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Open communication between your recruiters and talent sourcers is a must. Whether your talent sourcer works in-house or you've contracted with a talent sourcing agency, everyone should work as a team. Otherwise you may not get the results you want from your hiring process.
Here are 6 simple ways to build a healthy working relationship between your talent sourcing team and recruiting team.
1. Share Knowledge and Training
Encourage both ends of your talent pipeline to share information with each other. Especially knowledge about each team's function and individual positions on each team. That will make it easier for someone who needs information to go to the right person.
Give everyone the same tools. If you're offering a training session for the recruiters, invite the talent sourcers, and vice versa. Encourage members of both departments to run training sessions for their counterparts. Set up a mentoring program so members of each team can learn the other's job.
The more information these team share, the easier it will be for everyone to do their jobs well.
2. Build Rapport by Getting Results
Your sourcing team and your recruiting team should meet together once a week, minimum. Ideally more than that. Each team should report on their results daily.
Yes, this may seem excessive. But people are more willing to trust others working on the same project when they see the results of their work. Especially when those results are necessary to doing the next part of the job.
The goal of regular reporting is to establish a rapport between teams, and individuals on each team. That rapport will keep new employees flowing into your company, which will thrill your hiring managers.
3. Document and Report Everything
Ask both teams to be transparent about their processes. Write everything down and update those documents when processes change. This will reduce conflicts over "how things should be done." It will also help both teams communicate clearly, as each team will learn the other's language and jargon.
Encourage both teams to upload new information to your applicant tracking systems (ATS) or other online portal regularly. Again, I would recommend that they do this daily, if not more.
For example, our talent sourcers upload their results to our online portal as they get them throughout the day. That way our clients can see out progress and hone in the candidates they want to target right away.
The more information each team has to work with, the more both sides know where their counterparts are in the process.
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4. Have a Consistent Leader for Your Projects
One team or the other (talent sourcers or recruiters) will need to take the lead on any given project. Generally, the recruiters will lead, as they have the relationship with the hiring managers.
The important thing is to establish a leader and stick with that leader. If the leadership role goes back and forth between departments, there can be a lot of confusion. It can also lead to rivalries, hurt feelings and even worse, a major loss of productivity.
5. Encourage Recruiters to Share Candidate Profiles
Your talent sourcers are going to get better results if they have the most accurate, up-to-date candidate profiles. If your recruiters don't update their profiles as soon as they change, the talent sourcers will be less successful.
And, if your talent sourcers are having problems with the profile, they'll be able to give your recruiters immediate feedback. Then your recruiters can tweak the profile again so you're getting the right candidates in your pipeline.
6. Encourage Your Talent Sourcers to Share Market Intelligence
Your sourcers are the ones on the front lines. They're searching through thousands of resumes and talking to hundreds of candidates. They get the latest information on which of your competitors are hiring, or laying off, employees. They hear the salary ranges that candidates for your positions expect. They're uncovering the reasons behind the lack of candidates that fit your profile.
Your talent sourcers need to share this information with your recruiters. Your recruiters can bring this information to the hiring managers, who can make adjustments on their end.
Sharing this information helps everyone "look good." It can also prevent communication breakdowns all the way up the hiring chain.
Good communication is the key to any relationship. When recruiters and talent sourcers work well together, they can be two ends of a well-balanced system. When they don't, you end up with a game of telephone that can derail your hiring process.
Your job as a VP of Talent Acquisition or Director of Recruiting is to facilitate cooperation between your teams and give them the tools they need to be successful.
Geoff Peterson
Chief Sourcer at Sourcing Supply. Author of The Sourcer's Playbook. Recruiting & HR Industry Speaker.
