I generally agree with the suggestion that the line managers who know the work rather than whatever HR department a company has should have the lead role in hiring. The supposed rationale for an HR department is that hiring and firing are hemmed in by various laws that not everyone understands, and a capable HR person can prevent a company from doing something illegal that exposes the company to a lawsuit or criminal penalties. But most of the time, HR departments really keep companies from hiring capable workers.

Definitely learn the law, and don't do anything illegal, but help managers learn how to develop work-sample tests for hiring,

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5227923

and make sure that the main focus of hiring is getting each job done right by new hires who have a capacity to grow into more responsible positions in the company over the next few years.