How Focus Groups Help Recruiters Convince Hiring Managers to Rewrite Job Posts
This post was written from SHRM Talent where I had the opportunity to speak on the most critical variable for your AI aspirations: your job data. In every talk, there was one big BUT to overhauling job posts: hiring managers.
I literally got a round of applause when I told the audience:
“This job audit means we stop getting to the final round of interviews only to have a manager ask to ‘see more resumes’ then blame us for the process taking forever.”
I’m talking amen, hands up like we were in a Pentecostal service to free some demons. The demons we were freeing? The ones fueling the battle between hiring managers and recruiters.
To understand why hiring managers push back on rewriting job posts and what actually creates momentum for change, in the rest of this blog post I discuss:
Why many hiring managers resist change simply because current hiring practices feel familiar and “good enough”
How AI narratives can unintentionally make job posts seem like a quick task rather than a strategic hiring tool
Where recruiters and hiring managers often make assumptions that create friction and slow progress
How poor job posts can contribute to mismatched expectations and higher turnover early in employment
Why data and training alone are often not enough to convince hiring managers to adopt new approaches
How simple focus groups using real job post examples can surface objections and build buy-in early
Why involving hiring managers in the process creates ownership that makes broader change easier to sustain