Balancing Act: Why Recruitment Automation Does Not Rule Out The Recruiter
Recruitment automation is designed to automatically complete tasks, fast and efficiently with minimal human input. Many talent acquisition teams make the decision to implement automated initiatives because of the time-saving possibilities. Different areas where it is most commonly used include, candidate screening, interviewing, sourcing, management and communication.
However, implementing recruitment automation is not without reservations from the hiring professional…
“Will technology replace my role?”
“How can I trust automation to complete the job?”
“If there’s a lack of human input will communication suffer?”
However, there are recruiters who believe automation will, in fact, make their jobs better. A recent study by Jobvite found that 43% of hiring professionals agree technology will help make their role more efficient.
How to find the balance
Through working together. It may sound like a cliche but it is true. Automation when successfully utilised is the perfect recruitment assistant, it does not replace but instead, will enhance.
Keyways in doing so:
- Complete manual administrative duties
The perfect task for recruitment automation. Heavy loads of admin can bog down any recruiter, so it’s beneficial to look for automated options.
- Create consistency
Automation is programmed to complete a set task. This means it will consistently undertake a duty and spend equal parts of time and effort in doing so.
- Data decisions
Automated solutions can produce lots of data, something that can be of incredible value for the recruiter. Hiring teams can use the data to interpret hiring patterns, make hiring decisions and predict future hiring trends.
- Improve candidate experience
With plenty of saved time, the recruiter can truly focus on the candidate and the communicational side of their role to maintain a high level of candidate care.
Key areas, in a little more detail…
Repetitive tasks
Daily repetition for hiring teams will include; screening job applications, responding to pre-screening questions, background checks, interview arranging and scheduling. When considering this on a large scale in high volume situations, repetitive tasks can quickly become prone to inconsistencies. For example, a human may read the first resume of the day much differently than they do at the end of the day. It’s likely they will be more thorough initially and could be less particular once they have already found suitable candidates. (In no way is this always a case but it is a possibility!).
In these scenarios, automation excels. It can process job applications in seconds and return to the recruiter a proposed list of job matching candidates. Therefore it’s then up to the recruiter, to digest the results and make a conclusive decision about which candidates will advance.
Improvements
A key component to recruitment automation is its ability to help a recruiter minimise their workload. Take, for example, a recruiter who spends a good portion of their day manually candidate sourcing. They will look externally and internally for potential new candidates hoping they match the potential role.
Instead, automated technology will introduce new techniques to acquire the best talent. Automatically searching a candidate database to match previous applicants against new vacancies. To open up a whole new talent pool for hiring teams to explore, which previously they may not have considered. Saving external recruitment costs and time spent manually sourcing new candidates.
Removing bias
Commonly a motivation for hiring teams using automation is to create an inclusive and diverse workforce. As unconscious bias often goes undetected, it can create damaging consequences for candidates and the hiring experience as a whole. Automation can be very useful in tackling this. It will remove unconscious human motives such as gut feelings and help realign the recruiter’s attention to hiring for skill, experience and justifiable reasoning.
How to effectively implement automation
A complete recruitment overhaul is not effective. This can increase the risk of over automation. Something that will push the recruiter out and result in a loss of human interaction and subsequently a negative experience for the candidate.
Instead, there needs to be careful planning and consideration into all aspects of the hiring process to determine which area(s) will benefit the most from technology and which human. Manual time-consuming tasks where consistency is difficult to secure will benefit the most from automation. Whereas human value lies in human skill. Communication, empathy, understanding and personal recruitment experience will not be replaced by technology.
What are your thoughts on recruitment technology and the role of the recruiter? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter @CiiVSOFT.
