It is a commonly held belief that trust is the most
important component of building successful relationships. Everyone knows this
is true of personal relationships, but is undeniably true for professional ones
as well. It is particularly critical for recruiters who are often trying to
build strong connections with multiple stakeholders – candidates looking to
make career moves, and client companies looking to leverage a recruitment
firms’ expertise. Establishing trust in these relationships is critical to a
recruiter’s ability to provide high quality service to all relevant patrons.
When a candidate trusts a recruiter, they readily
offer full transparency. They tend to disclose other opportunities that they
are exploring, or give their honest opinions about a given position or company.
They are likely forthright about whether or not they would accept an offer
should it come their way, and are blunt and sincere when explaining why. When a
candidate maintains such open lines of communication, it helps their recruiter
assist them in in finding the most ideal role for them.
Similarly, when a client company trusts their
recruiting partner, they tend to disclose highly relevant, albeit sometimes
sensitive, information. They may note some potential flexibility on compensation,
or divulge organizational changes that could hinder or promote a new hires’
career trajectory. They have a tendency of interviewing submitted candidates
more readily, and offer candid feedback about those individuals. When a client
maintains these open lines of communication, a recruiter is far more equipped
to find the ‘right’ person for a given role.
Trust is the key to open communication and
information, and these two things are vital to effective recruiting. This begs
one very simple question – how does a recruiter build trust?
In my opinion, the answer is relatively
straightforward. A recruiter builds trust by taking the above paradigm and
flipping it on its head. To build trust and earn open communication and
information from candidates and clients alike, a recruiter must initiate this
trend. They cannot expect their counterparts to start this style first. When a
recruiter partners with a company to fill a role, it is infinitely valuable to
communicate openly and honestly about the upcoming search. Recruiters should
communicate the genuine truth about past success in a similar market or with a
similar search. This shows a client they are willing to be honest and humble,
which in turn builds trust. Recruiters should set clear and realistic expectations
about search time frames and strategy. This sets the tone for transparency and
candor. Additionally, keeping the conversation open and ongoing, and noting
each success as well as any setbacks, enhances the trust already built.
This is also true with candidates. When a candidate
is being considered for a role, they are eager to receive an offer. With that
said, an offer does not guarantee a long standing and trusting relationship.
Instead, keeping someone abreast of exactly how a search is progressing is more
likely to affect the depth and longevity of a relationship. Even contacting a
candidate to tell them that you do not yet have an update illustrates your
commitment to maintain direct and open communication. This in turn increases a
candidate’s willingness to offer full transparency and obvert communication.
Above are just some of the instances where
recruiters have the ability to set the parameters around their professional
relationships. There are many others and it would benefit recruiters and
recruitment firms to spend time thinking about how to identify where they can
establish this foundation of trust.
Trust is the key to successful recruiting
relationships, but it is up to recruiters to ensure trust is established at the
beginning. And, in the slightly paraphrased words of Ray Kinsella (Kevin
Costner) from renowned baseball movie Field
of Dreams, “If you build it, [it] will come”.
Eli Gladstone, Associate
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