How to Build a Recruitment Team: Find and Develop High-Performing Recruiters

Recruitment leaders naturally know the importance of getting the right candidates for their own teams. It’s not just about finding someone who has the skills and experience, but also the right values.

That’s why it’s important for leaders to get their own recruiting strategy right.

To assemble a high-performing team, we’ll dive into which key roles you’ll need to add (and how many people to bring on). We’ll also offer some steps and tips for building up your team.

Let’s go over how to recruit recruiters for your agency.

What are the key roles in a recruitment team and what do they do?

It takes all kinds to make up a recruitment team. For example, you might have a Recruitment Manager, Recruitment Coordinators, Recruiters, Sourcers and Recruitment Marketers.

Each person on the team has unique responsibilities:

• The Recruitment Manager sets strategy and manages resources to make sure the team performs well.
• Recruitment Coordinators help out operations by doing admin work like scheduling interviews or managing candidate communication.
• Recruiters (or Recruitment Consultants) source, screen, and interview candidates and manage the onboarding process.
• Sourcers search for new candidates to generate leads, usually by researching on channels like LinkedIn or job boards.
• Recruitment Marketers optimize employer branding and manage campaigns to attract top talent.

How to determine the right size for your recruitment team

To pull together a well-balanced and capable team, you’ll need to think numbers. The right team size depends on factors like your company size, number of monthly job orders, and how much automation you use, among others.

1. Startups & Small Recruitment Agencies

For startup and small recruitment teams, it’s a good idea to hire:

• 1 Recruitment Manager
• 1-2 Recruiters
• 1 Sourcer
• 1Recruitment Coordinator if needed

For a new business, it’s important to find employees who can wear many hats in order to maximize efficiency and minimize costs.

2. Mid-Sized Recruitment Agencies

For mid-sized search firms, the fundamental team roles include:

• 1 Recruitment Manager
• 3-4 Recruiters
• 1-2 Sourcers

In this type of setup, there’s typically more room for specialization. The team might need extra support from a Recruitment Coordinator.

Recruitment Marketers may also be added to the team depending on budget and needs.

3. Fast-Growing Recruitment Agencies

For fast-growing recruitment teams, it’s best to have:

• 1 Recruitment Manager
• 1 Recruitment Coordinator to help out the team

Up to 6 Recruiters and 3 Sourcers can be added depending on pipeline. If there are resources, you might also hire a Recruitment Marketer.

4. Large Recruitment Agencies

Large recruitment agencies need more people and more specialists on their teams.

It’s good to hire:

• An experienced Recruitment Manager
• 5-6 Recruiters
• 2-3 Sourcers
• 1 Recruitment Coordinator
• At least 1 Recruitment Marketer

Why a high-performing recruitment team matters

Having a strategy to hire a top-performing recruitment team means:

• Increased Efficiency: A strong team can fill roles quickly and effectively, reducing time-to-hire.
• Improved Quality of Hires: Getting the right people to find quality candidates leads to a higher percentage of successful placements with less spend.
• Cost Savings: Keep better control over recruiting costs by using automation or outsourcing instead of hiring for nonessential roles.
• Better Branding: Build trust with potential applicants and clients with your brand and reputation – supported by a great team.

Steps to build a great recruitment team

To assemble a top-notch recruitment team, follow these steps:

1. Set clear goals. Knowing “why” you hire makes finding the “who” easier.
2. Define roles and responsibilities. Assigning each team member a specific role and task will help ensure that everyone is accountable.
3. Build a compensation plan. Tailor it to the responsibilities of each team member.
4. Hire the right people. Recruit people who have the right skills, experience, and attitude for the job.
5. Incorporate DEI-focused recruitment strategies into your interviews. With DEI, your recruitment agency can benefit from a broader range of skills, experiences, and perspectives to draw from - which can increase a team’s performance.
6. Develop a recruiting process. Set up a workflow that covers everything from job postings to candidate screening so that all members of the recruitment team can effectively collaborate.
7. Invest in your recruitment tech stack. Getting the right recruitment technology can help streamline tasks, leading to more efficiency, better candidate experience, and cost savings.

Tips to develop a recruitment team

Once hired, here are some extra tips to develop your team:

1. Lead by example. Team leaders should set the tone. This means that you should be investing in personal development for yourself as well as providing support to the team.
2. Communicate regularly. By having open lines of communication, team members can identify problems and collaborate on solutions.
3. Provide training opportunities. This will help team members stay up-to-date on new skills and ensure that everyone consistently performs at a high level.

Final thoughts

Creating a high-performing recruitment team requires hard work, dedication, and an understanding of the job market dynamics. By investing in quality recruitment technology and offering training opportunities to hone their skills, you can ensure that your teams remain competitive in today’s constantly evolving job market.

And with a culture of collaboration plus DEI initiatives, your recruitment team will be better equipped to identify and hire the best talent available.

With these tips in mind, you can build a top-performing recruitment team that will help your business get to higher heights.