How to re-humanize recruitment with technology

A singular job listing generates hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants which all need to be screened before being shortlisted and interviewed.

Large corporates often advertise for multiple vacancies at a time, multiplying the duration recruiters must spend manually vetting candidates.

As the average recruitment process, from writing the job description to taking on the new hire, takes 23.7 days, recruiters are already stretched thin.

Robust Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) aid recruiters in filtering applications, surfacing only the most suitable candidates for the job.

By removing the need to manually filter, talent acquisition (TA) teams can instead spend time engaging with potential employees. From the minute an applicant starts researching a company, companies must offer a memorable experience that will sway candidates to choose them over their competitors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) provides an opportunity to humanize hiring, encourage better communication with hires and stop recruitment teams from getting caught up in time-consuming and mundane tasks.

Better brand images attract higher quality applications

Companies aren’t making the most of how their ATS can enhance recruitment processes. Current legacy ATS’ whilst beneficial to the organizations themselves, aren’t often favored by candidates.

Research suggests applicants are sometimes disheartened when using an ATS, because they don’t know whether a human will view their application.

Organizations that put some time aside saved through using ATS to reply or give feedback will be favored by candidates.

As a result, businesses will see an increase in the quality of the applications they receive.

Creating a good candidate experience positively affects brand image. Applicants are more likely share their experiences with their network, friends and even on social media.

Social posts about bad encounters may land on possible future employees’ timelines, causing the best candidates to make a conscious decision to avoid businesses they’ve heard have poor hiring processes.

Over time, this will have a poor effect on the strengths and abilities of your team which could’ve been avoided from the beginning.

Build a pool of perfect candidates

Often only one candidate is offered a role, causing several applicants to just miss out on a job offer. Instead of scrapping the vetted individuals that businesses know are competent enough to take on the role, organizations should store these applications.

This means hiring teams, rather than starting from scratch for each job listing, can recall upon certain candidates down the line whenever a suitable new position opens.

This information does not need to be stored on organizations’ own hard drives either; the AI needed to create these talent pools often use the cloud to operate.

Past applications can be accessed and pulled from wherever or whenever – allowing hiring teams to work remotely or from the office.

As AI surfaces the best CVs to the top, businesses can use the same intelligence to ensure only the best-suited candidates are the ones that are stored too.

Whilst creating these databases helps with future hiring efforts, it also shows candidates you appreciate the time and effort they’ve put into their applications.

If the individuals are no longer interested in the company or seeking employment, they have the choice to either opt out or share the openings with their network.

By building talent pools, companies can have access to hundreds of applications before they’ve even posted a job listing.

Efficiently increase diversity and employee retention

Recruitment is often affected by the different opinions and stereotypes people hold, causing some candidates to be unintentionally brushed aside.

Algorithms are less likely to hold these biases and they don’t analyze personal information like name or gender, leading to better informed decisions to the suitability of a candidate.

Having a team full of diverse individuals from different backgrounds with varying experience can lead to problems getting solved faster, fresh ideas and overall strengthen the day-to-day operation of the business. In fact, companies with diverse management teams have 19% higher revenues than those who don’t.

The use of AI within hiring helps to ensure organizations are finding the best fit to the role and their culture– the better the fit, the more likely they’ll stay with the company for an extended amount of time.

Following this, businesses will find both current and new staff feel happier in their roles.

The speed of which AI helps fill positions with the right talent will increase morale of HR departments and relieve those with harsh workloads caused by a lack of staff.

AI is the future of recruitment, helping to make processes as easy as possible for both the organization and the applicant.

The companies who utilize AI in the right way and create good experiences for candidates will continue to grow, despite all industries being amid a highly competitive war for talent.