Category: Talent Technology

Dos & Don’ts of Automating Your Candidate Experience

Posted on by skatz

On a sleepy Saturday morning, you grab your laptop and spend two hours applying to your dream job. It’s worth the extra cup of coffee because you like this role and company enough to ignore the annoyance of a long application. Finally, you submit your application. An instant later, you receive a reply in your inbox. “We regret to inform you that, after careful review, you are no longer being considered for this role.”

Maybe that PowerPoint proficiency question you skipped was a disqualifier? With such a general response, it’s hard to know. In the modern candidate’s world, rigid automation rules that lead to a message like the one above rarely make sense. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 82% of candidates report the ideal recruiter interaction is a mix between innovative technology and personal, human interaction. Employers should be on notice, too, as 72% of candidates who have a poor experience share it online, according to the Human Capital Institute.

In this article, we’ll define what automation is, the overall benefits of it, and specific examples of what to do and not do as the use of automation in talent acquisition grows.

What is Automation?

Automation is not new, but it is rapidly evolving. In the industrial revolution, for example, local weavers were replaced by machines that could perform the same tasks in factories. This was an example of a manual task that was replicated into a process and automated. At its most basic definition, automation is:

“The technique of making an apparatus, a process or a system operate automatically.”
– Merriam Webster

What, then, is the relationship between automation and artificial intelligence (AI)? The two terms are sometimes confused and used interchangeably, but AI is defined as:

“ … the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.”
– Investopedia

Types of AI include machine and deep learning. Machine learning involves computers that learn without being explicitly programmed; an example of this is sentiment analysis, in which computers make decisions about how individuals feel based on their activity on or off line. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that teaches computers to take the next step and learn in the same way that humans do. For example, machine learning is displayed when a driverless car recognizes a stop sign and stops.

Today, modern automation almost always involves AI. Finding and scheduling candidates via chatbots, for example, is a type of AI-infused automation in the world of talent acquisition. Automation using AI also includes tasks that were neither quantifiable nor automatable five years ago – such as measuring the interest level of passive candidates from social media metrics.

How Does Automation Affect Talent Acquisition?

When designed correctly, the right levels of automation help the recruiter and candidate create a better candidate experience.

Automation affects recruiters and candidates in different ways. For recruiters, automation helps reduce repetitive, administrative tasks – such as manual searching or appointment-setting – to focus more time on meaningful activities, like face-to-face interviews. On the other hand, automation can help make the process feel more personal for candidates through customized attention and added convenience in the job search by reducing the time it takes to apply. As an example, candidates know chatbots aren’t real people, but most appreciate the instant feedback bots give them.

While automation can be a game changer, there is such a thing as too much or the wrong type of automation. Each stage of the recruitment cycle has an “automation opportunity,” as well as an associated risk to the candidate experience; the risk may be low in the case of automating a candidate’s onboarding experience, for example. In comparison, the final stage of the hiring process is rarely automated and instead involves interviews conducted by humans.

The most effective automation tools have one or more of the following attributes:

  1. Ability to reach candidates in a more meaningful way. With automation, recruiters can have more timely, personalized interactions with candidates. For example, a retail candidate working at a pharmacy can receive email alerts about new roles matching their skills at another pharmacy as soon as the roles are posted.
  2. Ability to make the hiring process convenient and simple. Long gone are the applications that take two hours to complete. Instead, candidates fill out auto-populated applications catered to their interests and backgrounds in just five to 10 minutes.
  3. Ability to maximize recruiter productivity. As previously mentioned, automation can complete more manual tasks – such as passive sourcing 24/7 – freeing up more time for recruiters to work on activities that benefit from the human touch.
  4. Ability to deliver better performance metrics. With more data comes the opportunity to measure it more effectively. The digitization process helps make these metrics part of the recruiter’s ongoing dashboards to measure success.

How to Avoid Candidate Experience Automation Flaws

Automation without the correct supervision can go awry. Consider the programmer who created a social media profile of a fish that was looking for a job. Algorithms took the bait and sent this qualified catfish profile requests for interviews based on keywords and a falsely construed online account. It certainly was fishy.

Here are some common automation mistakes to avoid so you don’t get caught on the hook:

  1. Putting your automation on auto-drive without ongoing input can create unintended bias. While the catfish profile is a more humorous example, you may recall the case study of what not to do from a leading online retailer. The company was hiring programmers, and while well-intentioned, accidentally built bias into the program based on patterns in its database of résumés from the past 10 years – which were mostly male. The company responded quickly, scrapping the program and retooling its efforts to make its profiles more gender-neutral. These types of mistakes are not only bad for your recruiting process and candidates, but can also create issues for your compliance and legal teams, as well.
  2. Too much automation can cause candidates to lose interest. This can occur when interactions lack a human element, causing candidates to tune out during the hiring process.
  3. Too much communication may make candidates disengage. Once a tipping point is reached, it’s hard to come back from a failed interaction; most people have experienced applying to a role and then receiving an influx of unwanted emails. Furthermore, for candidates looking at multiple job opportunities, less personalized forms of communication can create a quick change in interest.

