Talent Acquisition Leaders Have An Opportunity Approaching
Recruiting and candidate sourcing are simultaneously viewed as areas where HR can have the most impact on the business and as the most inefficient processes in HR. Throw in the fact that it is also an increasingly data intensive process, and you have an area ripe for automation.
While all areas of HR are seeing an onslaught of new technology powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), bots, and automation, recruiting is getting the most current attention. It will be the testing ground for these capabilities. That’s nothing new. If you look at the waves of tech innovation since the mid 90s Talent Acquisition always leads the way. First to the web, to SaaS, to the cloud, to social, to mobile, to HR big data, and so on…
The promise of these emerging trends in automation offer an opportunity to add value to the employer not seen since the wave of tech initially taking recruiting to the web. One could argue that most of the innovation in recruiting tech since 2004 has been largely incremental.
Recruiting’s Future
The thing about automation – whether by smart workflow engines triggered by actions and analytics – or by AI or smart bots – is that it offers recruiting leaders an opportunity to off load high volume transactions to the machines, close communication loops, internal and external, that are now left with perpetual loose ends, and more quickly analyze results and decision points. This doesn’t replace recruiters and sourcers. Smart employers won’t look at this gained efficiency as a means to lay off their front line brand ambassadors. They will see it as an opportunity for recruiters to do what they are really good at – engaging with candidates and helping hiring managers make better decisions.
I really hope that as talent acquisition leaders assess this imminent wave of new tech, they step back and look not just at the low hanging fruit at the “top of the recruiting funnel”, but at the total candidate experience. There are incredible opportunities being created to automate and add value at every step of the process.
In our latest infographic, “The Future of Recruitment: AI, Bots, and Automation”, the HR Federation takes a look at the total candidate experience as well as the initial employee experience, and sheds light on some of the more significant opportunities to automate, and the value delivered to both employers and candidates.