The Rift Between Recruiters and Hiring Managers. What's New?

In today’s digitally connected world, it’s hard to imagine what life was like before Google. Instead of searching through an encyclopedia, all you have to do is Google a question or topic whenever you need an answer to something.

Google has gotten so good that as you begin typing, it will predict what you are searching for based on the millions of other search queries that were submitted before you. For example, I recently searched about recruiters and hiring managers, and here are the search options Google suggested.



I know that there are some recruiters out there who lie, and some hiring managers who are lazy. However, I do not necessarily believe Google's suggested search should be taken literally. This is just highlighting the long-standing relationship issues between recruiters and hiring managers.

It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. In all my years of consulting, one of the recurring themes centered on hiring managers telling me they believe recruiters are useless. In turn, recruiters would tell me how much hiring managers are making their lives a living hell.

So, why is there such a huge disconnect between recruiters and hiring managers?

Here’s my theory.

One of the frequent complaints about a dysfunctional recruiting process involves broken processes. You hear things like, “We need to better define the process” or “We need to standardize the process.” Of course, a standardized process is required to be compliant with government regulations.

However, with this hyper-focus on standardizing the process we have lost sight of a very important factor. What experience are we creating for our internal stakeholders? Lately there has been a lot of focus on candidate experience, but we can't forget to pay close attention to the internal experience – the relationship between recruiters and hiring managers.

How can Talent Acquisition leaders diminish the disconnect?

I have an old saying from my consulting days.

The standardized process must have enough internal variance to accommodate the unique personality, style, and preferences of each hiring manager.

So, just like the huge push for a positive candidate experience, it’s equally important to ensure your internal experience is on point. You need to truly understand the context of each hiring manager’s situation, including: how involved they are in the process; the nuances of their process; their personality; and their preferences. Then, take the time to design your internal experience to deliver the desired people partnerships and results.

Finding the right fit between the recruiter and hiring manager is a critical element in finding the right talent for your organization. And, guess what? It has nothing to do with process.

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What do you think is causing a disconnect between recruiters and hiring managers?