The Secret Behind Collaborative Recruitment5 min read

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Collaboration in the workplace is gradually expanding into all organizational aspects, including recruitment. With the increasing need for transparency and equality, a team-based recruitment model is becoming more popular and generating better hiring decisions. However, the idea of transforming an established recruitment process can be rather daunting. To overcome any uncertainties regarding the value of team-based hiring,  we have travelled far and wide to share the meaning, benefits, and secrets behind collaborative recruitment success.

What is Collaborative Recruitment?

In its simplest form, collaborative recruitment is a team-oriented hiring method, involving two or more colleagues in the hiring process. For years, the hiring manager has been the sole decision-maker, but times are changing. For instance, in collaborative interviews that involve a number of team members, with different personalities and opinions to support each hiring decision. This collective strategy creates a less hierarchical system, promoting more synergetic decisions.

The transition towards team-based recruitment requires flexibility and adaptation from the hiring manager and other team members involved in the process. But once the new collaborative system has been implemented and the benefits are identified, it’s easy to understand why so many companies are convinced that it’s worth the effort. Companies like Facebook, Google and Apple are notorious for promoting collaboration across all areas of their business, with collaborative recruitment resulting in increased levels of innovation and transparency.

4 Benefits of Collaborative Recruitment

A More Authentic Experience for the Candidate

Recruitment is a two-way process where the candidate is also considering whether they want to work for the recruiting company or not. An important factor in their decision is how well they believe they will fit the current team. Therefore an interview involving various team members makes them visible, and these social interactions could be the tipping point for a successful hire or an educated refusal.

Current employees are the most effective salespeople an organization possess and they can share relevant and supportive information with the candidate. This then creates an authentic experience of the company and the role. In turn, the candidate is able to make an informed and realistic decision on their fit to the team, resulting in a reduced chance of early turnover.

Reduction of Bias

There’s only so much one human can observe and assess. A single person, or hiring manager, in this case, can only work with their own opinions and perspectives, which can be limiting in terms of diversity. Involving other team members in the recruitment process not only promotes a variety of opinions but will also provide the hiring manager with a clearer perspective of the suitability of a candidate. This type of team-based decision making can reduce bias from all stages of recruitment, and result in more collective team working.

Smoother Onboarding

Employees involved in the hiring decision feel responsible for the hired person. This feeling of accountability will prompt them to help and mentor the new hire. The get-to-know-them phase is also shorter since the employees already learned about the new hire during the recruitment process. On the new hire side, the adaptation phase is also smoother as the interactions with the new colleagues during the interviewing process facilitates the onboarding stage.

Employee Empowerment

The foundation of collaborative recruitment is respect for each individual’s assessment of a potential hire regardless of their job function or hierarchical position. When the involved employees see that their opinion matters and is as important as that of the leader of the pack, they feel empowered and valued. This democratic approach helps to bring the team together and form a more collaborative working environment. The generated trust and transparency are associated with stronger job performance, job satisfaction, and commitment to the organization.

Some Challenges

Before moving forward, there are some potential issues to take into consideration. Conflicting opinions can sometimes create negativity between fellow employees, if not managed tactfully. Another situation that can harm the recruitment process is when an employee feels threatened by the respective candidate what affects their judgment creating an anomaly in the assessments. Nevertheless, the clash of ideas is an inherent part of the collaborative recruitment method.

Why Companies Should Embrace Collaboration in their Recruitment Process?

• It promotes a transparent company culture – For candidates and future employees, a collaborative team can be a very important selling point. The ability of a hiring manager to bring the team together and create a democratic recruitment process allows each employee to feel part of something bigger. And this is a great benefit in itself.

• It improves company reputation – Sharing the ideology of collaboration highlights the collective environment of a company to their competitors, candidates and partners. Even rejected candidates and past employees can also spread the word after experiencing the benefits of a successful collaborative recruitment model.

Learn how to reject candidates with empathy.

In conclusion, collaborative recruitment can bring a series of benefits to organizations which by far compensate for the challenges of its implementation. Building a more team-oriented model will improve the quality of hiring decisions, and at the same time the experience of candidates. Promoting collaborative recruitment alone will not solve all the challenges in hiring, but it will certainly increase transparency and reduce bias in the process.