How can these automation flaws be avoided? Test every automation step you incorporate into your hiring process – from both the experience of the recruiter and the candidate – all the way through the candidate journey. Are there any gaps you need to review or hazards you encounter? You can also pilot larger, more disruptive automation with a control group of internal employees to assess results. Make your mistakes up front, fix them, then release to a wider audience. If you think your automation strategies could create biases or a negative hiring experience, stop and retool.

You can also bring your partners along with you on your automation journey. For example, consider establishing an advisory committee to make sure concerns are alleviated, and conduct candidate evaluations to make sure the candidate experience is improved.

When Automation Works

So, when is automation helpful? In addition to eliminating manual tasks and creating time for recruiters to be more strategic, there are five key instances when automation benefits candidates and recruiters.

Automation helps when:

  1. It enhances the candidate experience. An example of this is sending an email to passive candidates asking them to apply. If this process is automated, the candidate gets an identical email, but the recruiter can focus time on other recruiting activities, instead of sending individual emails to multiple candidates.
  2. Flexibility or convenience is added to an existing recruiting process. This benefits recruiters by reducing manual work, by using text reminders to the candidate to select and systematically schedule an interview, for example. This way, the hiring manager and the candidate avoid playing phone tag.
  3. A recruiter can add a personal touch in an automated way. As an example, candidates interested in accounting roles can receive personalized content through career pages and only see positions that apply to their personal skillset when they search.
  4. High-volume positions create hundreds of applicants with a short interview process, such as during the holiday retail hiring season. Quick “yes” or “no” text screens with lower thresholds can help sort candidates through specific questions, such as availability and hourly salary requirements. Doing so helps bring in a smaller, more qualified applicant set to the interview process.
  5. Recruiters need to send reminders to a specific group of candidates. For instance, perhaps you want to invite to a hiring event candidates from the Midwest who have engineering degrees. In this case, automation rules can help determine a discrete set of candidates that meet these requirements and then send the alerts on your behalf.

Automation works well in specific parts of the recruiting process, depending on your target hire. For example, high-volume roles benefit from automated sourcing, screening and basic assessments, whereas only automating the search for passive candidates may be necessary for highly skilled roles.  

Your Guidelines to the Dos & Don’ts of Automating Your Candidate Experience

Keep these guidelines as you scale your automation rules to meet your talent acquisition goals.

Do:

  • Measure, phase in automation and measure again to determine effectiveness.
  • Involve everyone in the process to determine where automation makes the most sense.
  • Take advantage of A/B testing to help measure different ideas.
  • Treat every situation as unique; don’t assume that what works for one will work for another.
  • Remember that candidates want a personal touch, and what you don’t automate is as important as what you do.
  • Use your people to make critical decisions.

Don’t:

  • Proceed if it doesn’t feel like it’s best for your candidates.
  • Influence the candidate experience in a negative way.
  • Assume that automating your entire hiring process is the right thing for your business.
  • Make an automation change and assume it will work forever. Always be reevaluating!

Legal Implications of Video Interviewing & Artificial Intelligence

Posted on by skatz

People have always sought out new employment opportunities by convincing someone that they are the best choice. While the art of persuasion has not changed, technology and customs have shifted rapidly since the days of papyrus, vellum and fax machines; what was once strange and new becomes the norm, while the tried and true seem outdated.

For instance, going door to door with the classifieds in search of work seems as absurd now as recording a video interview on your phone would have been just a few years ago. As technology matures and hiring practices change, it’s important for employers to understand the new solutions being put into place.

This article explores video interviewing and related technologies and some of the legal implications to keep in mind before implementing a new tool as part of your hiring and recruitment process. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.

Benefits of Video Interviewing

The most common form of video interviewing, and the subject of this article, is asynchronous or one-way interviewing. The candidate records answers to a series of predetermined questions on a laptop or smart device as part of the initial screening process. The recruiter or hiring manager is then able to review the candidate’s video and see how the questions were answered. There are a number of advantages to this approach to the hiring process.

PeopleScout’s Affinixtm

The video interview and digital assessment capabilities of PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology, Affinix, provides our clients with a clearer picture and more insight into potential employees. This simplifies the screening process, allowing PeopleScout to share top candidates with hiring managers faster. The video interview process embedded within the Affinix platform is easy to use:  

Your team creates the questions you want candidates to answer.

You can choose a combination of video, multiple choice or essay-style questions as part of an assessment.

Candidates respond to your questions just like they would in a face-to-face interview; the only difference is that the responses are recorded and stored for you to review.

Your team evaluates, reviews and rates responses when convenient.

Because responses are recorded, your team can go over answers as many times as needed, allowing for a more careful analysis of candidate responses than traditional, face-to-face interviews.  

Built on the Amazon cloud (AWS – Amazon Web Services), Affinix is a stable and secure platform. All information is secured in the AWS cloud for you to access at your convenience. Using the digital interview capabilities of Affinix is a great way to replace or supplement telephone or first-round interviews.  

