job descriptions to assessing candidates and extending offers to onboarding new employees - every step of the recruitment process should involve the appropriate departments and personnel to run smoothly and efficiently.

Ultimately, understanding your company’s needs in terms of staffing and adequately communicating them with all stakeholders will put you in the best position to find the right talent for your organisation.

Discover a better way for reliable automated background checks