Steve Job swears by collaborative hiring and here’s why you should consider it too

Over the ages, the hiring pattern has evolved to resolve the various challenges of recruitment. These days, one of the biggest challenges hiring managers faces is finding a candidate who is not only fit for the job but also blends in with the company’s culture. The one quick and sure-shot solution to tackle it is – collaborative hiring.

Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple co. believes in collaborative hiring, and all the recruits go through it. Whether a candidate is applying for marketing or advertising, they get introduced to all the other team leads so that they hit the ground running once recruited.

Cultural fit is but only one of the great benefits of collaborative hiring; many other things make collaboration one of the most effective recruitment methods. And here are the reasons you should consider whether you are a startup or a large firm.

Why consider collaborative hiring?

Improve the quality of employees

It’s a no-brainer that having a fresh set of eyes while screening candidates helps assess their quality. When you allow people from different backgrounds and teams to test and interview candidates, they can present you with their own opinion about them. A well-planned collaborative hiring process ensures that if one interviewer forgets to ask specific questions, that can be covered by the interviewer who follows. You can maintain a scorecard to evaluate the candidate on various parameters. 

Apple has been using collaborative hiring for a long time to ensure that every candidate is interviewed by several members from different departments of the company. This not only helps them find the best candidates but also gives candidates a chance to understand the company. And according to research, 66% of candidates prefer interactions with employees to get insight into the company.

Removal of unconscious bias

Let’s be honest, when screening candidates, no matter how hard we try, specific biases happen unconsciously, and we don’t even realise them. You don’t need to beat yourself over it, as it’s a human tendency. We try to look for similarities, and the further someone is from our personality or background, we tend to start pushing them away unconsciously. Believe it or not, 92% of tech founders know there is unconscious recruitment bias. And honestly, can you blame the recruiters? An average human brain makes one decision in 2.5 seconds, and isn’t it easier to pick something that lands closer to our general preferences?

Involving more people in the recruitment process from different backgrounds ensures the removal of that unconscious bias naturally. All you have to do is ensure that the team involved is diverse enough to eradicate discrimination. If you want to understand how deep-rooted prejudice is in our mindset, you can take this test by Harvard and know it for yourself.

Employees that are a better cultural fit

Candidates come from diverse backgrounds, and finding the one that fits into your company like the last piece of a puzzle is a satisfactory but challenging task. If you are the only person constantly communicating with the candidates, chances are that you might end up overlooking specific values that the company stands by. The whole definition of your company’s culture is based on how the employees perceive it. Hence, leaving the task to just one person is not the wisest thing to do. If 82% of the companies prefer evaluating candidates essential to test their quality before hiring, we need to be extra cautious about the process.

One of the reasons why companies have started giving candidates the experience of working in the company is to help them get the hang of the company’s culture. Trust us; this is one of the biggest reasons they do it, as there is no better way to advocate your company’s culture than letting your employees display it. Tony Heish from Zappos puts so much emphasis on finding the cultural fit that they have passed on many talented candidates. But do they regret it? Not at all, and neither would.

Improves candidate experience

Do we need to talk about how vital it is for companies to provide a great candidate experience? Whether a startup or an MNC, every company has started levelling up their game to give candidates an experience they can not refuse. 80% of millennials look forward to getting to know the people before considering an offer. Considering that you will be hiring more of these millennials in the coming times, you need to focus on providing them with the experience they desire. This way, whether selected or not, they would brag about having a great experience and look forward to opening at your firm.

There is a bonus when the candidates are happy with their recruitment process and end up being your employees. Can you guess? These employees will stick with you for a long time, and you don’t have to worry about them planning on quitting as soon as they join. This is one of the benefits of collaborative hiring. Consider Unito, for example; in their journey so far, none of their millennial employees has left the company yet, apart from the ones that went for family reasons. Now, who wouldn’t want that, loyal employees that are with you through thick and thin?

Smoother transition from candidate to employees

When candidates get the chance to get to know their future colleagues and their leaders, they are not intimidated on their first day at work. They are way more confident and find it easy to approach their leads if they need assistance. Plus, they are already onboard with the company’s values and the functions they need to do. So, when you hire them, the new employees hit the ground running. 

Collaborative hiring instils transparency among the candidates and makes you their top preference. Believe the words of John C. Maxwell, “Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy.” If candidates don’t feel that your company isn’t transparent and pretty rigid and set in its way, your rejection rates will be pretty high. Do you want that for your company?

Once you decide on moving forward with collaborative hiring, here are some tips that will come in handy and help you get the best of candidates and ease your team into the process of collaborative hiring.

Plan the process well

What is the first step to the execution of anything? Planning! So, while initially, it might feel a little intimidating to get on board with a new recruitment process, all it takes is making a realistic plan for collaborative hiring. Decide when you want to start introducing the different members of the company and who they would be. Set up a calendar so that they are in the loop. What role will each member play, and how do you plan to maintain the scorecard? Just write down all the points you need to remember and answer them.

Train your team

Considering you are just introducing the concept of collaborative hiring, you need to prepare your team for it. Make them understand how you will go about it and host training sessions to get the ball rolling. Please make a list of questions for them or hint out the topics required to cover, so they are prepared. Remember you are being judged and screened, too, so be well prepared with your team to ace collaborative hiring.

Use technology to ease the process.

Don’t shy away from using technology to help you through the process. Choose a platform for collaborative hiring where your whole team can access the applications and screen them, trust us, it will reduce your time of hire. Install software that allows you to plan the process, schedule interviews, and keep email templates handy. You don’t want to miss out on the opportunity of hiring the best candidate just because of a delay in the process, right?

Collaborative hiring is a boon when it comes to recruiting. It reduces the time taken, builds a better relationship with your current and future employees, displays transparency, reduces turnover and many more. So, don’t hold off; start planning and get collaborative hiring.

Be a rocking team! Happy, collaborative hiring!