Larger Candidate Pool

The hiring manager is able to review the interviews of a much larger pool of potential candidates. While a traditional interview might only be extended to the top five candidates, video interviewing allows the hiring manager to review every candidate who meets their other screening requirements. Additionally, candidates are not restricted to local markets, as interviews can be recorded from any location.

Consistency

The questions asked in the interview are consistent for all applicants. This allows for clear comparisons in responses. Furthermore, recording a set of pre-determined questions prevents interviewers from getting sidetracked or asking inappropriate or illegal questions during the interview. Finally, other decision-makers in the hiring process don’t need to rely on the impressions of the interviewer because the videos are available for review by multiple people.

Speed

Screening speed can increase with video interviewing because there is more flexibility for hiring managers. All questions are preset, so interviewers don’t need to spend time preparing for multiple individual interviews or coordinating schedules. Because the interviews are recorded, they can also be screened in batches and at convenient times for the reviewer.

Legal Implications to Keep in Mind

The advantages of video interviewing and other emerging technologies help promote a more consistent process that gives a greater number of candidates the opportunity to present themselves for consideration. However, the use of video interviewing technology does not absolve companies from their legal obligations in the hiring process from the risk of discriminatory practices; related technologies may even increase these risks. Companies should check with legal counsel, as well as human resources and information security experts, before adopting new hiring practices or technologies.

Emerging Technologies & Non-Discrimination

Video Interviewing

Video interviews have been around for a while. But, as they grow more common, new technologies emerge to complement them. One such technology is AI-assisted assessments, which use computers to analyze responses, facial gestures, intonations and other displayed characteristics and screen out applicants that fail to meet the requirements of the specific algorithm. While technology that can prevent the hiring manager from having to even physically watch the interview has a powerful allure, AI-assisted assessments are not yet proven to be effective or non-discriminatory. For instance, a large online retailer encountered the unintended consequences of AI screening out protected classes of employees and determined that such solutions are not yet feasible. Plus, privacy advocates have requested government investigations into the secret algorithms used by a provider of AI-assisted interview technology. And, in the U.S., states are starting to look critically at AI-assisted hiring, with Illinois leading the way with new legislation.

In the U.S., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) allows for video interviewing, but the rules against non-discrimination in hiring and employment do not change. Meanwhile, record-keeping requirements apply equally to video interviews; if a candidate has a disability that prevents them from providing a video interview, the employer must provide an alternative method of applying. And, while it is not illegal to learn of an applicant’s disability, such knowledge cannot be used to discriminate against that applicant.

Technology cannot eliminate human prejudices, and there will always be a risk of discriminatory behavior by bad actors. However, this risk can be mitigated to some degree by good processes, which can include video interviewing for the reasons set forth above.

International Considerations

Internationally, the European Union has one of the most expansive digital privacy laws in the world. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protects the data of EU citizens, giving them a broad array of rights including the “right to be forgotten.”

The regulation, which became official in May 2018, requires companies that recruit and process job applicant data to reveal all of the information it has on file about an individual when asked by the candidate. Under the GDPR, companies must rectify any inaccuracies and, at the candidate’s request, delete the information within 30 days.

The GDPR applies to all companies recruiting Europeans – regardless of whether the company itself is inside or outside EU borders. Fines for non-compliance to GDPR can amount up to a staggering €20M ($22.2 million U.S. dollars), or 4% of a company’s global revenue, whichever is higher.

What’s more, in Australia, before an Australian Privacy Principal (APP) entity discloses personal information to an overseas recipient, the entity must take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the APPs in relation to the information (APP 8.1).

An APP entity that discloses personal information to an overseas recipient is also accountable for any acts or practices of the overseas recipient in relation to the information that would breach the APPs (s 16C).

New technology will not eliminate the need for employers to have a compliant hiring process or absolve them from decision-making. But, carefully selected solutions like asynchronous video interviews can bring significant advantages for both hiring managers and potential employees. With more candidates able to apply and a more consistent experience for both sides, video interviews can benefit everyone.

Talking Talent: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Talent

Posted on by nfuqua

In this special episode of Talking Talent, we discuss artificial intelligence and the impact it will have on recruiting.

Instead of an interview, this episode is a recording of a presentation by Dr. Rand Hindi from our London “Resourcing 2025” event. At that event, PeopleScout launched the next generation of RPO featuring a future-focused approach to service RPO customers across Europe. There, Dr. Hindi described recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and implications those will have on the talent landscape of the future.

Dr. Hindi is an entrepreneur and data scientist. He is the founder and CEO of Snips, building the first AI assistant that protects privacy. Rand started coding at the age of 10, founded a Social Network at 14 and a web agency at 15 before getting into Machine Learning at 18 and doing a PhD in Bioinformatics at 21. He has been elected as a TR35 by the MIT Technology Review, as a “30 under 30” by Forbes, as a Rising Star by Founders Forum, and is a member of the French Digital Council. He holds a BSc in Computer Science and a PhD in Bioinformatics from University College London (UCL), as well as two graduate degrees from Singularity University in Silicon Valley and THNK in Amsterdam.

