Did you know that 76% of recruiters do not have a background in the roles they are asked to fill?
One of the most challenging aspects of recruiting is the friction between the constantly changing nature of a business, new role types, new standards, new technologies, new locations, etc., and the need for already time-pressed Talent teams to keep themselves up-to-date and knowledgeable about the roles for which they are hiring.
Knowledge gaps impact recruiter productivity, cause misalignment of expectations between the hiring manager and the recruiter, and can lead to poor candidate experience. Ultimately, knowledge gaps prevent recruiters from becoming masters of their craft.
Here are 5 actions you can take to help your recruiters acquire TA mastery of their roles
Go beyond training, create avenues for collaboration in their flow of work
TA Mastery is a journey, it begins with training and continues with access to great TA content but only accelerates when recruiters can collaborate with experts and peers to extract and gain the knowledge that will empower them to become masters. Of course, there are briefing calls with hiring managers to try to understand the role and the skills required, and of course less experienced recruiters can ask more experienced colleagues for assistance but in reality, these collaborations can often be sporadic and intermittent rather than in the flow of work. Talent Leaders ought to transform the recruitment process and culture across the entire organization so that all stakeholders understand the importance of collaboration.
Show them the way rather than leave them stranded
Shockingly, 49% of recruiters are left to their own devices when assigned an unfamiliar role. How can recruiters develop mastery in a timely way when there is no support given to them to help them navigate a new and unfamiliar role? And in today’s reality where TA teams need to do more with less, often this means recruiters need to be able to adapt and transition across a growing variety of roles and functions. TA Leaders need to ensure that when assigning unfamiliar roles to recruiters that they provide them with the support and recruitment tooling they need to take on the role quickly and confidently.
Provide them with answers, rather than ask them to become data analysts
Recruitment is becoming more data-driven with recruiters increasingly expected to be able to answer questions like – what is the availability of this skillset in the market that I am hiring, what is the competition for the skill, what companies ought I target, and so on. Yet 40% of recruiters want to simply access the answers to these questions rather than have to perform data analysis and use complex talent intelligence platforms to derive the answers. Recruiters are already time-pressed, and already have knowledge gaps, so delegate the complex work to others who will analyze talent data on the recruiters’ behalf and provide them with the answers they need.
Close their recruitment knowledge gaps
In a world where productivity and upskilling are key, Talent Leaders must invest in developing the skills and knowledge of their TA teams. They must invest in tools that are focused on closing recruiter knowledge gaps quickly so that they can take on new types of roles and broaden their expertise, in solutions where answers to their teams’ questions can be found in their flow of work to allow them to be more effective in their job and where they also have access to TA experts who can collaborate with them to bridge their understanding and deepen their expertise.
Value them so that they are motivated to become Talent Advisors and experts
35% of recruiters do not seek a long-term career in Talent Acquisition. Rather they see recruitment as a stepping-stone to something better and different. Yet, recruitment is one of the most important and critical teams within a business, discovering the talent that drives a business’ growth and success. Recruitment is moving away from pure external talent acquisition to being a broader role to include internal mobility, workforce planning, recruitment marketing, DEI, Talent intelligence, etc. There are many opportunities within this broadening sphere of responsibility and TA Leaders need to focus on developing and promoting career paths that will motivate their teams. By showing them paths forward recruiters can feel empowered to pursue mastery in the domain.
Enabling your recruitment team to attain TA Mastery will empower them with knowledge and make them and your organization more productive, strategic, and successful.
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