A “hire” purpose: How your hiring managers can make a strategic difference

An organization’s ability to attract, engage and hire great talent is essential for business success. Companies with high performing workforces generate more revenue and shareholder value. The ability to gain market share, launch new products and generate engagement rests on the quality of your workforce. But is it mission impossible to achieve all of this? Softchoice, a technology solutions and managed service provider (MSP), joined us for a recent roundtable, during which it shared its
hiring manager program that breaks the talent code and hires better and faster than ever before.

Candidates are human, too!

What we heard: Candidates are humans first, so mapping organizational values to the hiring process
is vital for success.

What we understood: Synchronizing the recruiting process across the business has numerous advantages, especially when hiring for competency and agility – both of which are essential to win the war for talent.

What is required: Align CEOs and strategic leaders to hiring success. They provide the impetus to synchronize the business to hire together.

Is bias all bad?

What we heard: Organizations need to hire the best talent available irrespective of gender, color or creed.

What we understood: We automatically think bias is a bad thing, but bias for smart risk-taking or servant leadership, for example could be a positive in the hiring process. Helping hiring managers to better understand bias and what could compromise great hires is a priority for organizations to
succeed in the new normal.

What is required: The only way to reduce bias is to develop an awareness training program that all employees (not just hiring managers) undertake on a regular basis. Unconscious bias training is a core element of a successful hiring manager certification program.

Let candidates design their own CX

What we heard: There are multiple things that can negate the
candidate experience. Video interviews have many benefits (especially in this virtual world), but
hiring managers need to offer candidates options.

What we understood: Sometimes video interviews can overwhelm candidates and make them feel more nervous. Many people are working from home with families and pets around, so it can feel intrusive to have an interview via video.

What is required: Whatever the candidate needs to ease their interview anxiety will be valuable. Consider providing different format options and giving voluntary access to its various employee resource groups (ERGs) for further exploration of the organization.

Show the best version of yourself

What we heard: Hiring managers need to be consistent, regardless of what department they’re
recruiting for. And interview preparation is key.

What we understood: Hiring managers are rarely trained to review resumes, interview and provide candidate feedback. Bespoke hiring manager training has numerous advantages, such as qualitative
candidate review and interaction. Elevating competency underpins consistency, promotes
corporate values and raises potential career paths.

What is required: Standardized interview processes and behavioral interview training is necessary so hiring managers can learn how to better structure interviews and understand the value in probing questions. Hiring managers must show candidates the best version of themselves as well.

To panel interview or not? That is the question

What we heard: There is no correlation between panel interviews and effective candidate evaluation or employee success.

What we understood: There is growing controversy around the benefits of using panel interviews to evaluate candidates. Particularly, it can increase the level of bias in the process.

What is required: If panels continue to be part of the corporate process, leadership should take a closer look at the roles each panelist performs and how they can work to eliminate bias while improving the candidate experience.