Too Many Voices Can Blur the Hiring Picture

Too Many Voices Can Blur the Hiring Picture

Over the years, I’ve seen many cases where too many voices in the hiring process create unintended confusion. Different stakeholders - from HR and finance to leadership and SLT's and beyond - all bring their own priorities and perspectives. While each perspective is valid, the sheer number of opinions can blur the picture:

• Feedback between stages becomes contradictory, leaving interviewer (and interviewees) unsure of the potential fit
• The focus drifts from the role’s critical outcomes to personal preferences or departmental priorities.
• Timelines stretch unnecessarily caused by these uncertainties, frustrating candidates and increasing the risk of losing top talent.

Effective hiring isn’t only about assessing skills and experience, it’s about clarity, alignment, and shared understanding before interviews even begin. Two steps are particularly important:

1. Define who will be involved

It’s tempting to invite as many people as possible to be “inclusive” in hiring decisions. In practice, having too many interviewers or decision-makers often muddies the outcome. Schools need to be deliberate about who sits at the table and what perspective each person brings. This clarity ensures that the evaluation process remains focused and that every contributor understands the lens through which they’re assessing candidates.

2. Internal alignment on the role

Before a single candidate is interviewed, the school must internally define the job - and that isn't just rubber stamping the job spec. What’s essential, what’s desirable, and what is critical for the school’s objectives in a discussion allows everyone involved in the process to evaluate candidates consistently. It provides a common language and shared criteria so that interviews assess alignment, potential, and fit, not just box-ticking skills.

Taking the time to do this upfront might feel like slowing the process down, but in my experience, it has the opposite effect. Schools that invest in internal clarity:

• Make faster, more confident hiring decisions.
• Avoid post-hire friction or misaligned expectations.
• Give candidates a coherent, professional, and positive experience.

Alignment and definition of roles before launching a recruitment campaign, avoiding the noise of too many voices and focus on what really matters, will pay dividends with the right hires made.