4 essential benefits of collaborative hiring

Typically, recruitment processes conducted in companies involve a person from the HR department (depending on the situation, an HR, recruitment or talent acquisition specialist) and the so-called hiring manager, i.e. the future supervisor of the hired person who is looking for the best support to join their team. At the same time, an increasingly common practice is collaborative hiring (or collaborative recruitment), which involves more than the aforementioned two people in the recruitment process. From this article you will learn what this phenomenon is, why its popularity is growing, and what benefits it can bring to recruitment teams. Read on.

Collaborative hiring – table of contents:

1. What is collaborative hiring?
2. The benefits of collaborative hiring
3. Summary

What is collaborative hiring?

Collaborative hiring is a practice that was born in Silicon Valley, and its biggest proponent was one of the creators of Apple, Steve Jobs. Interestingly, even ten years after the death of the former CEO of this one of the top companies in the market, it still functions as a hiring method.

It relies on the fact that not only the hiring manager, but also other members of the team are involved in the search for candidates (sourcing), selection of resumes, interviews, evaluation of additional tasks and decision-making (or only in the selected stages of recruitment). Companies use this method regardless of the type of team or the place of the open position in the structure, which makes it fair to say that it is an essential part of the recruitment strategy.

The benefits of collaborative hiring

Critics of collaborative hiring point out that this recruitment method prolongs the process of deciding whether to hire a candidate for a vacant position, making it less effective than previous (traditional) practices. It goes without saying that it definitely requires more time and commitment, and the recruitment process itself can be more complicated due to the number of clashing opinions. On the other hand, however, it translates into a number of benefits for the company, which can be seen in the long term. The most important of these are outlined below.

A good fit for the team

In teams, it’s very common to encounter difficulties in accepting the person joining and taking over some tasks. While in some over time individual employees begin to get along with each other, in others this can lead to the emergence of problems and conflicts. When we provide existing team members with the opportunity to participate in recruitment processes (to get to know the candidate and express their opinion about them), we reduce the risks associated with a mismatch between the new person and the attitudes and values represented by other team members. As a result, we can even expect a lower turnover rate, which is undoubtedly what every recruiter wants.

Organizational alignment

It’s important that the new person not only gets along with the rest of employees, but also understands the corporate culture, accepts its values and represents a similar style of working. By studying several reviews of a candidate, you can be more confident that they will be a good fit in these aspects as well. This is important from a strategic point of view – after all, any recruitment is a high cost for the company (especially if you leave after the probation period or within the first year of employment), so you should strive to make the best possible choice.

Objective recruitment

The more people involved in the hiring process, the less concern about bias in making a decision – which is often unavoidable when only one or two people are interviewing a candidate. What’s more, the combination of all the received opinions provides a more detailed assessment, making it easier to take the right decision. Thanks to collaborative hiring, you can select a candidate who will be an added value to the team and have the potential that will translate into positive results of daily efforts.

Improved candidate experience

It’s worth noting that collaborative hiring can translate into benefits not only for the company as a future employer, but also for the person taking part in the recruitment process. Why? By meeting a large number of people with various experiences, candidates can get to know the company better, for example, its values, vision and mission, organizational culture and working conditions. This gives them a much clearer picture of the role and ultimately leads to a better candidate experience.

Summary

By implementing collaborative hiring in your company, even in a short time, you can see a number of different benefits – above we have presented only the most important ones. So if you feel that this is a practice that can solve your problems in attracting and retaining candidates, don’t hesitate to try the method promoted by giants like Apple and Google. However, you should remember that such an interview process is relatively longer and requires more involvement of the hiring professionals.

Read also: What is the best compensation and performance management model for remote workers?

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