In the presentation, Dr. Hindi shares his conclusion that for the best results, AI and humans will need to work together to make recruitment decisions. AI provides speed, accuracy and algorithms while humans contribute empathy, emotional intelligence and the ability to solve logical paradoxes. Dr. Hindi explains the differences between the types of intelligence that can be programmed into computers, and the more complex emotional intelligence that cannot be replicated by machines. He also shares the history of artificial intelligence, and what he expects the technology to be capable of in the future.

Talking Talent: Talent Acquisition in 2020 with Madeline Laurano

Posted on by skatz

Does your talent acquisition program spark joy? If not, Madeline Laurano is here to help. Laurano is the co-founder of Aptitude Research, a research firm focused on talent acquisition. Based on her proprietary research, Laurano sees a talent acquisition landscape that is crowded and complex. During her keynote presentation at PeopleScout’s 2019 NEXT Talent Summit, she focused on simplifying the process.

Every year, Aptitude Research conducts three major surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative data about the talent acquisition landscape – from the biggest challenges facing recruiting teams to how leaders in the field are integrating innovative technology into their programs. We spoke with Laurano about the trends she uncovered in her surveys and how she applies the “Marie Kondo” method to talent acquisition and talent technology.

What is the biggest challenge in talent acquisition today?

The biggest challenge across organizations of all sizes and industries is that talent acquisition has become so incredibly complex. We have new technology solutions; vendors entering the industry that provide everything from employer branding to innovative assessments; and organizations that need to expand the skills and breadth of knowledge on their talent acquisition teams. While this presents exciting opportunities, at the same time, it’s creating a lot of challenges. We have to be able to manage all of these different priorities while making sense of the technology we’re using and the strategies in place.

How do you determine which talent technology solutions are the right fit for your organization?

It’s going to be a little bit different for every company, but it’s best to start at a very basic level. Every organization needs an ATS, an onboarding system and some type of recruitment marketing platform. That’s what I call the trifecta. Every organization of every size should have that. Those three systems must be in place to make sure that you have a way of engaging, tracking and managing talent. That’s the basic tech stack.

After that, it’s important to look at what you need to support your needs – whether it’s automation, enhancing communication, providing stronger branding, or sourcing and assessing candidates. Most organizations have screening and assessment solutions. We’re seeing more and more companies using some type of interview management system. Then, there are a lot of sourcing and branding solutions.

I think we need to simplify the talent technology ecosystem as much as possible. That comes down to building the best trifecta – the basic tech stack – and strategically adding additional technology where it will have the greatest significance. There are companies that pull together all of these disparate solutions into one unified technology; PeopleScout’s AffinixTM is a great example of that.

When you’re looking at technology partners, how do you determine if they are the right fit? What kind of questions should you ask, and what should you look for?

It’s really looking beyond just a demo and beyond what’s on somebody’s website. I evaluate technology partners using four buckets: company, product, differentiators and roadmap.

First, I like to ask, “What are the company’s values? What’s the strength of their leadership team? How many employees do they have? How many employees are focused on research and development? What does their customer base look like? Who is their target customer?”

The next piece involves looking at the product, getting into technical questions, and thinking about things like mobile compatibility, the suite of services and the languages that are supported.

Then, it’s about the differentiators. I like to ask technology providers to explain what their differentiators are, and then – after going through the process and understanding what they do – figuring out if I’m seeing the same differentiators. That can be very telling.

The final piece is asking about the roadmap. “What’s planned for the future? Is this a provider truly invested in making enhancements and providing flexibility to organizations?”

How do you simplify your talent acquisition process? What does simplified look like?

We’ve heard of Marie Kondo and her method for organizing and decluttering our homes. I think organizations need to take that approach to talent acquisition. This is especially relevant when it comes to talent acquisition technology. Companies are using so many different providers to accomplish certain goals – our research shows it’s an average of 30. When you have so many solutions, you don’t have consistent data sets to look at, so it’s hard to know what’s working and what isn’t.

Leaders need to be able to figure out what talent technology their organization needs, how it’s going to be used, and how they can narrow down the list of providers to only those that are most effective. As an example, when it comes to recruitment marketing, a lot of companies are using several different vendors within their organization; only 2% of companies are using all of the capabilities provided by each tool. Leaders need to look at what’s not working and think about a provider that can support the organization with a more holistic strategy.

What advice can you share with talent acquisition leaders who are looking ahead to 2020?

When it comes to making your talent acquisition program more manageable and simplifying your technology stack, think about which providers are truly partners and able to support you in many different ways. That’s really important.

Then, think about what skills you need to make your talent acquisition function successful, whether it’s digital expertise, data scientists or more employer branding services. Focus on how you can either bring those onto your team or find an outside provider to partner with you.

