How can recruiters build lasting relationships with HR departments?

How a relationship enriches or diminishes your ideas/position/process is solely dependent on the individual. Think about how you can make the HR professionals job easier by giving them regular updates, making the effort to meet them in person, completing searches successfully keeping them in the loop. Acknowledge their role, presence and input - everyone is just trying to do their job in the most effective way possible, and its important to keep that in mind before 'going over their head' to get things done.

Depending on the size of the organisation and how many roles they have, you could be sending a high volume of CVs to them. One tactic that I had a lo of success with is a weekly CV send summery. send an email once a week with a brief (2 or 3 lines0 summary of the candidate, with all of the CVs attached. This makes their life easier as all the CVs are in one place. It saves them time, as they don't have to search for all of the CVs individually. Booking in regular CV review/ vacancy update calls with them is a great way to keep on top of everything as well as get a performance review on your service. This allows you to report on the activity you have done for them. This is great if you have agreed SLAs.

Consider arranging biweekly 1:1s with HR Generalists supporting the business segments that you are responsible to hire for. They will likely appreciate aligning on what the hiring challenges and progress is. They can provide you with team related updates that will help you be more strategic in hiring (i.e. projected long term sick leaves or voluntary leavers which might impact hiring goals). You can address Quality of Hire as HR will have a good idea on how someone has been settling / performing in their new role. You can also discuss any struggles you are having with the Hiring Manager. They could provide some support / additional context here!

One of the tasks that HR have to do is benchmarking. This can be a long arduous job for them as they need to go and find all of the data. As a recruiter, you already have all of the information they are looking for. If you can impart this knowledge then that is a huge value add. You will allow them to align their policies, procedures and offerings to the market and their competitors. If you have done this well and built a good relationship with the client, them you can get involved in the resourcing strategy conversations with them. You will be able to give an insight into what candidates are looking for in the market, who is looking, and how they can overcome any challenges that they may face.

One thing I've found helpful is to never cut out HR. They provide an important function and are often the way to get into a company. They know the hiring landscape and can advise you on little quirks within the company that you are hiring for. I know they get bombarded with recruiters contacting them but its all about creating a relationship of know, like and trust which only happens over time

Recruiting is often an HR function, so HR policies are inherently recruiting policies. When that is not the case, recruiting and HR still need to work closely together because the two are intrinsically linked in the employee experience journey. Both need to partner with the business in recruiting processes. Building strong and open lines of communication across teams, having open dialogue about concerns that affect HR during the recruiting process, and treating HR as a partner to the business are all key to ensuring a compliant and seamless recruiting experience.

I believe it’s critical to build a strong relationship with your HR/People team and understand their policies. These often align with legal and government regulations, and are important for an organization to follow. Some of my most successful out-of-the-box approaches to hiring and retaining talent have come out of successful partnerships with my HR partners. I’ve been lucky to work with folks who tried their hardest to put employees first, and because they knew the policies inside out they were also the best people to validate new creative ideas. This meant we could work within the rules and still achieve the outcomes that made candidates and employees happy.

To me, it's a mix of several elements. They are not just gatekeepers or "people to go through to get a role", they protect the business. Speak their language, come up to them being genuine, sincere and respectful - never forget you are approaching a person. Get to know them, who are they in the company, why do they work here, what makes them interested in the industry they are in etc. Build a relationship. It shouldn't be "I can do this" and "I have this candidate" but more "How can I help you?", "Where are you struggling at the moment and where could I offer you my help?". Taking the human approach instead of the cold/automated one is what truly sets you apart (and it does not take any longer to do so!).

Building rapport and trust with HR departments is foundational for a sustainable relationship between recruiters and HR professionals. Trust is earned over time through consistent actions and transparent and reliable interactions. Actively seek input, build personal connections by taking genuine interest, and work collaboratively to finding solutions. Additionally, be open to adapting your approaches based on feedback and changing needs!

Recruiters and HR are working towards a common goal. We have to cooperate and build on each other's expertise. The most important thing is always to respect and help each other. With the mutual respect and understanding, we can achieve so much more.