How to Successfully Roll Out a Licensed to Hire Program

More and more I’m hearing from leaders who want to roll out dedicated interviewer training. They understand the critical need for it in this market, but are struggling with actioning a sustainable and effective process. So my first question for these people is always the same:

“What exactly are you trying to achieve?”

Because here’s the thing—when people talk about interviewer training, it usually means different things to different people. Sometimes it’s about teaching the mechanics of interviewing, other times it’s about educating hiring managers on the whole recruitment process, or the focus is all about boosting inclusivity. These are all critical but distinct goals, and you can’t tackle them all at once. It’s like trying to boil the ocean.

So, how do you know where to start? Let’s break down these three use cases:

• Interviewer Training
• Hiring Manager Training
• Inclusive Hiring Training

The Three Major Use Cases for Interviewing Training:

1. Interviewer Training: Nailing the Basics

When most people think of interviewer training, they’re talking about the nuts and bolts of how to conduct a good interview. This is essential for anyone who’s part of an interview panel—whether they’re a hiring manager or just someone providing feedback. The goal here is to ensure that everyone involved can ask the right questions and evaluate answers fairly.

At SocialTalent, for example, we focus on training interviewers to conduct behavioral and situational interviews—getting them comfortable with asking probing questions, reading between the lines of candidates’ responses, and building consistent evaluation rubrics. We base our training on John Vlastelica’s renowned approach which looks at: Skills, Values, Motivation, and Achievements.

If you can master this framework, you’ll be well on your way to conducting effective interviews that dig deeper into what really matters. But this is stage one. This kind of training covers anyone who plays a role in the interview process. What if your need was greater than this?

2. Hiring Manager Training: Going Beyond Interviews

Now, let’s talk about hiring manager training, because this is where the scope expands. Hiring managers aren’t just responsible for interviewing—they’re accountable for shaping the entire recruitment process.

This means they need to know how to:

• Define clear job requisitions: What exactly are they looking for?
• Build a structured hiring process: How many interviews? What types of assessments?
• Make decisions: Who has the final say, and when is it made?
• Sell the role: How do they engage and close top talent?

Hiring manager training covers everything from the job spec to the final offer. It’s about driving the process, ensuring alignment with the talent acquisition team and organizational goals, and creating an amazing candidate experience. You’re not just learning how to ask questions—you’re mastering the art of hiring with this kind of training.

3. Inclusive Hiring Training: The Game Changer

Then there’s inclusive hiring training. And trust me, this is not just a box to tick. It’s about understanding who’s walking into the room (or onto your Zoom call!) and ensuring the hiring process works for everyone, regardless of background or ability.

It goes beyond just avoiding bias or complying with legal requirements (although that’s important too). It’s about being aware of how things like microaggressions or micro-affirmations can impact different candidates, and making sure your process is as inclusive as possible. Did you know, for example,  that how you arrange the chairs in a room could disadvantage someone with autism or ADHD? Or that using time-pressured assessments could unintentionally exclude candidates with dyslexia?

Inclusive hiring training helps interviewers and hiring managers recognize these potential barriers and adjust accordingly. For one company SocialTalent worked with, inclusivity was their starting point for interviewer training—they recognized that diverse hiring was critical to their success, and they wanted every interviewer to be equipped with the skills to make it happen.

Common Challenges:

Time Management

So you’ve decided what you want your training to achieve, the next step in a successful roll out is to ensure your teams can actually complete the necessary modules. One of the biggest hurdles when it comes to any kind of training is time.

Let’s face it, your people have limited hours to dedicate to learning each year, and if you’re competing with the likes of compliance training, leadership development, sustainability workshops, etc. you’re not going to get as much time as you’d like!

So how do you make interviewer training work in a sustainable manner?

I love the model IBM used when we rolled this out with them to 90,000 interviewers. It’s simple but effective: the Cupcake, Birthday Cake, and Wedding Cake approach! Stay with me!

• Cupcake (Basic): This is the bare minimum—an hour or so of training that teaches people how not to mess up an interview. It’s about covering the essentials and making sure everyone involved in the hiring process knows the basics.

• Birthday Cake (Moderate): This is for those who need a bit more depth—think frequent hiring managers who need a stronger grasp on interviewing and decision-making.

• Wedding Cake (Advanced): This is the full spread—comprehensive training for senior leaders or those hiring for specialized, complex roles. It’s about ensuring they know how to sell the company, close candidates, and create a top-notch candidate experience.

This layered approach ensures you’re catering to different needs without overwhelming people. Not everyone needs to become a hiring expert, but they do need to be competent enough to represent your company well in the interview room.

Structuring the Roll Out: Stick or Carrot?

Once you’ve designed your training, the next big question is how to roll it out. Do you make it mandatory (stick) or do you incentivize people to do it voluntarily (carrot)?

Some organizations we work with take a firm stance with interviewer training. They block hiring managers from opening new requisitions in their ATS until they’ve completed the required training. It’s a guaranteed way to get 100% compliance.

But not every company culture responds well to the stick approach. Some will lean more towards the carrot approach—persuading teams to buy into the training by showing its value. You might start with a friendly senior leader who’s respected across the business, get them on board, and then use their success story as a way to influence others.

Choose whichever approach best reflects the DNA of your business and teams; it’s not a right or wrong decision. We’re workimng with Maria Gerleman from Ericsson at the moment, and she gave a great insight into this. They engaged in workshops with the hiring managers and interviewers and got their insight before rolling out training. Interestingly, they ended up with almost the same curriculum they had initially created, but they gained stakeholder buy-in which massively impacted the behavioural side of the roll out.

Timing Is Key

One of the biggest mistakes we see is trying to roll out training to everyone, all at once, regardless of whether they’re actually hiring. The reality is, people aren’t going to care about interview training if they’re not about to interview anyone.

The trick is to align your training with hiring needs. If someone’s about to open a requisition, that’s the perfect time to give them the training they need. Or, better yet, build it into the onboarding process for new managers, so they’re equipped from day one. This way, you catch people at the right moment, when the training is relevant to their role.

Wrapping It All Up

Rolling out a successful interview training program isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about changing behavior, improving the candidate experience, and ensuring that your hiring teams are as prepared as possible.

Whether you’re focusing on interviewing, hiring manager training, or inclusive hiring, the key is to be strategic. Know your culture, design a program that fits, and roll it out in a way that sticks—whether that’s through the carrot or the stick.

Remember: great hiring isn’t just a skill—it’s a team sport. And with the right training, your team can knock it out of the park.

This article originally appeared in Johnny Campbell’s Talent Leadership Insights LinkedIn newsletter. Click here to subscribe!