The final piece is thinking about embracing some of the areas that haven’t traditionally been part of a talent acquisition function, taking ownership and being a champion for them. Employer branding is one example. We’ve seen a lot of talent acquisition leaders and professionals embrace branding and become experts in that area. Data analytics is another. By advocating for solutions in these specialized areas, talent acquisition leaders move their program ahead of the competition.

Finally, have fun! There’s so much in talent acquisition that can feel tactically overwhelming, but advocating for new solutions is empowering. So much is changing, but with that change, we’re seeing exciting opportunities for improved data, robust employer branding and more. This is an amazing industry to be in, and we can’t forget that.

What’s Next in Talent Acquisition

Posted on by skatz

Let’s face it – we live in an ever-changing world, where one of the biggest challenges is keeping up with the latest trend.

For an update on talent acquisition trends, PeopleScout hosted Madeline Laurano, talent analyst and founder of Aptitude Research, at our North American Talent Summit. Laurano spoke on the top trends she is seeing through her qualitative and quantitative research, and provided clarity on the crowded market.

Laurano shared that the current state of talent acquisition has fundamentally shifted due to the record increase in job openings and decrease in the available talent pool. This contributes to the rise of competition for talent across industries and the tremendous pressure organizations face to find the right talent.

Laurano presented a few key solutions to aid in managing this overarching challenge, including strengthening employer branding, simplifying your talent strategy with technology, improving candidate communication, using data to drive decisions and exploring total workforce solutions.

In this article, we’ll walk through Laurano’s report on the current state of talent acquisition, and dive into how a focus on employer branding can help you stay on top of the trends in talent acquisition.

Current State & Challenges

Laurano’s research shows a fundamental shift in talent acquisition over the past few years, which she attributes to changing market conditions. The numbers prove it – there’s a high demand for skills and a low supply of candidates, which increases both competition for talent and the cost of a quality hire.

High Demand for Skills

Nearly half of U.S. employers attribute unfilled job openings to a lack of qualified candidates. Additionally, 75% of human resource professionals who have recruiting difficulty say there is a shortage of skills in candidates for job openings. However, 74% of organizations are investing just $500 per employee on training and development between upskilling and reskilling.

The skills gap is widening particularly for IT, healthcare, manufacturing and really any industry that has specialized or technical roles. Based on her research, Laurano recommends that organizations invest in technology and digital roles to foster ideas and monitor industry trends. More than 5 million jobs in information technology are expected to be added globally by 2027.

Low Supply of Candidates

“Statistics show employers are having a difficult time filling job openings and are competing across industries for talent, which is a major challenge in the industry and one we haven’t seen before,” Laurano said.

A 2017 PWC survey of CEOs found that 77% said the greatest threat to organizations was the availability of talent. The unemployment rate is at a record-low 3.7% in the U.S., with 106 months of continuous job growth – the longest stretch in the nation’s history. Canada ended the first half of the year with an unemployment rate of 5.5%, and many leading European and Asia Pacific economies posted strong job gains and continued low unemployment.

Quality of Hires

Laurano’s 2019 Quality of Hire Trends Report states that only 26% of organizations in her study have a formal methodology for defining quality of hire; one in three of those organizations said that they’re interested in tracking quality of hire, but they don’t know how to start. Therefore, there’s a lot of opportunity to improve how we calculate quality of hire.

Ultimately, organizations have to rethink their strategies and technology to attract the right candidates for them. So, how do organizations stay on top of these trends? Laurano says strengthening employer branding is one important way.

Strengthening Employer Branding

As a reminder, your employer brand is the perception and lived experiences of what it’s like to work for your organization. It also incorporates your employee value proposition (EVP), which captures the essence of your uniqueness as an employer and the give and get between you and your employees.

In her presentation, Laurano discussed the importance of strengthening employer branding as one way to stand out in the crowded market. As research shows, many organizations are investing plenty of resources into employer branding, but there is still room for improvement. As Laurano’s research shows, 62% of organizations invest in employer branding, however:

  • One out of four organizations is unsure about its employer branding.
  • 50% of organizations are unhappy with their employer branding tools.
  • 37% of talent acquisition and recruitment specialists consider their knowledge of their employer brand as “weak” or “getting by” – despite it being identified as an area of critical importance.

Industry research agrees with Laurano, as one study shows that companies with stronger employer brands see a 43% decrease on average in the cost per candidate they hire, compared to their competitors. Additionally, when organizations specifically in the U.S. live up to their marketed EVP, new employees arrive with a higher level of commitment at 38%, compared to organizations that do not live up to their marketed EVP, which is at just 9%.

Digital Transformation

As Laurano noted, the digital space is a major aspect to consider in talent acquisition and employer branding. Whether it’s introducing digital or data specialist roles, the skills associated with those jobs assist organizations in recognizing their weaker areas and providing innovative ideas to capture their intended audiences. Laurano recommends incorporating the digital role heavily in your talent solution and to improve messaging.  “Go where your candidates are,” she says. And, for the most part, that is the digital space. Research confirms this concept:

Reactive vs. Proactive Recruiting Strategy

In Laurano’s presentation, she emphasized the value of organizations nurturing talent before they apply, or a proactive versus reactive approach:

Reactive

“If we were to take the reactive recruiting approach and turn it into a funnel, it might look something like the diagram above. Sourcers fill up the talent pipeline while recruiters manage the selection process on behalf of the organization. However, there is no one working on behalf of the candidate and no real engagement process at the top of the funnel. As a result, the recruiter spends more time on screening résumés, phone screens, etc.”

