LAS VEGAS — There’s an amazing difference in how talent acquisition leaders and hiring managers see recruiting at their company.
TA leaders believe their teams are doing a pretty good job. Not outstanding even though there were a few As , but good enough to give themselves a B-.
When hiring managers graded those same teams, they gave them a C-. If that isn’t worrisome enough, not one hiring manager in ERE’s State of Talent Acquisition Survey 2016 awarded their team an A.
Deserved or not, the grades show the gulf between how recruiting leaders view the job they do and what their customers, the hiring managers of their companies, think.
“If that’s their perception,” said Ron Mester, speaking Thursday morning to an audience of some 600 talent leaders and others at ERE’s spring recruiting conference here in Las Vegas, “It’s your problem.”
In his morning general session presentation, Mester, ERE Media’s CEO and president, walked through some of the key issues raised by the survey, pointing to results illustrating the disconnect between recruiters and hiring managers:
Citing some other survey responses where TA leaders noted their chief concerns (quality of candidates, speed of hiring topped the list) and another where 8 in 10 leaders admitted their teams “have a way to go” — or worse — to being considered true talent advisors to the business, Mester said, “The good news is you are sensing this problem.”
Concluding with survey results that showed an alarming lack of knowledge of even such basic recruiting metrics as cost to fill, Mester turned to a panel of experts for what leaders can do quickly and easily to improve the situation.
Participating were Jeanna Barrie, Director, North America Solutions Recruiting for Avanade, David Watson, Senior Director of North America Talent Acquisition and Integration also for Avanade, and John Ricciardi, Vice President, Talent Solutions, ERE Media.
The first step in improving relations with hiring managers, the 
panelists agreed, was to ask them what’s working and what’s not. “Pick up the phone,” suggested Watson. You may not always get a direct answer, but if “there’s a pause,” he added, “There’s a problem.”
What is the quickest way to begin improving how hiring managers and recruiters work together? At the intake session, Ricciardi said, with quick agreement from Watson and Barrie. That’s when you can set the roles and responsibilities, making clear not only who does what, but when. “Get the details and the specifics,” Watson counseled.
Share relevant recruiting data with them, they all agreed, even when it may not reflect positively on the TA team. By sharing that — and describing what you are doing to fix the problem — you build credibility. But to get hiring managers to care about your data — good or bad — it needs to be made relevant to them.
“Put it in a context that relates to the hiring manager’s interest,” said Ricciardi. Agreed Barrie, “Every hiring manager has a stake in the game.”