by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS
The VET Recruiter®
As an Animal Health recruiter and Veterinary recruiter for more than 20 years, I’ve built some great relationships with hiring managers, HR personnel, internal recruiters and business owners. To that end, I’ve partnered with these individuals to hire superior talent that boosted their organization’s bottom line and helped their business grow.
In other words, I know how to optimize these relationships, specifically in regards to the shared goal of hiring the best candidates in the marketplace. At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve also been part of some unsavory situations involving hiring managers, HR personnel, and internal recruiters. In those situations, there was conflict and tension regarding the search with which the organization wanted me to help. Needless to say, the lack of overall collaboration in those situations did not result in the desired outcome, for any of the parties involved.
Collaboration between hiring managers, internal and external recruiters can and should translate into better hiring for the organization. However, that does not always happen. That’s why I’m presenting the following blueprint for building a productive relationship with your Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter.
Below are four ways that hiring managers, internal and external recruiters should work together for the purpose of better overall hiring:
#1—Establish clear and set lines of communication.
Meeting in person is the best way to accomplish this, but it’s not always possible or feasible. Technology is a great way to communicate. Even so, things can become “lost in translation” when you communicate via email and texting. Miscommunication can even arise during phone calls.
As a result, there are four main areas that should be discussed:
- The manner in which information will be communicated
- The specific information that should be included in that communication
- When the information will be communicated (or the timetable for communication)
- All of the people who should be part of the line of communication
It’s best that all of this is discussed and determined prior to the start of the search. Doing so will help to prevent problems once the search is underway.
#2—Agree upon the steps of the process.
You might think that both parties would know what the steps of the process are. That’s true, but only to a degree. That’s because how both parties interpret those steps could differ greatly. For example, what one person believes is the initial screening stage of the process, another person might not. They might think that it’s something else or that it includes something else. This is where making assumptions can be dangerous. Internal recruiters can’t just assume that external recruiters know what they’re talking about, and vice-versa.
As you can see, this is why establishing clear lines of communication is so important. A miscommunication regarding one of the steps of the process, however slight, could have a damaging effect on the entire process. (As I’ve mentioned before, the margin for error for employers in this current market is razor-thin. All it takes is just one mistake, and nothing leads to mistakes more quickly than miscommunication.)
#3—Clearly communicate the expectations.
This where establishing the proper lines of communication can help once again. That’s because without the setting of expectations, you can’t have the fulfilling of those expectations. In other words, people won’t know what to do if they don’t know what they’re expected to do. For our purposes, this includes the expectations for all aspects of the search, especially the following:
- The timeframe for the completion of the steps in the process
- The responsibilities of the people who are involved in the process
- The duties and responsibilities associated with the job description
- The types of candidates being sourced and presented
- The timeliness of feedback from all parties
The golden rule for expectations is the old saying “Inspect what you expect.” If you expect someone to take action or something to get done, then you must set those expectations at the outset of the process. If not, then you’re leaving things to chance. And you don’t want to do that.
#4—Make sure everyone involved with the process is on the same page.
It’s not enough just for the external recruiter and the internal recruiter to know the identity of everyone involved with the hiring process. Everyone should also know what everyone else is doing (or supposed to be doing) during the process. Lacking this knowledge, miscommunication is more likely and there could be overlapping of duties or duplication of tasks.
First and foremost, this means the internal recruiter and the external recruiter. However, it also includes anyone else who is part of the process, especially those who have a vested interest in said process and have decision-making abilities regarding it. The offer stage of the process is arguably the most important part of it. As an employer, you want to spend your time and energy during that stage closing your top candidate with the best offer you can make, not attempting to mediate misunderstandings or clear up confusion.
As I mentioned earlier, when an internal recruiter and an external recruiter are working together, they should share the same goal: to hire the best candidate possible in the shortest amount of time possible. In this current market, that is no small feat. It requires cooperation of the highest degree, and that cooperation should include the strategies discussed in this blog post.
The key to ensuring collaboration with an external Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter is to partner with an experienced one who has a track record of success. To go one step further, you should partner with one who has a track record of placing exactly the type of candidates you want to hire. Not only does this type of recruiter know who the top candidates are in the marketplace, but they also know how to work with Animal Health and Veterinary organizations in the most efficient and effective way possible to successfully recruit and hire those candidates.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1.By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2.By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.
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