Not a week goes by in my socials that I don’t read about the ‘death of recruitment’ or how AI and technology is going to replace us all! But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Recent data shows that the recruitment industry is worth close to a staggering 500 billion dollars (USD) globally, with an expected CAGR of 8.9% by 2023 moving the market above 1.100 billion dollars (USD). The Australian market is worth 25 billion dollars and the majority of agencies are recording healthy year on year profit with strong demand forecast through 2019. The death of recruitment? Far from it! But won’t AI and robots take over? I would argue no.
AI and humans together……That is where the benefit is for everyone in the value chain. The recruiter, the candidate and the client.
With continuing advances in technology comes the ‘Rise of The Humans’ not the ‘Rise of The Robots’ (sorry Skynet….you still lose, at least for now, in recruitment!)
That doesn’t mean that AI and technology doesn’t have its place. Skilled recruiters and all recruitment companies should be investing in AI and tech tools. At a bare minimum they should be informed in the following:
Automation – messaging, basic follow up, confirmation, simple processes. If it is a simple task then automation should be considered.
Reduced Administration – follow up, scheduling, interviews, induction, contract signing, candidate care etc.
Advertising – there are a range of tools available that produce copy, reduce potential bias and can improve advertising results.
Reference Checking – this can be automated through a range of online products.
Sourcing – most recruiters have gone all in on sourcing technology but keeping across the latest trends or predictive products that track candidate movement or approachability signal should be considered.
Messaging / Keeping In The Loop – the number 1 concern of candidates is still the lack of feedback of follow up by companies and recruiters. Basic messaging and follow up can be personalised and automated. This should not be used as an excuse (or technology crutch) to avoid providing an exceptional customer experience but can be used to add value to the process.
Chatbots – for basic screening, information gathering, initial website engagement.
New Data Sets – Machine learning is starting to provide useful insights into predictive analytics for candidate success.
Reporting
Technology moves at a high cadence and recruiters who fail to keep up with technology will eventually end up like the dinosaurs……extinct.
The modern recruiter (and modern recruitment business) needs to be invested in technology, marketing, sales, data analytics and ultimately engagement! That is the new battleground.
Where technology meets an exceptional recruiter you have the ability to optimise the recruitment process for all parties. (reduce cost, increase efficiency, drive key outcomes) This leads to a more transparent process, with greater communication, more touch points, less bias and gives the recruiter more space to add value where he is best – in the ‘human’ elements. The key advantages I see at the moment are:
1) Customer Experience & Engagement
AI and Technology should be setup to handle all of the basic administrative tasks of the recruiter. If it can be automated then it should be considered. This frees up the recruiter to focus on delivering a personalised and exceptional customer experience. The ‘human touch’ is what sets the recruiter apart. People still buy from people they know, like and trust. This simply cannot be replicated by AI. AI can aid customer experience but they cannot deliver customer experience alone. No one will trust AI with one of the biggest decisions of their lives! Whether it is your job, career or craft the next opportunity is one of the key decisions you will continue to make in your life and is up there with choosing a life partner or a new house in my opinion.
Engagement is where humans again have the advantage. Human interaction (and more importantly emotion) cannot be replicated by AI. Sure a chatbot can schedule an interview or deal with basic tasks but as I write this article they cannot understand, grasp or deal with complex human emotion. They don’t have the power to influence, to ask complex questions, to read non verbal cues, to use their intuition. At the moment AI does what the algorithm teaches it to do, that is all.
AI can find profiles quicker, (I deliberately don’t use the word source) and often faster than humans. This has levelled the playing fields for recruiters in finding talent, however the technology doesn’t source or secure commitment and this is where a true professional stands out. I love how Greg Savage puts it “it won’t find people; it will find their profiles! And that’s the point. The profiles can be found by machines. The people are harder to reach.”
Engagement is king. This is what sets the best recruiters apart, they have strong personal brands, they are trusted, they know their market, they add value beyond the recruitment process, they reach the people!
2) Predictive Analytics
This is where I believe AI can provide exceptional value in time to the recruiter. All recruiters use intuition as part of the recruitment process alongside processes, procedures and patterns that have driven their results.
Machine learning over time may replace and will certainly aid the recruitment function as it will be able to accurately identify factors that result in hiring of top performers. Machine learning will have the power to reveal the best attraction factors, recruiting sources, interview questions and which recruiters hire the best for their clients. Data from successful and unsuccessful hires will drive improvement for new hires.
Dr John Sullivan believes that “AI/machine learning will force a more scientific approach where data from both successful and unsuccessful hires leads to continuous improvement in the performance of new-hires. Machine learning will also provide convincing data that will help executives understand the business impacts in dollars of great versus average hiring. And this direct connection to business performance will lead to better funding of the recruiting function.”
I think this opens up a new sphere for recruiters to add value (alongside AI and technology) and have a potential to reduce commoditisation that we are seeing in the marketplace, particularly if you have access and can prove your ability to secure great hires (which I believe is a mix of a high performer, placed in the right environment and culture that brings out the best in them) over average hires.
So what results have I seen us achieve in the last couple of years? At Aurec Group we have continued to invest in technology particularly across candidate engagement and experience as well as automation. This led to us been shortlisted by Recruitment International (Australia) for the Best Use Of Recruitment Technology in 2019!
The results we have achieved include:
NPS uplift from 47 to 55 (world class)
Full transparency, visibility and feedback for candidates engaged via Aurec through the combination of our automated messaging and portal. Increased candidate satisfaction.
Talent Re-discovery – 27% of targeted historic candidates actively re-engaged with our brand, updating their details, CV and/or referring other key talent.
100% compliance of our candidate care promise with additional automated and personalised messaging. Administration reduced by 23%.
Automation of our contractor administration, onboarding and NPS functions resulting in significant cost savings for the business.
Referrals increased across the group of 17%. Directly through our candidate experience tool.
Candidate experience has improved 18% as per candidate surveys.
It is too early at this stage to see the impact that Predictive Analytics will have on our business but we are already capturing interesting data in regards to great hires, not just retention metrics or recruitment KPIs that I believe will add significant value to our clients moving forward.
There is no doubt that AI and Technology will continue to modify (I couldn’t bring myself to use the word ‘disrupt’) and augment the way recruitment and recruiters function. This is clear. The future I see however is bright, with better engagement, better service levels and a better experience for all involved!
But then again maybe I am too optimistic. Maybe AI and the robots are coming, maybe they take our jobs, start WW3 and win. Who knows?
Share your thoughts and feedback below.
#recruitment #recruitmenttech #recruitmenttechnology #artificialintelligience #AI #riseofthehumans #customerexperience #modernrecruiter #modernrecruitment
This article is originally published at www.matthewcossens.com/blog/
Subscribe to our newsletter and regular updates at www.matthewcossens.com/
Follow me and engage on LinkedIn at
Or follow the Facebook page at:
Comments