Hiring Manager Guide: Planning
Step 1. Planning Stage
Get the position approved
The very first step to hiring a new colleague on your team is to first discuss the vacancy or new position with your department’s Talent Liaison, your manager, and/or your unit leader. Make sure you have approval to fund the position, which is obtained within your department.
What’s a Talent Liaison?
A “Talent Liaison” is a Workday security role which allows the individual to initiate HR-related transactions including hiring an employee, processing compensation changes for someone in their organization, moving an employee to another team, and initiating a termination.
Complete inclusive search and selection training
Wake Forest maintains a diverse and inclusive environment to enable all participants to contribute their full potential in pursuit of University objectives and personal success. With that in mind, online modules have been developed to assist in the inclusive search and selection process of faculty and staff positions. All hiring managers should review the Inclusive Search and Selection Process Guide as well as completing the appropriate online module in Workday within the last 12 months before engaging in the recruitment and selection process.
How do I complete the required training?
Toolkit: Check out the Inclusive Search and Selection Process Guide to learn more about how you can incorporate inclusivity in your search and selection process.
Draft (or edit) the position description
A position description is a detailed account of the purpose, duties, responsibilities, minimum qualifications, and working conditions for each position. Ultimately, it lays the foundation for the reason a position exists. Whether you are looking to fill an existing position or posting a new position, it is important to spend time with the position description to ensure it is accurate.
Where can I find more resources for writing position descriptions?
Be mindful of the minimum requirements (education, knowledge, skills, and abilities) outlined in your position description. These requirements should truly be the minimum required to move forward in the candidate pool. Having extraneous minimum requirements can limit the candidate pool by automatically over-screening based on the position description.
Toolkit: Use the Position Description Toolkit to help you think through all the essential functions and additional considerations that should be included in the position description.
Template: Once you’re ready to draft your position description, use the Position Description Template to ensure consistency among all position descriptions across the University.
Request marketing pricing for the position
Once your position description is complete, you may submit it to the WFU-HR Compensation team to have it priced. Typically, positions are benchmarked using comprehensive and proprietary external market data; a pay range is generally established between the 25th to 75th percentiles, with the 25th percentile being for staff with new and developing skills and experience and the 50th or above percentiles for experienced staff members. The comparative data is based on Wake Forest’s organizational size, industry, and geographical location. In most instances, southeastern regional data is used.
Form: Once your position description is complete, you may submit a Market Pricing Request Form to have WFU-HR Compensation provide you with an appropriate salary range.
Conduct a recruitment strategy meeting
The strategy meeting should include the Hiring Manager, Talent Liaison, and your WFU-HR Recruiter and should be used to establish a shared understanding of goals and responsibilities among the group. The group should also identify any potential challenges for filling the role, develop a timeline, and outline advertising needs and budget.
Agenda: This Recruitment Strategy Meeting Agenda can be used to help prepare Hiring Managers for the strategy meeting.
Identify a search committee
It is essential to form a search committee with diverse representation, the proper training to lead an equitable search, and well-established timelines and roles. The search committee’s role is not to hire a candidate, but to recommend who should continue in the process. Consider the following:
- Assemble a committee with diversity across group dynamics, faculty and staff representation, a shared commitment to inclusion, and experience with searches.
- Include a diversity advocate who will serve as an ally for underrepresented groups.
- Be mindful of overburdening committee members with heavy teaching, research, and service loads.
- Hiring Manager: Sets the tone for an equitable process; appoints the search committee Chair and members; collaborates with the Chair to determine who will review and narrow down applications.
- Search Committee Chair: Guides the committee throughout the recruitment process; oversees the professional and timely operation of the committee; leads committee meetings; serves as a liaison between the committee, hiring manager, and the Recruiter; updates all parties throughout the search process.
- Search Committee Members: Generate a strong pool of candidates; advise the hiring manager of candidates best qualified to meet the needs of the University and the school or department; play a major role in the recruitment, interviewing, screening, and evaluation of applicants; participate fully in committee activities.
- Discuss the timeline outlined during the strategy meeting and make any necessary adjustments while keeping the timeline appropriate and realistic.
- Discuss the advertising plan with the search committee and identify ways the committee can also help recruit from underrepresented groups.
- Ensure the search committee understands how unconscious bias impacts assumptions about candidates, based on race, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, family/marital status, etc.
- Raise awareness about conscious bias (related to academic pedigree, research, and “fit” at Wake Forest).
- Ask and advise the search committee about what constitutes diversity in an applicant pool.
- Invite the Dean or Department Chair to meet with the search committee to reiterate the leadership commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Invite the Recruiter (Human Resources) to meet with the search committee to consult on best practices.
All search committee members should review the Inclusive Search and Selection Process Guide as well as completing the appropriate online module in Workday within the last 12 months before engaging in the recruitment and selection process.
- Inclusive Search & Selection Strategies for Faculty Positions
- Inclusive Search & Selection Strategies for Staff Positions
Hiring managers may email wakejobs@wfu.edu to verify the completion status of the search committee members.
Wake Forest University Human Resources
P.O. Box 7424, Winston-Salem, NC 27109
askHR@wfu.edu | P 336.758.4700 | F 336.758.6127