The Secret to Great Hiring? Treat it like Sales.

We have dozens of hiring managers at Billtrust who are involved in the hiring process for their groups as well as other departments.  They all have different styles for sourcing, interviewing, and hiring. As expected, they experience a variety of different results.  Some are able fill open positions quickly with great candidates.  Some seem to have the same requisitions open for months on end.

One conclusion could be that some reqs are harder to fill than others and therefore take more time. Need a Senior PHP Developer who speaks Italian and can juggle? That might take a while. While there is some truth to this argument, I've found that the same managers struggle to fill a variety of different spots so I don't think that explains everything.

Another conclusion could be that the compensation range that was set for the position was too low resulting in an inability to attract good candidates. That has certainly happened but after adjusting the salary range, some hiring managers still struggle.

So what is the secret to great hiring?  Well it's really not much of a secret. Like most things in life, it's all about accountability.  

Recently, two managers who were struggling to fill spots both gave me the same excuse - "we're not seeing enough resumes from our recruiters".  My sarcastic response - "good excuse, I'll tell the Board that the reason we're not going to get that product released on time is because of our recruiters."

Great hiring managers treat hiring like sales.  The most successful sales people are religious about managing their sales funnel.  If you're not familiar with the sales funnels concept, it's really quite simple.  Into the top of the funnel go as many qualified sales leads as possible.  Coming out of the bottom of the funnel, are paying customers.  Great sales people know if they want to make commissions, they need a lot of leads at the top of the funnel because invariably some are lost throughout the sales process. They also know that the responsibility of the leads and managing the funnel falls squarely on their shoulders.  They don't make excuses like "I don't have enough warm leads" or "the prospect didn't understand."  

 

Here are some parallels for what Hiring Managers might say.

Weak Hiring Manager (WHM) : Recruiting is not sending me enough good candidates (blames others)

Strong Hiring Manager (SHM) : I'm sourcing candidates from recruiting, LinkedIn, Twitter, my personal network, lawyers, accountants, and professional organizations (takes accountability)

WHM : We're not offering enough money for the kind of person we're looking for (blames others)

SHM : Interviews candidates at a variety of different compensation ranges and explains to the senior leadership team why paying more  is the right decision for the right candidate

WHM : We lost the candidate to the competition

SHM : Makes sure there are numerous candidates for a position because invariably some will be lost.

Great sales people don't make excuses, they get it done.  Same with great hiring managers. If you think hiring is Human Resources responsibility, then perhaps you should rethink.  Every manager bears ultimate responsibility for their hiring.  

 

Comments

[Aron arias]

Great blog Flint.
Aron