How Recruitment and Human Resources Work Together

Human Resources and Recruiters: Can They Be Friends?

A question raised from time to time is, "why hire a recruiter when we already have a human resources department"? This article will show this is the wrong question to ask. Instead, the question should be, how can a recruiter help the HR team by taking away work that allows them to focus on what they are talented at?

To begin with, recruiters and HR professionals function differently and serve distinct purposes. A recruiter is contracted to find, engage, and place the correct candidate in an open position. Once this purpose is achieved, the recruiter's responsibility ends.

On the other hand, the HR team manages the employee's relationship with the organization from that point on. This means the HR professional has many individuals they are working with continually. It's no wonder many professionals working in an HR department report demanding work schedules and experience high stress levels.

Passive Recruiting

Due to the numerous activities they are tasked with on a day-to-day basis, HR professionals often utilize a passive approach to recruiting. Some have dubbed it the "post-and-pray" approach, where a job is posted on the website or job board until an application comes in. This is not a wrong approach, and this method can be enough in high volume, high visibility situations. But for many of our clients who employ highly skilled candidates in niche industries, passive recruiting is insufficient.

Proactive Recruitment: Engaged Search

With their narrower focus, recruiters can proactively recruit using our Engaged Search model (link to engaged search page). This model targets passive candidates, who comprise 80% of the workforce market and are entirely missed by the passive recruiting method. A passive candidate is an individual who is not currently seeking a new position but if presented with the right opportunity, would make the transition. These individuals are usually employed full-time and are highly skilled in their industry. This makes them ideal candidates to hire as they are dependable, specialized, and have recent work experience at the top of their field.

Complimentary Functions

Because recruiters can engage this kind of candidate through an Engaged Search approach, they are especially well-suited to complimenting the broad focus of an HR team. However, despite the high potential for strong collaboration, communication challenges can often get in the way and result in the loss of accomplished candidates due to miscommunication and long wait times. When communication is open, the synergy created through combining the abilities and specializations of both an HR team and a recruiter can have a positive impact on the hiring process, keeping quality high and vacancy time low.

Why Working With Specialized Recruiting Group Is Different

Our team of recruiters seeks to support strong communication with the HR team through several means. One of the most important aspects is the discovery call. During this virtual meeting, our recruiters ask specific questions to learn as much as possible about the role, the company, constraints, preferences, and the timeline to fill. By gaining a rich understanding of these areas, they can better seek out the right candidate, engage them with accurate information, and present them to fill the role vacancy on the HR team's timeline.

Investing in clear communication with the recruiter can pay dividends - and more than just the right candidate for the role. Because we position ourselves as consultants, our recruiters always seek to provide value for our clients and the HR teams we work with beyond recruitment. We can provide market insight into compensation and onboarding best practices using third-party data and our experiences working in the local job market for almost two decades. If there are seasonal demands, or anticipated upcoming workforce needs within your organization, giving our recruiters a heads up means they can have the right candidate ready when the need arises. Our goal is always to support the complex work of HR professionals, and we are pleased with many of the excellent working relationships we have with teams throughout the city.

If your HR team is anticipating upcoming personnel vacancies, let's arrange a call to discuss your organization's workforce needs!