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Globally, the war for great talent rages on. Amidst the backdrop of what some term the “Great Resignation,” market trends continue to fluctuate. Now more than ever, business leaders need a strong team for success.
To attract the right talent, many companies have turned to an exciting new ally: Artificial intelligence, or AI.
AI has become a cornerstone in the HR industry, revolutionizing how companies recruit, retain and develop employees.
In this post, we explore the latest trends shaping AI-driven recruitment and guide you in turning AI concerns into confident hiring decisions.
Trends in AI-Driven Recruitment
1. AI is an ace at talent matching.
There’s no better matchmaker than an AI platform.
Say you’re hiring for a Marketing Manager. A recruiter will have to scour through job boards and maintain a spreadsheet of potential candidates, before interviewing each shortlisted candidate.
An AI platform could do the job in at least half the time. Using sourcing and filtering algorithms, it can recognize the traits of the top 20% of candidates and compare them with the remaining 80%. The data helps recruiters delve deeper into each candidate’s profile.
By utilizing AI-driven tools, you increase the chance for higher-quality interviews and safeguard your business against unconscious bias.
2. Large companies around the world are actively recruiting with AI.
Cigna, a health insurance company based in the United States, faced a challenge with its 70,000+ employees. It was easier for employees to find a new position on LinkedIn than on the company’s job board.
Given the company’s day-to-day operations included filling up to 5,000 open positions, they opted to tap into their existing talent pool using an AI-powered HR platform.
The solution not only resolved their goal to close job positions quickly, but also provided more career opportunities for their existing employees.
Global companies like Procter & Gamble, Domino’s Pizza, and IBM are also embracing AI recruitment tools to streamline their hiring process. Even industry giants like Amazon are rumored to be developing their own Automated Applicant Evaluation system to fast-track hiring by comparing an applicant’s resume to that of existing Amazon workers.
3. Growing companies are all aboard the AI train too.
AI isn’t just for the big guns. Businesses running on a lean operation can integrate AI to streamline tasks. In fact, 29% of small businesses have already integrated some sort of AI tool into their operations.
There are abundant opportunities for AI in a growing company’s recruitment strategy. With AI, businesses of all sizes can level the playing field by leveraging the same recruitment insights, source the best candidates efficiently and save valuable time and resources.
Sourcing candidates is already time-consuming and tedious. The last thing a growing business needs is to dedicate too much resources to it. By leveraging AI and machine learning, recruiters automate and streamline the process.
The best part? It doesn’t necessarily need to break the bank. There are recruitment services that utilize AI-driven platforms. The cost of these services can vary from the number of hires or the scope of work.
4. AI-enhanced employee onboarding will be a fixture.
AI is more than a helpful tool for sourcing and interviewing candidates. It’s also great for automating the onboarding process.
There are AI platforms that allow you to design a whole onboarding journey for new hires. You can send everything from welcome emails to training materials. Think of it as an employee’s personalized checklist for their few weeks in your organization.
As a result, new hires enjoy a more organized way of fulfilling their requirements and your HR teams can easily monitor their progress.
5. AI improves retention by hiring from within.
If there’s one thing we learned from Cigna’s case, it’s that AI can enable companies to tap into their existing talent pool for new roles. Hiring from within promotes internal mobility and boosts employee morale.
Internal hires are already familiar with company culture and policies, leading to smoother transitions into the new roles. Hiring internally also shows that your company values their talent, leading to greater job satisfaction.
Addressing the Concerns of AI in the Recruitment Space
1. Recruitment bias
In May 2022, three companies were sued for allegedly using an AI recruitment software that rejects older applicants due to their age. The complaint, which is the first-known AI employment lawsuit, was eventually settled with a payment issued to the rejected applicants.
There’s no question that bias in AI recruitment is a major point of concern. Using these tools comes with a potential lawsuit on its tail. For example, biased tools may filter candidates only from specific colleges or genders. These algorithms eventually lead to workplace discrimination.
How can recruiters mitigate recruitment bias?
You’ll need to “train” an AI model to do its job. If historical datasets show past biases, it’s best to correct them early on.
HR leaders can tackle these questions even before onboarding an AI-based platform by asking:
- How does your platform mitigate bias in your AI models?
- Can you provide transparency into how AI algorithms make recruitment decisions?
- Can you provide diversity metrics in the candidate pool and hiring outcomes?
- Do you regularly audit your system to detect and correct any emerging biases?
Human intervention and data sampling are essential steps to reduce bias – and legal risks – when working with AI platforms. Consider working with vendors that are committed to transparency and fairness in recruitment practices, when implementing these tools.
2. Data privacy concerns
As with all cases of AI usage, data privacy is a huge concern. AI recruitment tools derive large datasets from online resumes, application forms, and even social media profiles.
You have the right to worry over your own organization’s data as well since it could end up being fed back into an AI model. As HR, you handle large amounts of sensitive data each day, so a form of governance must be in place.
How do you ensure data protection when using AI tools?
It’s always best to exert caution before onboarding a new system. Ask your vendor how they source data, where it’s stored, and who owns the data.
Consider accreditations as well. Is your vendor internationally recognized for managing consumer data? Are they abiding by relevant data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or other regional data protection policies?
Address these privacy concerns to protect the rights of your candidates and your company’s reputation.
3. “Robotic” recruitment
First, let’s address the elephant in the room: No, HR isn’t here to replace recruiters or HR teams for that matter.
Traditional recruiting has just become outdated; it’s time-consuming and has proved inefficient.
AI is here to streamline that otherwise overwhelming process. However, it’s also crucial to preserve the human touch in recruitment.
How can you use AI to improve – not impair – the candidate’s experience?
To help your candidates feel more engaged, hiring managers and recruiters should ensure personalized communication and feedback loops, balancing efficiency with empathy.
Use data derived from AI tools to draft personalized emails and response letters to give candidates a feel of your company culture. Make it a point to also gather feedback from candidates during the recruitment process, so you can also identify for improvement.
Finally, understand what tasks to delegate to humans and AI tools. Here are a few ideas:
- Recruitment tasks for AI tools
- Candidate sourcing and initial screening
- Predictive analysis (analyzing historical data)
- Automated reference checks
- Recruitment tasks for humans:
- Building relationships with candidates
- Evaluation of soft skills
- Employment contract negotiations
- Strategic workforce planning
By strategically dividing tasks between people and AI tools, companies ensure the recruitment process is fair, efficient, and successful.
To Sum It Up: AI Is Changing Recruitment for the Better
While AI technology holds great promise for improving recruitment practices, it’s essential to approach its implementation thoughtfully.
By staying proactive in detecting systematic bias, data concerns, and other risks, AI can benefit recruitment in more ways than one.
While AI might bring efficiency to the table, it is human recruiters who best serve the dish. Don’t let AI overhaul your entire recruitment process. Put recruiters in place to build personal connections and navigate interpersonal dynamics.
If you’re looking for the best of both worlds, consider KAMI’s recruitment service.
KAMI leverages an AI-driven platform that combs through the world’s top job portals for the best candidates. To further ensure you’re only interviewing the right people for the job, our team personally assesses them based on skills and other relevant requirements.
It doesn’t end there. When you select the best candidate, you can leave it to our intelligent Applicant Tracking System to offer, approve, and hire candidates digitally.
Talk to our experts today to learn how KAMI can help elevate your recruitment strategy.