Recruitment training is a vital component of any company’s game plan for attracting the best talent. However, it’s not always easy to convince your boss that recruitment training is important.
This is especially true if your company is still operating with the lessons it learned during the last recession and the accompanying employment crisis. While it may have been true that prospective applicants six years ago were desperate for work and willing to take what they could get, the job market has improved significantly since then.
Today, if your recruitment practices are out of touch or otherwise not appealing, your applicants are just as likely to say, “thanks, but no thanks.” For that reason, requesting recruiting training from your boss isn’t just about developing your own skills — the very health of the company itself could be on the line.
Here are a few tips to help as you try to decide how to request recruiting training from your boss.
Identify Why You Need Recruitment Training
One of the first questions your boss will likely ask you is, “Why exactly do you need this training?” Accordingly, it’s important that you be able to identify exactly why your recruitment efforts need to be improved.
Are you struggling to identify the right interviewees? Maybe the positions you’re advertising for are unusually complex or require an unusual blend of skills. With the right training, you can explain to your boss that you’ll be better prepared to find and hire the type of applicants who are an exact fit for the company’s needs.
Maybe you’re struggling to ask applicants the right questions during the interview itself? If you’re not able to elicit the kind of response you need to ensure the applicant is suited to the position, you won’t be able to generate high-quality hires.
Whatever the issue may be, try to take a “problem to solution” stance with your boss. Clearly identify the main problem that needs to be solved and then present recruitment training as the solution.
Gather Information About Training
Once you’ve convinced your boss that recruitment training is necessary, you need to be able to persuasively pitch the training program. Toward that end, make sure you do your research beforehand and learn as much as you can about the training program.
Always keep things easily digestible and goal-oriented. What skills will you gain during the training? How will those skills apply to improving your company’s recruitment efforts? Are there any testimonials available about the training course’s effectiveness? With answers to these questions, you can present a compelling case to your boss.
Come explore some of our success stories to see why companies like Staples trust us with their employee training!
Compare Other Solutions
If the only solution you have to your recruitment problems is the training course, your boss is likely to wonder why you’re trying to maneuver him or her into accepting it. To avoid that conclusion, it’s a good idea to try to come up with two or three other potential solutions.
Make sure that you can clearly explain what those solutions entail, and then lay out your case for why they’re not as good a fit for your company’s needs as the training program.
Bring it Back to the Bottom Line
Your boss’ mindset is always going to be on what’s best for the company as a whole, not just what’s best for you. To make that case, always make sure to bring your argument back to the bottom line. How exactly will recruitment training be beneficial for your company, and how will enhancing your skills help ensure the success of your recruitment program?
If you’re able to specifically lay out what rewards your company will reap from your training, your boss is much more likely to realize that it’s something worth allocating budget to.
Follow Up
Maybe your boss is having a bad day, or a particularly disappointing budget report just landed in his or her inbox. Whatever the reason, don’t accept that the final answer is “no” if the initial response is unenthusiastic.
Instead, circle back to a goal-oriented mindset for your pitch. If your boss says no, ask for the main objections, then work point-by-point to address those concerns in a future meeting. If you can come back to the second conversation with a list of clear solutions to the issues they raised, you’re more likely to get a positive reception, especially since they’ve had time to think about it a bit more.
Ultimately, it’s important to remember that your boss’ primary focus is the success of the organization. In your discussion remember that they’re not just thinking about the training; they’re thinking about bigger budgets, larger strategic goals and countless other factors that aren’t directly related to recruitment training. By staying focused on how the training you desire can benefit the larger picture, you’ll have a much better chance of making an impact.
Come explore our recruitment training courses to see if Vital Learning is the solution that you need.
