Talent Acquisition Post Covid: How Technology has changed HR Recruiting since the pandemic

Image Source:westernoffice.net

Introduction

In today's digital age, technology has completely transformed the way businesses operate, including how they acquire talent. Recruitment, which used to be a manual and time-consuming process, has become more streamlined and efficient thanks to technological advancements. (D'Cruz, 2023)

In this blog, we will explore how technology is changing HR recruiting and the ways in which companies can leverage these innovations to acquire the best talent.

AI-powered recruitment software

One of the biggest technological advancements in talent acquisition is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI-powered recruitment software is helping HR professionals sift through resumes, screen candidates, and even conduct initial interviews. This became particularly relevant as organisations started hiring remote workers, international workers & outsourced workers. Due to practical limitations, HR teams had to shift their recruitment processes online and even conduct assessments 100% digitally. (manatal.com, 2022)

According to Jennings (2022) & Jones (2022) these are some of the ways AI is being used in the recruitment process

Sourcing Talent

AI-based recruiting technology is being used to automatically reach out to potential employees, with data taken in from multiple public and proprietary data sources. 

The candidate-to-job matches AI makes are then used to flag prospective personnel to reach out to, and AI facilitates this process as well by generating email or text-based outreach.

Assessing Applicants

AI Technology is used to score resumes and identify candidates best suited for a position. This technology looks at various factors—such as experience, skills and education levels. It then compares this data against a company’s specific needs to recommend the most qualified candidates for a given position. This saves the HR professionals time and helps ensure the best candidates are being considered for each job.

Onboard & Engage Employees

AI can create customized learning paths for new employees based on their skills and interests and match them to similar groups and individuals at the organisation. 

This helps employees assimilate faster and be more productive sooner. It also helps reduce the amount of training needed, saving companies time and money. This is especially valuable for large organizations with thousands of employees.


Benefits of AI in Recruitment

According to Eliaçık (2022) & www.7wdata.be (2019) these are some benefits of AI in recruitment:

  • Saving Time
  • Improving recruitment quality and objectivity
  • Improving candidate experience & employer brand
  • Automation of Hiring process
  • Efficiency & optimisation of hiring process
  • Cost Effective compared to traditional methods

   Image source: www.7wdata.be


Challenges of applying AI in recruiting

The use of AI in recruitment is not without its challenges, as alluded to by Ideal.Com (2023) below

AI requires a lot of data

In general, AI requires a lot of data to learn how to accurately mimic human intelligence.

For example, AI that uses machine learning needs a lot of data to learn how to screen resumes as accurately as a human recruiter. This can mean several hundred to several thousand resumes that need to be evaluated for a specific role which may not suit the scenario of many organisations.

AI can learn human biases

As AI is trained to find patterns in previous behavior, any human bias that may already be in an organisation's recruiting process – even if it’s unconscious – could be learned by AI if developed without due diligence.

Skepticism of new technology

Given that it is a relatively new technology, recruitment and talent acquisition leaders could be skeptical of any technology that promises to make their jobs easier and that can enhance the capabilities of their HR ecosystem. They want to be sure that any software that will automate one of their tasks is going to be able to do as good of a job as they can.

Conclusion

Technology has transformed the recruitment process, and AI-powered recruiting software is making the process more efficient and effective for HR professionals. It is helping them to sift through resumes, screen candidates, and even conduct initial interviews. 

AI is also facilitating the onboarding and engagement of new employees. The benefits of AI in recruitment include improving the quality and objectivity of recruitment, finding the right candidates, saving time, and improving the overall recruitment experience for candidates. 

However, there are challenges to applying AI in recruiting, such as the need for a lot of data, the risk of AI learning human biases, and skepticism of these new technologies. 

Despite these challenges, with proper due diligence and monitoring, companies can leverage AI to acquire the best talent and stay ahead of the competition in today's digital age.

References

Bamboohr.com (2023)/What Is Social Media Recruiting? | BambooHR (no date). Available at: https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/hr-glossary/social-media-recruiting (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

D'Cruz, J (2023). The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Recruiting. Available at: https://recruitingdaily.com/the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-on-recruiting/ (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Eliaçık, E. (2022) ‘How Is Artificial Intelligence Changing The Recruiting Process? (2022) - Dataconomy’ (2022), 12 August. Available at: https://dataconomy.com/blog/2022/08/12/how-is-artificial-intelligence-changing-the-recruiting-process/ (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Ideal.com (2023) ‘AI For Recruiting: A Definitive Guide For HR Professionals’ Available at: https://ideal.com/ai-recruiting/ (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Jennings, M. (2022) ‘Smart HR: How AI is Transforming Talent Acquisition’, Techopedia, 31 January. Available at: https://www.techopedia.com/smart-hr-how-ai-is-transforming-talent-acquisition/2/34667 (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Jones, K (2022), How AI is transforming the talent acquisition process | TechTarget (no date) HR Software. Available at: https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/tip/6-ways-AI-can-improve-the-talent-acquisition-process (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Manatal.Com (2022). Talent Acquisition: The Benefit of Artificial Intelligence. Available at: https://www.manatal.com/blog/talent-acquisition-benefit-artificial-intelligence (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Wirick, G. (2023) ‘The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Recruiting’, RecruitingDaily, 22 March. Available at: https://recruitingdaily.com/the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-on-recruiting/ (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

