Savvy talent acquisition leaders have been elevating their recruiters to true talent advisors for years, now. Why? It’s not because it’s a popular job title change. It’s because the business expects and needs more from the recruiting team. We’ve talked to thousands of hiring managers at many of the world’s most interesting companies and they seek something more than just a resource to help them fill their reqs.
Who is my customer?
Transactional recruiters say:
The Hiring Manager is my customer. If I take an order and provide good customer service to the Hiring Manager, they will give me good feedback, and that’s how I know I’m doing a good job.
Talent advisors say:
The company is my customer. I think like an owner, and do what’s right for the company, even if it’s not what the Hiring Manager prefers.
I see my job as not only recruiting great talent, but building a culture of recruiting, where all hiring managers see recruiting as part of their day jobs, skilled and regularly engaging in planning, sourcing, interviewing, and closing.
Strategy
Transactional recruiters say:
I lead an intake meeting, where I ask the Hiring Manager to describe their ideal candidate and preferred process, and then I do my best to give them what they asked for.
Talent advisors say:
I don’t wait until a req is open to talk strategy with hiring managers. I’m a regular participant in talent planning meetings, where I bring insights and strategy recommendations to their leadership team.
When a req is opened, I lead a strategy meeting, where I bring talent market insights to the two-way conversation with the hiring manager. I don’t take an order in an intake meeting– instead, I lead as a strategic recruiter by partnering to develop multiple success profiles, co-building a fair, speedy process, and engaging the hiring manager to play a leadership role around the strategy and process with their team.
ProcessTransactional recruiters say:
I try to follow our consistent process best practices, making adjustments based on hiring manager preferences. I see myself as the manager of the recruiting process, and am measured primarily on speed/time to fill and my hiring managers’ satisfaction with my services.
Talent advisors say:
I understand the business and calibrate regularly with the hiring manager to ensure we’re leveraging the right process given their business priorities around speed, quality, diversity, and cost. There is not a “one size fits all” process that I’m trying to follow for every req – entry-level hourly versus executive versus engineering versus field sales rep processes should look different. And a process optimized for quality over speed should look different, too. I co-build process and look to the hiring manager to be a leader of their process in partnership with me. We are measured together – as a team – on what’s most important: speed, quality, diversity, or cost.
Coaching
Transactional recruiters say:
I don’t coach the hiring manager. I try to get them to follow our consistent process, but generally don’t push back if they decide to do something differently.
Talent advisors say:
I see my relationship with the hiring manager as a partnership, and as such, I bring my subject matter expertise to our conversations. I’ve earned trust and credibility by delivering speed, quality, and diversity for the company. As a strategic recruiter, I regularly coach the hiring managers on planning, diversity, sourcing, interviewing, candidate experience, and closing. My advice is sought out for critical talent needs and hiring decisions.
Diversity
Transactional recruiters say:
If a hiring manager requests more candidate diversity, I do my best to source talent from places that will generate talent from under-represented groups. I see my diversity support primarily focused on sourcing – what happens after I present candidates is largely out of my hands.
Talent advisors say:
I understand my company’s goals around diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and work hard to understand root issues that prevent us from hiring the best, diverse talent. I recognize that improving diversity ROI isn’t just about sourcing and interviewing diverse slates. Therefore, as a strategic recruiter, I play an active role pre-funnel: I help widen the aperture to consider multiple success profiles, ensure equal access exists, train teams, build holistic strategies that complement what HR, D&I, and L&D are focused on, and create fair processes.
Analytics
Transactional recruiters say:
I regularly share our ATS-generated internal reports with hiring managers via email, and will respond to custom-report requests as time allows.
Talent advisors say:
I align with executives on their priorities – speed, quality, diversity, cost – and then recommend insights that will help us improve. I’m curious by nature – I don’t just report on what, but I dig into WHY, too. And I don’t just email standard internal reports to hiring teams. I lead conversations to diagnose problems and develop solutions. I bring internal insights and external market insights to craft the strategies needed to get the talent we need.
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Source > Recruiting Toolbox