Proactive

“If we flip the time allocation where recruiters spend less time on screening and focus on ensuring they have targeted, qualified candidates to begin with, the results would differ. There would be a higher rate of effectiveness by investing in relationship-building with targeted pools of talent, as opposed to a reactive, start-stop recruiting approach.”

Additional research only reinforces the proactive method, as 67% of employed American adults agree that the application, interview or offer process would make or break their decision on whether to take a job.

Global Aspect

Employer branding is difficult for global organizations, as it’s not always about the organization, but also the specific location, as well, which can get complicated. The core of your employer brand should start with a universal truth, but effective employers will also create messaging that speaks directly to different audiences and geographies. Laurano suggests a need for transparency for global organizations, as well as local flexibility and solutions to strengthen your employer branding.

What’s Next for Your Talent Solution?

Keeping up with the latest trends can be challenging to say the least, especially in the talent industry. Laurano’s research into the fundamental shift in talent acquisition provided some key insights and solutions that are beneficial when combating such rapid changes.

About the Expert

Madeline Laurano’s primary focus during the last 12+ years has been on the talent management market, specializing in talent acquisition. Her insights are based on her work as an analyst and advisor in the human capital space and her latest research with HR and talent acquisition practitioners. Laurano’s work helps companies both validate and reevaluate their strategies and understand the role technology can play in driving business outcomes. Before Aptitude Research, Laurano held research roles at Aberdeen, Bersin by Deloitte, ERE Media and Brandon Hall Group. She is co-author of “Best Practices in Leading a Global Workforce,” and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Yahoo News, and The Financial Times. She is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, including the HR Technology Conference and Exposition, SHRM, IHRIM, HCI’s Strategic Talent Acquisition conference, GDS International’s HCM Summit, and HRO Today. Visit her website at https://www.aptituderesearch.com.

Amazon Web Services: How AWS Helps Futureproof our Talent Technology

Posted on by skatz

The technology development cycle is accelerating at a pace that is hard to catch. New services, new devices, new products – it can be overwhelming. When I was exploring joining PeopleScout as the Leader of Technical Delivery, I knew the organization was keeping pace because of the modern architecture and skilled technical teams that were already in place.

At PeopleScout, we effectively manage our development cycle to produce products like Affinix, a talent technology platform built on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform. We continue to reap the benefits from that foresight today. Our Affinix development team is located at our global headquarters in Chicago, and we have team members in Latin America, Costa Rica, Peru, Australia, Manila, India and Europe. Every day, around the world, our staff works together to release code for Affinix using AWS.

What is Amazon Web Services?

AWS became the cloud infrastructure arm for Amazon in 2006, when it began offering pay-as-you-go, infrastructure-as-a-service to businesses – now known broadly as cloud computing. AWS started selling cloud “instances” others could reserve when companies needed additional capacity. While AWS started first with public cloud compute (EC2), the company now offers more than 90 different services to clients ranging from storage to Internet of Things (IOT) applications. PeopleScout uses Elastic Cloud Compute Service (EC2), Simple Storage Service (S3), Lambda and other AWS services to power Affinix.

How AWS Makes Affinix Better

We chose AWS as the foundation for Affinix because it is the market leader in cloud infrastructure services. AWS invests more resources than its competitors, and is the leading innovator in this space.

When my team has to solve challenges, we have the independence and flexibility we need with AWS. Sometimes, with other providers, you are limited by what you can use due to license costs or contracts you can’t get out of. With AWS, we don’t have limitations in terms of other technologies or resources we want to use as part of the Affinix platform. We are free to use the right technology as we innovate and evolve Affinix.

Scale and Expansion

Most people have participated in an IT project that took way longer than expected. I think that is a shared experience. Why does that happen? Most delays trace back to scaling out infrastructure or hardware. In order to do this, you need permission to procure, select, configure, test and load balance infrastructure for each new project you launch. This is a huge undertaking, and can become an exhaustive process to complete. 

AWS eliminates these steps, allowing us to scale our infrastructure through the cloud. If you don’t already understand how “the cloud” works, think about it as a utility – let’s say your water supply. Imagine one day your yard needs more water than usual; it has been extremely hot, so you run your water for a few hours instead of a few minutes. Even though your water supply is spiking more than average today, your sprinkler doesn’t stop working. You also don’t store water in your basement in giant, intimidating, wall-to-ceiling containers that sit below your deck waiting to be used. Why would you?