www.7wData.Be (2019). AI for Recruiting: Everything You Need to Know. Available at: https://7wdata.be/growth-hacking/ai-for-recruiting-everything-you-need-to-know/ (Accessed: 18 April 2023).

Comments

  1. Janaka Madushan18 April 2023 at 12:14

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janaka Madushan18 April 2023 at 12:16

    Technology made it possible to keep the workplace afloat throughout the pandemic, from applications such as Zoom and Slack to the use of AI and social media in recruiting. Now that more companies are choosing to stay remote, it will be up to HR tech to evolve to support new needs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHRM Beyond COVID20 April 2023 at 06:47

      Thank you for your comment Janaka. Yes absolutely, HR tech is giving organisations much more flexibility in how they choose to work, the advent of SaaS companies has also made the entire structure far more affordable as well, furthermore a new wave of offshoring and outsourcing companies have sprung up offering a seamless way of integrating world-class international talent into companies operating in developed market.

      Delete
  3. Wishmila Premadasa19 April 2023 at 01:30

    Talent acquisition is an ongoing strategy to find specialist, leaders or future executives for your company or an organization. This is long-term strategic process employees used to analyse their long-term talent needs in the context of business goals. Talent acquisition just may be the biggest challenge facing HR today with Covid-19. Your topic is very user topic with real time examples. Very interesting. AI is a technology that allows computers to learn from and make and recommend actions based on previous collected data. You can add top applications of AI in HRM to your article because famous Al application are "Automaton of Administrative Tasks. and "Internal Mobility and Employee Retention" now a days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHRM Beyond COVID20 April 2023 at 06:47

      Thank you very much for your feedback Wishmila

      Delete
  4. Hashmath Huzair19 April 2023 at 12:01

    Great blog post Nithila! It's evident how technology, especially AI-powered recruitment software, has revolutionized HR recruiting since the pandemic. The ability to source talent, assess applicants, and onboard new employees with the help of AI has significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the recruitment process. The benefits of AI in recruitment, such as saving time, improving recruitment quality, and enhancing candidate experience, are evident.

    However, it's important to acknowledge the challenges, such as the need for a substantial amount of data, the risk of AI learning biases, and scepticism towards new technology. By addressing these challenges through proper due diligence and monitoring, companies can leverage AI to acquire top talent and stay competitive in today's digital era. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHRM Beyond COVID20 April 2023 at 06:49

      Thank you very much for the kind feedback Hashmath, appreciate it!

      Delete
  5. Thusantha Bandara21 April 2023 at 20:14

    Nithila talks about how technology, particularly AI-powered recruitment software, has transformed the recruitment process, making it more efficient and effective for HR professionals. The article highlights the benefits of AI in recruitment, including improving the quality and objectivity of recruitment, saving time, and improving the overall recruitment experience for candidates. However, there are also challenges to applying AI in recruiting, such as the need for a lot of data and the risk of AI learning human biases. Despite these challenges, companies can leverage AI to acquire the best talent and stay ahead of the competition in today's digital age. Great ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHRM Beyond COVID22 April 2023 at 00:54

      Thank you very much for your kind feedback Thusantha, I actually came across a very interesting webinar that talks about some of the changes in talent acquisition Post Covid, it's a bit long, but do check it out if you have the time (https://youtu.be/-Nj2A_pB3xQ)

      Delete
  6. People's Hub by Chathura J Semaratne E18980322 April 2023 at 01:52

    An interesting article Nithila. You have highlighted the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in talent acquisition, and technology has played a crucial role in enabling these changes. Technology has revolutionized HR recruiting since the pandemic, enabling organizations to adapt to new challenges and find the right talent in an increasingly competitive market. While technology has made recruitment more efficient, it's important for organizations to balance technology with a human touch to create a positive candidate experience and build lasting relationships with employees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHRM Beyond COVID22 April 2023 at 03:06

      Agreed Chathura, technology is merely a catalyst, as McGovern (2020) puts it, even during the initial training of AI, humans need to employ their skills in selecting the correct training data as well as leverage their relevant expertise in order to get the best out of technology. He goes on to say that organisations should strive toward adopting a hybrid model using both human intervention and AI's data processing capability

      Delete

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