We spend so much time thinking about the candidate and how to hire them; what about the person who hires all of the candidates? How do we hire and train these personnel? They certainly don’t poof into their profession. While it may be commonplace to train or hire managers, you can’t forget the qualities they’ll need to hire team members. Here are the qualities recruiters should look for when hiring a new hiring manager and ways to train them to be effective for your company.

Be a warm welcome

A hiring manager represents the face of the company alongside the recruiter since they are among the first handfuls of welcomes and assist with the first impression of the employer brand. While 46% of job seekers look at company reviews before even speaking with a recruiter or hiring manager, they are often the first to interact with the candidates. Job seekers can find this information on your website or social pages, but your hiring managers carry that brand through the hiring process.

If you’re looking for a hiring manager and you have disengaged characteristics such as a lack of enthusiasm or complacency you’ll portray that to the candidates, which does not support the culture the organization has tried to create. Instead, be eager and responsible during the hiring process, and you’ll likely find a hiring manager that will exemplify the same behavior.

Establish employer branding and candidate experience

The corporate behemoth, Google, is accustomed to what an “excellent candidate experience” means. A majority (80%) of the candidates they reject still recommend friends to apply for the company. Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, Laszlo Bock (@LaszloBock2718) said:

“You want them to fall in love with you. Really. You want them to have a great experience, have their concerns addressed, and come away feeling like they just had the best day of their lives.”

Pass this same mentality onto your new hiring manager; they will practice the same behavior when they guide candidates through the hiring process. Create an enjoyable candidate experience by:

• Communicating: technology makes it easy to communicate with candidates-- use it to your advantage by reaching out and thanking your candidates for entering the hiring process with your organization.

• Putting yourself in their shoes: Think about the worst job interview you’ve ever experienced; think of how awful it would be to experience that again. Treat your candidates the way you’d like to be treated so they can emulate those while hiring for your company. Of the organizations who prioritize candidate experience, 26% of them rate their talent acquisition as highly effective.

• Evaluating and presenting expectations: 27% of candidates who had a poor experience with an organization actively discourage colleagues from applying. Be personable with your candidates by explaining your reach-out process. Give a time range of when they will be contacted (regardless if they made the cut or not) so they’re not left hanging.

Know what you want

A hiring manager must fully understand what kind of representatives their company needs for success. Enterprise IG conducted a study that found 70% of customers’ brand perception comes from conversations with employees. If you don’t communicate with your candidates and employees what they need to promote, your company could take the backlash. Harvard Business Review also discovered companies excelling in consistent messaging are increasing revenue growth by 10-15%. Effective brand communication will help them better communicate to candidates in their future position as the hiring manager what the company stands for because they understand the brand and mission statement fully.  

Raise brand awareness before the hiring process even begins. Give your audience the resources to click into your brand and gain awareness on social mediums. 61% of professionals with social media use it for business at least once a week. Promote your company culture,mission and work expectations to attract the hiring managers your company desires. By aligning your work objectives, you can attract the next best group of hiring managers for future success in better hiring.

Bio: Sean Pomeroy

While selling other companies software solutions, Sean worked with Michael Warden to design over a dozen applications for different organizations and industries over the years. Sean now focuses on the vision for the company, business development, and continues involvement in the software design of Cyber Recruiter, applicant tracking system and Cyber Train, learning management system. Want to see what Visibility Software has to offer? Take a demo now.

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