The public cloud is similar. Traditionally, companies have owned on-premise data centers full of expensive equipment that’s often underutilized. Alternatively, some companies rent part of a data center through third-party providers. This is more efficient than using your company’s on-premise location, but you still need to buy more infrastructure to prepare for peak usage. With AWS, we can turn computing and storage needs up or down virtually – without having to buy infrastructure to manage each project. With Affinix, we use AWS’s autoscale capabilities that allow us to set thresholds on capacity.

AWS is also a great partner for international expansion, offering regional and country-specific support for data residency, data sovereignty and certain region-specific compliance initiatives. Increased speed-to-completion is a factor here, too. Previously, it took months to bring a new international location online; now it takes a lot less time. For example, we just launched an Affinix instance in Europe. The rollout from start to finish took about a month. With traditional infrastructure and hardware, it would probably take three to six months.

Security & Compliance

Security is one of those topics that isn’t that interesting until it is. For us, security is critical because our brand reputation and our clients’ reputations are at stake if these issues are not handled correctly. The innovation AWS offers Affinix and our clients in this area –  including data encryption, intrusion detection and firewalls, and much more – provides me with peace of mind.

AWS takes responsibility for the software services its clients use, as well as its hardware in various regions and zones through its Shared Responsibility Model. As a client of AWS, we manage operating systems, platforms and data.

After security, the next logical step to think about is compliance. I view compliance as a byproduct of security, or proof we are as secure as we say we are. AWS makes it very easy to be compliant. With giant regulatory projects such as the EU’s GDPR and the upcoming California Consumer Protection Act in 2020, we have encountered no problems using AWS.  

Speed

AWS can dramatically reduce the cycle time it takes to launch an idea on our Affinix roadmap. We release code regularly – now more than once a day – by releasing very small software updates. The smaller the release, the easier it is to observe and react to quickly. If we see any issues, we can pull that code back. We do this by using AWS’s monitoring capabilities that track how every bit of code is performing. And, if one of these small releases isn’t performing correctly, we immediately roll it back and fix it; it is that easy.

This type of release cycle is extremely efficient. We can now take a giant collection of features and incrementally – and predictably – release them with improved speed throughout many days. Previously, development teams would wait three months for these types of results, using older software development methodologies generally referred to as “waterfall”-type processes. PeopleScout is an Agile development shop, meaning broadly that we focus on small, regular improvements at a faster pace. AWS aligns well with our philosophy.

Conclusion

Growing with AWS has made Affinix better – for our end-users, candidates, clients and PeopleScout. We are a more modern, innovative, tech-focused organization because of the AWS platform. AWS has created benefits for our internal teams, as well. Five years ago, our team was spending 50% of its time performing repetitive tasks related to infrastructure support. Today, because AWS manages the scaling of our hardware, international expansion and streamlined information security, our team has time to focus where we should focus – on new product development and ongoing Affinix innovation. 

Assessing for Passion, Purpose and a Growth Mindset: The Whole Person Model in Practice

Posted on by nfuqua

The whole person model is a highly bespoke assessment process. We have found that the model functions best in two contexts: high-volume hiring and highly specialized leadership hiring.

If an organization needs to hire a large number of candidates for a specific role or type of role, the whole person model can produce stronger, more diverse candidates and can result in longer-tenured employees. The process of building out the tailored assessments is time- and cost-effective for high-volume hiring.

The whole person model can also be valuable when searching for the right candidate for a leadership role. For organizations in times of transition, it can be especially difficult to identify candidates with the ability to lead through change.

In this article, we will explain how we at PeopleScout apply the model practically to both hiring examples.

Whole Person Model Use Case: High-Volume Hiring

whole person model infographic

This infographic is one example of the whole person model in practice for high-volume hiring. It includes three stages and each stage measures different aspects of a candidate’s background, or gears of the whole person model:

  1. A realistic job and culture preview
  2. The One Experience online assessment
  3. The final stage of online assessments, which we call the Assessment Center

During the realistic job and culture preview, a candidate gets a practical look at what it would be like to work for your organization and in this particular role. This section will include media like a video job description, shaped by your EVP and employer brand and customized to a job’s responsibilities.

Showcasing the job and the employer brand of the organization is critical during the realistic job and culture preview because it assesses the passion and purpose of the candidate. If the candidate identifies with and is enthusiastic about your organization, they will continue through the process. If a candidate does not feel as though their passion and purpose align, they will not continue in the process.

The One Experience assessment is an online holistic tool that assesses each part of the whole person model. Candidates answer questions in a variety of formats that allow them to demonstrate their different strengths Each of the six factors is weighted differently based upon their ability to predict candidate success and the requirements and expectations in a role.

In the One Experience tool, the scores for each type of assessment will be combined and weighted, and candidates who meet a certain threshold will be moved along to the next step. Because there are a variety of ways to earn a passing score on these assessments, there will be a more cognitively diverse group of candidates that make it through this part of the process.

At this stage, the assessments include automated feedback reports so that candidates have a better understanding of why they do or do not move forward. This improves the candidate experience because candidates who do not get the position are not left in the dark. It gives them an opportunity to see why they may not have been the best fit.

