When you step into a new Talent Acquisition role, it’s natural to focus on the most visible elements – hiring goals, process improvements, building partnerships with line managers, and meeting the expectations of senior leadership.

And of course, that’s critical.

The obvious stakeholders – your direct manager, their peers, the C-suite, and business line leaders – are essential to understand. Know their goals, their mandates for the year, and what success looks like for them. Learn where TA can add value and get clear on how you can support their objectives. These relationships often shape your reputation early, and they deserve focused attention.

But beyond the usual suspects lies a second, often overlooked group – the informal influencers and potential sponsors who can have just as much impact on your success.

These are the people who don’t sit on organisational charts in positions of power, but whose influence is felt across teams and functions:

• The long-serving individual contributors that everyone respects
• The EAs who often have the ear of senior leadership
• The peer-level colleagues who know how things really get done
• The social organisers and team builders who drive culture from the ground up

They may not sign off on your projects, but they can make your life easier – or harder. They know the unspoken rules, they shape team sentiment, and they often act as unofficial gatekeepers of culture and communication.

Building relationships with these people helps you understand the true dynamics of the organisation – the stuff you won’t find in onboarding decks or process flowcharts.

So if you’re starting in a new TA role, make it a priority to observe who these people are. Take the time to listen, learn how they work, and find genuine ways to connect.

Because success in TA is rarely just about the hires you make – it’s about how well you navigate and influence the broader ecosystem around you.