Not only do you have to go through all of the applicants that have applied to all of your positions, but you still have to go source and screen people! There are 20 balls in the air and it’s impossible to keep every hiring manager happy.

This is why it is so critical to set expectations with hiring managers. I like to do this with a service level agreement (SLA).

Why would you want to use an SLA?

There are a couple reasons to considering implementing a SLA with hiring manager. The first is that it helps you to set expectations on how long it will take for you to send them the first round of when they will expect to hear from you.

Oftentimes, hiring managers don’t have any idea what goes into recruiting for a role or how many candidates you have to sift through. The more you can educate them and set clear expectations on the front end, the better!

The next reason to do this is because hiring managers also tend to slow the process to filling a role. Even when you do send them quality candidates immediately, some hiring managers take weeks to respond!

This can mean you lose high quality candidates. Then you are back to square one. This can become a frustrating experience for both you and the hiring manger!

By setting expectations on how soon you need them to response or set a timeline to talk through the candidates you are letting them know what you need from them to successfully fill the role with the best candidate as quickly as possible.

There are many things you can put into your SLA, but it’s best to keep things simple and give yourself enough buffer time so that you are able to exceed expectations.

Now, I’m curious…do you use an SLA on your recruiting team? How do you manage hiring manager expectations?

Go ahead and leave a comment. I read every one!