The final step is the last set of online assessments, which we call the assessment center, to further narrow the candidate pool. In this example, it measures mindset, passion, capability and behavior. However, it can be adapted to focus on the categories that show the strongest predictive ability for a specific position. This stage also includes automated feedback reports.

Using this model, we see fewer candidates making it past the realistic job and culture preview to complete the One Experience tool, but 50 percent of those who do complete that step go on to pass and move to the assessment center. Those who make it to the assessment center have a pass rate of 75 percent, which is higher than the traditional process. In the old process, clients viewed a pass rate of 50 percent at this stage as high.

Assessments in High Volume Hiring: Healthcare Case Study The Problem: A PeopleScout healthcare client wanted to improve quality-of-hire and decrease turnover for their nearly 2,000 annual call center hires. The Solution: PeopleScout partnered with the organization to deploy an online assessment that identified the key behaviors and personality traits that correlated with success at their organization. The assessments also identified candidates who are aligned to the organization’s mission and who have a growth mindset, and those who could be successful in leadership roles. The Results: After two-and-a-half years, the client has seen an increase in the quality of candidates and is expanding the use of the assessment to all external positions. They may also deploy the assessments for internal positions as well.

Whole Person Model Use Case: Leadership Hiring

In the case of leadership hiring, rather than using the One Experience tool, the whole person model uses a deep-dive interview in which the questions are designed to assess the candidate’s passion, purpose and mindset, as well as their capability, behavior and results – the six factors included in the model. By assessing top candidates for these factors, organizations can better identify leaders who fit well with their organization and goals.

To understand how this works, let’s look at how we applied the whole person model to help the Scottish Police Authority appoint the next Chief Constable for Police Scotland.

Title: Using the Whole Person Model to hire the Chief Constable for Police Scotland The Job: Chief Constable The Chief Constable is one of the most influential, rewarding and impactful law enforcement jobs in the country. It is also a critical and high-profile position. Challenges: • High public and political scrutiny • History of leadership challenges • History of extensive change • Need for the Chief Constable to live and breathe the values, culture and purpose of Police Scotland • Nearly impossible to find a candidate with experience in an equivalent role Needs: The Chief Constable needs to be able to restore credibility and public trust, as well as continue to work toward the 2026 strategy. The Solution: The Whole Person Model PeopleScout built a customized assessment process designed to identify candidates’ alignment with the passion, purpose and mindset necessary to fit with the Scottish Police Authority culture and values because no candidate had the work experience to demonstrate the results needed. Step One: Online Psychometrics and a Deep-Dive Interview Techniques used: • Storytelling questions • Push/Pull dichotomies • Blueprint questions Does the candidate have the passion, purpose and mindset to align with the needs of the position? (Sidebar question) What are Psychometrics? The measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes and personality traits. Results: An in-depth report was compiled and shared with the Scottish Police Authority identifying which candidates have the factors necessary for success. Step Two: All-Day Immersive Assessment Center The top candidates are assessed in two immersive exercises: 1. A media briefing with professional journalists 2. A stakeholder engagement exercise with 12 senior-level leaders from a range of public sector organizations Can the candidates succeed with the public pressure and leadership scrutiny of the role? Results: Another report for the Scottish Police Authority to take into its own final interview stage exploring strengths, development areas and specific questions to probe further. A benefit for candidates: A 90-minute verbal feedback call and detailed developmental reports are provided at the end of this stage. End Result The Scottish Police Authority had the information to make an objective, fair and well-informed appointment decision.

How did this impact the onboarding process?

The new Chief Constable continued the developmental work they invested in during the assessments process and received a series of coaching sessions throughout the transition.

All candidates reported a positive experience that provided ample opportunity to demonstrate their capability and suitability for the role.

Applying the Whole Person Model to Your Hiring

In the current economic climate, employers who hire and retain candidates with a growth mindset and who align with the passion and purpose of the organization will be at an advantage. By assessing for these factors and looking at the whole person, employers can better identify those candidates and set themselves up for success.

When employers face the challenge of hiring a large volume of employees, the model can be customized to efficiently identify the best candidates with a passion for the work and the organization. When an organization is looking to make a leadership hire but is struggling to find candidates with relevant experience, the model can be customized to identify those who can learn, lead and grow with the organization.

Key Takeaways:

  • The whole person model is a bespoke process and works best for high-volume and leadership hiring.
  • When used for high-volume hiring, the whole person model can produce stronger, more diverse candidates and can result in longer-tenured employees.
  • When used for leadership hiring, the model can identify leaders who fit well with an organization and its culture and goals.

This article is the third in a series, you can read the first article, Assessing for Passion, Purpose and a Growth Mindset: Drivers for Change, hereand the second, Assessing for Passion, Purpose and a Growth Mindset: The Current State of Assessments and a Better Way Forward, here.

Integrating AI into Your Passive Sourcing Strategy

Posted on by skatz

With unemployment at historic lows, and only 30% of candidates actively applying to jobs, looks like it’s time to get passive! