The role of a hiring committee

Hiring committees manage all aspects of the hiring process. Instead of a single person reviewing applications, interviewing candidates and selecting someone for the job, a small group of team members work together on those duties. The hiring manager often leads the committee, but all employees on the committee contribute to the process.

Specific roles that a hiring team may handle include:

• Identifying candidate criteria
• Reading resumes to screen all applicants
• Creating interview questions
• Selecting candidates for screening interviews
• Selecting candidates for full interviews
• Conducting interviews as a team
• Rating candidates during the interviews
• Discussing the interviewees
• Making a recommendation for the final candidate

Who should be part of a hiring committee?

The mix of people on the hiring committee can vary based on your needs, but most teams have similar positions, including:

• Hiring manager: This person is typically the one who’s hiring for a position. The hiring manager is sometimes the new hire’s direct supervisor, but not always. They often head the team and make the final hiring decision based on the feedback of the other committee members.
• Direct supervisor: If the hiring manager won’t supervise the new hire directly, the person who will might also join the hiring committee to give their input.
• HR staff member: Someone from the human resources department is often involved in the committee activities. They may handle most of the initial screening duties to narrow down the candidate pool and advise other team members on the legalities of the interview process.
• Department heads: If the new hire will work with other departments or teams regularly, the heads of those areas may participate in the interviews. The hiring decision impacts them, since the chosen candidate will work for them sometimes.
• Team members: Other people on the team who are familiar with the role or who will work with the candidate regularly may serve on the committee.

Tips for putting together an effective hiring committee

Putting together an effective hiring team takes careful consideration. Looking at both the need for the role and the qualities of potential team members can help assemble the right mix of people. Here are some tips to help create your hiring committee.

Establish your goals

Knowing what you expect from the hiring committee helps you choose members who can achieve those ends. Examples could be to increase diversity, improve retention or expand the company’s skills. You can also use these goals to create criteria for committee members to help you narrow down the options.

Choose an effective chair

Every committee needs an effective chair to keep the activities on track. Hiring managers often lead the team, but you could designate someone else. If the hiring manager is busy, they may choose a co-chair to assist with the duties. Effective chairs have strong leadership skills and know how to communicate with others to encourage consensus within a team.

Analyze team members for compatibility

The chair can help assemble the rest of the team based on compatibility with what you need. Look at the type of position to identify employees who are familiar with the role. Consider who will work closely with the selected candidate.

Hiring committee team members don’t have to have past interviewing or hiring experience, but they should be willing to learn. They also need the commitment and investment in the process to give the duties the necessary attention. Look for committee members who have strong interpersonal skills, so they can relate well to candidates. They should also be able to make decisions and abide by confidentiality rules and legal constraints to keep your hiring process compliant.

Emphasize diversity

Bringing together a diverse hiring committee can help you improve your overall workplace mix. People from varied backgrounds use their experience to offer unique perspectives on candidates. They may help you choose more diverse candidates to fill your roles.

There are differenttypes of diversity to consider for your hiring committee beyond racial and cultural diversity. This includes gender, sexual orientation, age, experience, education, socioeconomic status and disability.

Create clearly defined roles

While everyone on the committee has a hand in the decision, not every person will participate in all aspects. Your HR team member may handle screening but not sit in on the full interviews. Some team members may not get involved until the interview process. You can assign duties, such as taking minutes, keeping records of the process and facilitating the discussion after the interviews.

Whichever way you break down the duties, make sure each person knows their role. Give them a list of their responsibilities and the expectations for their part in the committee process. This helps keep the committee running smoothly and efficiently.

Have established processes

Each new position might vary slightly, but you should have general processes in place that every hiring committee can follow. For instance, you might have defined steps for getting approval for a new position, creating a job ad, advertising the position and screening candidates.

Having these steps in place creates consistent hiring practices that comply with legal requirements and industry guidelines. They also help the team get started quickly and move through the process efficiently.

Provide training

Hiring committee training ensures that everyone is on the same page and understands their duties. The training might cover:

• Legal considerations for interviews
• Discrimination laws pertaining to hiring
• Diversity training
• Effective interviewing techniques
• How to evaluate candidates objectively
• Hiring biases

These training topics can help the committee members be more effective.

Assemble new teams for each opening

Your hiring committee will likely change for each new job vacancy. The hiring manager might vary for different positions, and the team members could also vary. Depending on the size of your HR team, you may have one representative who works with every hiring committee or multiple people who handle different departments or types of roles.

Even roles within the same team may have different hiring committees. A new position might work more closely with certain team members than others. Some of your current employees may have more knowledge about one job position than another. You might also have people who served on a past hiring committee who no longer want the responsibility.

Look at each new vacancy as a unique opportunity. Analyze your goals and expectations to determine what you need from the committee. You may start with previous committee members when considering the makeup of the team. From there, you can decide who fits the new hiring committee and if there are other people who might work well on the team.

FAQs about hiring committees

How many people should be on a hiring committee?

Your hiring committee should be large enough to incorporate diverse views, while small enough to be manageable. Having too many members can make it difficult to come to a consensus on candidates. A good size is four or five members, but you can adjust the number based on your needs. If you run a smaller company, you might only have two or three members, for instance.

What are the benefits of a hiring committee?

Using a committee format allows for different viewpoints and can reduce interview bias. This can help you choose a candidate that’s well-suited for the position and will work effectively with current team members. It also introduces more accountability into the hiring process since multiple people are involved. Hiring teams often get the job done faster than a single interviewer, which shortens hiring times and helps you snag your first choice before they get another offer.