Cross-team collaboration between hiring managers and recruiters is essential for talent acquisition success. Today, recruiting and retaining great employees is an ongoing challenge that requires a well-developed strategy. All the key stakeholders involved in the recruitment process must work together in a coordinated and synergistic manner to ensure the best possible results.

This means creating an effective communication network between the hiring managers, recruiters, and HR professionals, to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the goals of the recruitment process are clearly defined and understood.

By working together, hiring managers, recruiters, and other team members can unlock the full potential of their recruitment efforts to meet or even exceed the hiring goals of each organization.

But what is the secret of effective cross-team collaboration? We’ve gathered 6 key objectives for establishing effective cross-team synergy whether you are working with internal teams or third-party recruiting professionals.  

Create a Shared Vision

The first step in building cross-team collaboration is to create a shared vision.  Normally this vision focuses on the goal of hiring the most qualified candidate for open positions within a company. But this vision can take on many different shapes with different teams working toward this goal. 

Both groups need to align their objectives and work towards this common goal. These objectives include setting clear expectations and time frames, defining roles and responsibilities, and understanding each other’s perspectives.

For example, hiring managers can provide details on the skills and qualifications they seek, while recruiters can utilize their expertise and recruitment channels to identify candidates. This helps to ensure that the result of this cross-team collaboration is a job description that clearly communicates the skills needed to be successful in the role. 

Collaborating on this shared vision can also increase the retention ratio creating a clear expectation for this new hire advising them on the organization’s needs and priorities from the start of their interaction.

Map Out The Hiring Process

Before any teams work to automate or streamline any part of their cross-team collaboration, it is essential that they work together to create a standardized system for each step of the hiring process.  To properly map out these steps, a recruiter will need to know important details including whether the hiring manager or hiring team will require skill-testing, background checks, reference checks, drug testing, or other pre-employment verification.  

By taking the time to review and collaborate with other team members, not only will all of the parties involved understand the steps that must be taken by each team member but they can also properly calculate their time-to-hire for all new positions.  If steps require authorization or the involvement of other third party service providers, the time from interviewing to onboarding can become a point of contention between team members.  

Mapping out the hiring process from start to finish also helps to build proper KPI’s which we will cover further in a later objective in this article.  

Open The Lines of Communication Between Teams

Communication is the foundation of any successful collaboration effort. Hiring managers and recruiters must maintain open and frequent communication channels to ensure smooth coordination throughout the hiring process.

Regular meetings can be scheduled to discuss progress, provide feedback, and address any challenges or roadblocks. This type of cross-team communication can reduce misunderstandings, minimize delays, and promote a positive working relationship between all parties.

Encourage Digital Collaboration Using Software

By using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) with built-in hiring manager portals, recruiters can create a positive environment for collaborative efforts that can be tracked and escalated as needed.

Cross-team collaboration in building jobs and sourcing and screening candidates can result in a more robust and streamlined hiring process, saving time and resources. Powerful platforms like SmartSearch allow for advanced collaboration efforts.

Time-saving automation is even more pivotal when collaborating to hire candidates, as top talent doesn’t stay available for long. A hiring manager portal that can initiate automated emails, texts, and tasks gives the candidate a superior experience while centralizing efforts between recruiters and hiring managers.

Solicit Feedback for Continuous Improvement

Feedback is a vital component of any cross-team collaboration effort. Hiring managers and recruiters should establish ground rules for when feedback should be provided and the type of feedback that is helpful for improving the process. 

Hiring managers can share feedback on the quality of candidates, the success of the recruitment process, and any concerns or suggestions they may have. This type of feedback is quickly captured and stored in your applicant tracking system’s hiring manager portal, and most can be logged automatically, saving time and effort.

Recruiters can also provide feedback on the job requirements, availability of qualified talent, and any challenges they encounter. Regular feedback can help identify areas for improvement, optimize the recruitment process, and build trust and accountability between hiring managers and recruiters.

Look for Key Indicators your Cross-Team Collaboration May Need Work.

It is very likely that your recruiting team, HR department, and other internal teams members have a system in place for collaborating with one another. Whether through regular meetings, email, a dedicated system, or even a collaborative excel document, some collaboration efforts are happening.

It is important that you review the steps of the current process and look for key indicators as to whether the process is effective. 

Some indicators that your current process has gaps include an increased time-to-hire, a higher cost-per-hire, and poor candidate retention. Increasing time-to-hire can mean the difference between hiring your number one choice and returning to square one in today’s challenging market.

Building better communication channels allows your team more time to source talent and fill other positions. Keeping costs at a minimum is a goal for any organization and is even more important when looking to fill a position.

Having tools designed for both recruiters and hiring managers to empower their strengths means a more synergistic hiring experience and lower costs due to time saved. Establishing the vision is crucial to candidate retention. Hiring managers know what skills they are looking for, and recruiters have an arsenal of sourcing and engagement tools to find that talent. With better cross-team communication, these can be shared early to ensure the right candidates are being seen for the right roles.

Building Smart Collaboration with SmartSearch

SmartSearch has taken great care in working with our staffing and human resources department clients to bring forth exciting tools for better cross-team collaboration efforts. All SmartSearch users have access to a dedicated, mobile-friendly hiring manager portal linked to their central database.

This portal gives hiring managers an interactive experience with tools to add new jobs, review submitted candidates, track and log activities, communicate with recruiters, and schedule tasks with candidates. 

All this activity is tracked and captured by SmartSearch with users having access to this data in customizable reports.  These easy-to-use reports ensure recruiters, human resources teams, and hiring managers are always on the same page. If after reading our list of objectives, you believe your teams need help with their collaboration, schedule a demo of the SmartSearch platform today.