The role of hiring managers in your future success

TL;DR

The role of a hiring manager

With the right training, can anyone do it?

Why you need to invest in hiring manager training

‘Soft skills’ are more important than ever.

Hiring with DEI front of mind.

Why you need to commit to building and supporting a diverse workforce

The role of a hiring manager

Building a high-performing team starts with hiring the right person to lead it.

Your hiring managers are responsible for developing the next generation of leaders for your business. They’ll translate broad business goals into actionable objectives for their team, and take accountability for making sure they’re met throughout the year.

Making the right hiring decisions — when you’re hiring managers, and when they’re hiring a team — is crucial to your future success.

We’ve left a legacy of great hiring manager practice for many partners. It’s all part of our solution and consultancy model.

So, what does it take to be a high-performing manager?

Being a manager requires high levels of empathy, strong communication and organisational skills, commercial awareness and the ability to tackle problems objectively.

While some of these skills are described as ‘soft’, they’re anything but. Deloitte believes that soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030.

As technology plays an increasingly bigger role in our work and lives, the skills that make us human are going to become more valuable than ever.

Why you need to invest in hiring manager training

A study by the University of Michigan found that investing in communication and problem solving training can result in a 250% return through higher team productivity and employee retention.

In reality though, many businesses are far from ready to start reaping those kinds of rewards.

Digital learning provider, Digits, surveyed over 1,000 employees to uncover the state of hiring manager training in the UK. They found that 26% had never received any formal training, and 39% of hiring managers only ever received training when they first started their job.

“26% of hiring managers have never received any formal training”

When you do invest in training hiring managers, it should happen regularly and cover a wide range of themes — from conducting interviews to hiring and leading a team without bias.

If you’re ready to invest in the right training, the payoff will be huge.

Hiring with DEI front of mind

Diversity, equity and inclusion are the most important, but probably also the most misunderstood, factors when hiring. In simple terms, DEI policies exist to make hiring processes fair for people from all backgrounds, and with all needs.

Your policy should inform everything from your talent acquisition strategy — who you’re sourcing, how and where you’re sourcing them — right through to your approach to fair pay, flexible working, and your process for making growth opportunities available to all employees.

Aside from being the right thing to do, attracting candidates from underrepresented groups will likely offer a high financial return. According to a report by McKinsey, the most gender diverse organisations are 48% more likely to outperform financially than the least diverse. And the likelihood of outperformance is even higher for diversity in ethnicity than it is for gender.

DEI is also becoming a make or break factor for candidates. In a survey about inclusion at work, McKinsey found nearly 40% of respondents say they’ve turned down or chosen not to pursue a job because of a perceived lack of inclusion in the organisation.

It’s time to take DEI very seriously, if you’re not already.

Removing unconscious bias from your hiring process

Now that you’ve seen the value of building a diverse, inclusive workforce, you need to remove the biggest barrier to it and assess your hiring process for bias.

When you remove bias, you open the doors to a more diverse workforce, and in turn more innovation. So, how do you prioritise DEI and avoid bias when hiring new recruits?

1) Data, data, data

Invest in data and analytics that will tell you which candidates you’re sourcing, how well your hiring process supports them and crucially, where people are being put off or potentially alienated.

2) Outline and embed your DEI policy

This could include goals around representation and retention, pay parity and employee satisfaction. You really need to speak to a wide range of people from underrepresented groups to understand what they need from a hiring process and employer, shape your policies around that insight and regularly train your hiring managers on them.

3) Nail your careers site

Make sure your careers website and every step of your recruitment process is accessible to everyone, and the language you use is inclusive.

With the right policies to support DEI and regular training in place, your hiring managers will be empowered to create an inclusive working environment, nurture a culture where everyone can thrive, and prepare your business for future success.