What is the difference between an HR manager and a hiring manager?

The larger the company is, the more HR positions it offers, which means that sometimes you can be confused about the responsibilities of particular employees. Such a situation can happen, for example, between an HR manager (always present in the company, regardless of the industry and size) and a hiring manager (appointed when the need arises). Below we explain the differences between these two positions. Read on.

HR manager and a hiring manager – table of contents:

1. What does an HR manager do?
2. What does a hiring manager do?
3. Summary

What does an HR manager do?

The HR manager is a person who manages the whole HR team, and who is responsible for all the HR processes in an organization. HR managers coordinate the work carried out by other people employed in this department, related to, among others, recruitment, organizing team-building events, administration (record keeping, payroll etc.), competency mapping, creating employee benefits programs and developing career paths. Obviously, specific duties may vary depending on the company, but usually the HR manager is responsible for:

• developing an HR strategy (an action plan based on the analysis of salary trends and benefits),
• recruitment management (cooperation with the hiring manager, control over the ongoing recruitment processes, taking part in job interviews),
• conducting feedback sessions to measure the level of employee satisfaction,
• dealing with employee complaints,
• conducting disciplinary proceedings,
• taking care of the employee development (e.g. by creating an individual development plan),
• making decisions on promotions, transfers and layoffs (in cooperation with department heads on the basis of the created competence models),
• analyzing the daily work of the HR department.

It should be pointed out that the HR manager’s tasks are related to the functioning of employees, while the hiring manager focuses on activities connected to the current and future recruitment needs.

What does a hiring manager do?

The hiring manager’s main responsibility is to shape the recruitment policy of the entire company. For this purpose, hiring managers talk to the heads of various departments who are responsible for identifying recruitment needs – both current and future. On the basis of the created recruitment policy, they order the opening of recruitment for specific positions and delegate this task to either HR specialists or to external agencies. Next, they control the whole process and evaluate the achieved results.

However, the hiring manager’s responsibilities go beyond just shaping policy and ordering the search for new employees. They also design recruitment procedures (i.e., making changes to the existing way of hiring for a position, such as implementing recruitment assignments, interview tests or a comprehensive Assessment Center), create the onboarding process or control the budget.

Sometimes they are also responsible for the company’s employer branding and recommend ways to improve the company’s external image as an employer.Of course, hiring managers can also interview candidates themselves, but this happens only in emergency situations.

Summary

The most important difference between the HR manager and the hiring manager is that the former manages the entire department responsible for human resources in the organization, while the latter’s duties involve sourcing new job candidates. However, there is no doubt that the HR manager and the hiring manager must work closely together. Both, after all, are responsible for the recruitment processes taking place in the company.

Read also: How to become a COO and how much money can you earn?

If you like our content, join our busy bees community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest.