HR teams know that silos, especially between themselves and hiring managers, stifle the screening process.
All too often, recruiters are asked to handle this initial recruiting phase alone (or with little guidance) when the screening process needs to be a collaborative experience between the hiring team and hiring managers – that is, if you’re in search of a truly qualified candidate and asset to your organization.
So, why are hiring managers so critical in candidate screening and selection?
What should their role be in that process?
And how can hiring managers and HR work better together to streamline screening and select the best fit employee without pulling personnel away from other top priorities?
Let’s find out.
For more screening and selection strategies, check out our free guide. It’s packed with tips to help HR teams screen smarter (yes, even in today’s competitive and challenging hiring climate).
What’s The Hiring Manager’s Role in the Screening Process? (And How It Differs From HR’s)
Most collaboration problems in screening boil down to a lack of role delineation — who does what, at what point in the process, and why.
Without clear guardrails, teams risk miscommunication, hiring delays, and even overlooking or missing out on top talent.
While both hiring managers and HR teams share the goal of finding the right candidate, their contributions to the screening process are distinct.
What The Hiring Manager Is Responsible For During Screening
Hiring managers are the subject matter experts (SMEs) in the screening process. They understand the nuances of their team’s needs, the technical skills required for success in the role, and how the position fits into broader organizational goals.
Their expertise makes them uniquely qualified to:
- Define Role Requirements: Hiring managers know what success looks like in their department. They can identify must-have technical skills, relevant experience, and soft skills that align with team dynamics.
- Evaluate Technical Fit: During the interviewing and assessment steps, hiring managers can evaluate whether a candidate’s technical abilities meet the demands of the role.
- Provide Context for Team Culture: Beyond skills, hiring managers understand how a candidate might integrate with existing team members and contribute to a positive work environment. Remember: hiring is not only about adding technical skills, but culture fit, allowing the entire team to work cohesively to accomplish its goals.
All this to say, hiring managers are critical to effective recruiting.
Without hiring manager input, HR teams may lack the detailed insights needed to identify truly qualified candidates or those who will fit well within the existing team structure.
What HR Is Responsible For During Screening
HR teams or recruiters act as facilitators in the candidate screening process. They bring structure, strategy, and efficiency to what could otherwise be a dysfunctional experience.
While every organization’s screening process is different (depending on industry, business objectives, budgetary restrictions, etc.), often HR professionals are tasked with:
- Crafting Job Descriptions: Using input from hiring managers, HR creates clear and compelling job postings that attract qualified candidates, and if structured correctly, turn away unqualified candidates from the start.
- Managing Applications: HR teams screen resumes and job applications to identify potential matches based on predefined criteria.
- Conducting Initial Screens: Through phone interviews, pre-assessments, or video interviews, HR narrows down the candidate pool before passing top contenders to the hiring manager.
- Ensuring Compliance: HR teams are often tasked with ensuring that all screening practices align with legal regulations, DEI initiatives, and organizational policies.
HR brings consistency and scalability to the process.
By managing logistics and initial evaluations, they free up hiring managers to focus on the deeper assessment of shortlisted candidates. Additionally, HR ensures that every applicant has a fair, equitable, and positive candidate experience, which is imperative given your hiring process is an extension of your brand reputation (and yes, people do talk when the experience is negative).
Why Hiring Managers and HR Teams Must Work Together
We find organizations succeed most when HR and hiring managers act as “co-chairs,” each using their strengths to find the right candidates.
Doing so enables teams to set and agree on priorities like required skills, cultural fit, and long-term goals, ultimately streamlining the later stages of screening: decision-making and selection.
It also leads to a better candidate experience.
The truth is candidates notice when internal teams are (and aren’t) aligned based on the process, approach, and communication.
A smooth and swift process reflects positively on your organization’s brand and sets a strong tone for new hires.
The key is for each party to play to their strengths. Hiring managers bring expertise about the role itself; HR brings expertise in managing people processes. Together, they create a balanced approach that benefits both candidates and the organization.
What If There’s Hiring Manager Resistance?
Collaboration between hiring managers and HR is the ideal scenario for an effective screening process, but let’s face it — real life doesn’t always go as planned.
Sometimes, hiring managers are too busy, unfamiliar with the process or why they need to be involved, or simply hesitant to engage.
When that happens, HR teams need to get creative to bridge the gap.
Here are some strategies to help you gather the insights you need when hiring manager involvement is limited:
- Interview Individual Contributors in Similar Roles: Let’s say you’re hiring an account executive. In this case, ask current AEs about their day-to-day responsibilities, success metrics, and key challenges. This firsthand perspective can help you build a stronger baseline for screening candidates for that role.
- Tap Into Social Media Networks: Platforms like LinkedIn are treasure troves of information about specific roles and industries. Look at what professionals in similar positions are posting, engaging with, or discussing. This can give you a sense of trending skills, tools, and challenges in the field.
- Read Industry-Specific Newsletters: Dive into newsletters or publications tailored to the role or industry you’re hiring for, as these resources can provide valuable context about emerging trends, desired skills, and common pain points.
- Leverage HR Networks and Forums: Connect with other HR professionals through forums, networking events, or online communities. Many of them have likely recruited for similar roles and can share best practices, job description templates, and screening tips.
While these strategies offer great alternatives to involvement from hiring managers, they don’t necessarily offer the same substance as internal buy-in.
When hiring managers and HR don’t collaborate effectively, friction arises — leading to miscommunication, delays, and missed opportunities for great hires.
Common Collaboration Challenges Between Hiring Managers and HR Teams in the Screening Process (and How To Fix Them)
Miscommunication is a powerful disruptor in the hiring process.
When it comes to collaboration between hiring managers and HR teams, even small misunderstandings can snowball into significant issues.
To avoid feeding the fire, it’s crucial to address common challenges head-on. Here are some of the most prevalent challenges and how to tackle them.
Setting Proper Expectations
One of the most common sources of friction during screening arises from unclear or mismatched expectations between hiring managers and HR teams.
And the last thing you want as a recruiter is to send your hiring manager poor-fit candidates.
However, expectation setting can be particularly difficult when working with newer hiring managers or recruiting for unfamiliar roles, such as new positions or urgent backfills.
So, what can you do?
Start by clarifying the purpose of the role.
- Is it a backfill, a new position, or an evergreen role?
- What level are you hiring for (entry, mid, senior, executive)?
- What are the goals and priorities for the role? Go deeper here by detailing why you need the role, the problems the role will solve, and the larger impact it will have on the organization.
When both of you know who you’re looking for (and why), the process is much smoother and there’s much less back-and-forth that drags out and disrupts the candidate experience.
Next, align on timeline, budget, and talent needs. Discuss expectations for how quickly the role should be filled, the budget for recruitment efforts, and the type of talent you’re targeting.
Lean on your ideal candidate profile (ICP) for guidance here. Doing so will help you (and the hiring manager) prioritize candidates based on weighted hard skills and soft skills. This will help you create an effective job description, screening and pre-screening questions, skills or behavioral assessments, and any other necessary interview steps.
This next “ask” might be more challenging to arrange, especially for busy hiring managers but it’s super important: have a real conversation.
A quick phone call or meeting with the hiring manager can go a long way in understanding their vision for the role. To save time, do plenty of research beforehand and ask targeted questions about what success looks like in this position.
Setting proper expectations upfront ensures everyone is on the same page, reducing confusion and preventing unnecessary delays later in the process.
Process Delays
Speaking of which, process delays are another common origin of frustration.
Communication gaps, scheduling conflicts, and slow feedback loops are all culprits that can clog up your talent acquisition pipeline.
To address it, start by agreeing on your interview process. This step should be a breeze since you’ve already evaluated your ICP and prioritized the characteristics needed to succeed.
Define what the interview process should look like — the steps, people involved at each step, assessments, types of interview questions, and standardized evaluation criteria. Doing so helps filter out hiring bias on both sides while ensuring things run smoothly.
Be sure to identify and flag potential bottlenecks early. If you anticipate interview scheduling conflicts or other candidate evaluation delays, communicate them as soon as possible to recalibrate timelines.
Technology, especially automated tools, can be really helpful to mitigate delays. Solutions like interview scheduling software can streamline coordination between candidates, HR teams, and hiring managers without the long email chains and impossible task of coordinating calendars.
It’s also important to set clear deadlines for feedback. Encourage hiring managers to provide timely input on resumes or interview results to keep things moving forward.
Creating a Strong Communication Plan
Every hiring manager is different — some are highly engaged collaborators, while others may need more guidance to stay involved. Without a clear communication plan, updates can fall through the cracks, leading to frustration on both sides.
To build a great communication plan, consider:
- Establishing Feedback Loops: Decide how and when updates will be shared. For example, an introductory call before posting the job, weekly check-ins after reviewing initial candidates, and structured feedback sessions after interviews.
- Tailoring Your Communication Style: Adapt your approach based on each hiring manager’s preferences. Some may prefer detailed email updates; others might value quick Slack messages or brief calls. Or, perhaps a more advanced applicant tracking system with customizable workflows and task automation is the best route.
- Documenting Decisions: Keep track of agreed-upon criteria and feedback to ensure alignment throughout the process.
A strong communication plan fosters trust and transparency while keeping everyone aligned on priorities and progress.
Don’t let these roadblocks stand in the way of finding the right candidate. With thoughtful planning and proactive communication, HR teams and hiring managers can overcome these challenges together — and create a smoother screening and selection process for everyone involved.
Teamwork Makes Screening Work
The candidate screening process works best when hiring managers and HR teams collaborate as true partners.
By combining each party’s unique expertise — HR’s process-driven approach and hiring managers’ deep understanding of the role — teams can create a seamless, efficient, and human-centered hiring experience that works for candidates, your hiring managers, and the hiring team.
When 74% of employers struggle to find top talent, you know the market is competitive. Sometimes, it can all become too much, which is typically when an expert partner can help.
Take your screening process to the next level with Spark Hire’s expert team and flexible hiring software, which allows you to build a custom hiring process to meet your organization’s unique needs.
Schedule a demo today to help you find the right candidates faster while keeping your hiring process human-centered.
