Client Control: Hiring Managers of HR

The conventional wisdom is that a job order isn't a "hot" J.O. if you can't talk directly to the hiring manager. Well, my firm has been doing quite well for the last several years, especially with one large account in particular, and we are still not allowed to speak directly to hiring managers. When I was a recruiter, about 10 years ago, I always managed to speak directly to hiring managers. My staff tells me now that things have changed and that especially the large companies all have gate keepers that work directly with the contingency recruiters. Does anybody have a point of view on this subject? Is this the way that many industries currently operate or am I being misinformed? It certainly seems disadvantageous to only talk to an HR person or an internal recruiter. Should we be more aggressive about insisting on speaking to line managers? Or should we accept that this is the way the industry has developed?

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Permalink Reply by Jim Durbin on January 9, 2009 at 8:47pm

James,

This has become the norm in many companies, but it doesn't mean you have to sit back and take it. Constant contact between senior executives is necessary, with the message always being, let us talk to hiring managers to do our job better. HR takes control, but can be overridden, especially if enough hiring managers complain.

The concern is one of cost, lost time, and "fairness." Fairness? is that a business value? I've found that when working a vendor list, you should always break the rules at least once, to see how serious they are about the rule. The enforcement varies from individual to individual, so if you wait until the HR position changes, you can often get back to those managers.

There are other ways as well - if you have employees working with managers, use those contacts to the fullest to develop relationships with the managers. Most want to talk to recruiters (as long as they're good), and chafe against the restrictions. There's also a significant political point - if your manager has more power, they get way with it. If the managers attend events outside the company, it's a great time to talk to them and develop relationships. Find out where they go. And if the managers are using LinkedIn, Facebook, or other sites, it's a great way to build up that relationship in an unmonitored channel. Managers don't like to be siloed, and this gives you an opportunity to send relevant information their way. Once you've made contact, the phone has to be brought back into play.

Your employees have valid concerns, but if you are really prevented from every talking to a hiring manager, it's best to have them out looking for new business. Those rules get more restrictive the more you follow them. A good account today can change very quickly for no other reason than the whim of an HR person.

I know all this because I used to make the same excuses with my old bosses, at least until I developed enough of a relationship with the managers to get around the restriction.