How to Keep Recruitment Moving When Three Managers Need to Approve the Hire

Everyone agreed the business needed to hire. Getting everyone to agree on a candidate is taking considerably longer.

One manager wants more experience. Another thinks the salary should be lower. The person who needs to approve the offer has not met the shortlisted applicants yet.

Meanwhile, the vacancy is still open, and someone in the existing team is covering the work.

When several people are involved in a hire, recruitment can become a series of conversations with no clear decision at the end. You arrange another interview, revisit the brief and ask the recruiter to find a few more options.

A clearer approval process gives everyone a defined role before those delays start.

Agree who makes the final decision

Several people may have a useful perspective on a vacancy. The line manager understands the day-to-day work. A director knows where the department is heading. Finance needs to understand the cost.

Their involvement does not have to mean every decision requires a fresh group discussion.

Before recruitment begins, agree who owns the hiring decision, who needs to contribute and who approves the budget. These may be different people, but their responsibilities should be clear.

For example, the line manager could assess technical suitability, a director could review the final recommendation and finance could approve the salary range before the search starts.

The arrangement will depend on your business. The important part is knowing whose answer is needed at each stage.

If someone has the authority to stop an appointment, involve them early enough to understand the brief. Discovering their expectations after the final interview leaves everyone working backwards.

Build one version of the role

A vacancy can look very different depending on who describes it.

The line manager might need someone who can take over a busy workload immediately. A director may see an opportunity to bring in future leadership potential. Another stakeholder may be hoping the new employee can also cover responsibilities from a different department.

These expectations need to be discussed before candidates are assessed.

Start with the work the person will actually own. Then agree the experience they need on arrival, the skills you can develop and the practical conditions of the job.

Keep the essential criteria focused. If everything is treated as equally important, interview feedback becomes difficult to compare.

A useful test is to ask each decision-maker what would make them reject an otherwise capable applicant. Their answers can expose disagreements that are easier to resolve before the vacancy goes live.

Once the brief is agreed, use it throughout the campaign. If the requirements change, make that a deliberate decision rather than quietly moving the standard after every interview.

Give each interview a purpose

An extra interview can be useful when it answers an outstanding question. It becomes harder to justify when the candidate is simply being introduced to another person who might have an opinion.

Plan the stages around what you need to learn.

An initial conversation might establish relevant experience, availability and salary expectations. A hiring-manager interview can explore how the person would approach the work. A final discussion may address a specific concern or confirm responsibilities.

Decide where senior stakeholders need to participate. If the director must meet the chosen candidate, reserve time before the campaign reaches that point.

Where practical, bring relevant decision-makers into the same interview rather than asking the candidate to repeat the same conversation on separate days.

A candidate should understand what each stage involves and what remains before a decision can be made.

Ask for evidence in interview feedback

“They seemed good” does not give the next decision-maker much to work with.

Neither does “I’m not sure they’re the right fit” without an explanation.

Ask interviewers to connect their feedback to the agreed criteria. What did the candidate demonstrate? Which answer raised a concern? What still needs checking?

If someone questions the applicant’s ability to manage a team, identify the basis for that concern. Was their experience too limited? Did they struggle to explain how they handled a difficult situation? Or was the subject never properly explored?

Those are different issues and may call for different responses.

A short, consistent feedback format can help. Record the evidence against the key requirements, outstanding questions and a recommendation on whether to proceed.

This gives the person making the final decision a clearer picture than a collection of disconnected impressions.

Set a review timetable before diaries fill up

The recruitment process often slows down between meetings rather than during them.

An interview happens on Tuesday. One manager sends feedback on Friday. Another is away the following week. By the time everyone is available, the conversation has lost momentum.

Agree a workable timetable at the start of the campaign. Reserve interview slots, establish when feedback is due and identify who can step in if an approver is unavailable.

Avoid making promises you cannot keep. If your business needs several days to review a final-stage interview, communicate that honestly.

When a delay does happen, decide who will update the candidate. A short explanation is more useful than leaving them to guess whether the vacancy is still active.

Resolve the offer process before you need it

Before reaching the final stage, confirm the approved salary range, working pattern, reporting line and any conditions attached to the offer.

If there is flexibility on salary, establish who can authorise it. If the written offer requires a director’s signature, make sure that person knows when a decision is likely to be needed.

This preparation also helps you recognise when an applicant’s expectations sit outside what the business can offer.

You may decide there is a good reason to revisit the budget. That should be an informed commercial discussion, rather than a surprise that appears after everyone has selected their preferred candidate.

Give your recruitment partner a clear route to a decision

A recruiter needs more than a job title and permission to start searching.

Explain who is involved, how interviews will be arranged and where feedback should go. Nominate a main contact who can bring the business’s views together.

Kamro supports employers through structured recruitment campaigns, including role briefing, advertising, sourcing, screening and shortlisting. Those stages provide a foundation for employers to assess candidates against an agreed brief.

The internal decision still belongs to your business. Giving that decision a clear owner and a realistic timetable helps the recruitment work lead somewhere.

If your hiring keeps stalling between the shortlist and the final approval, speak to Kamro about a Hiring Check. Start with the role, the people involved and the decisions that need to happen before an offer can be made.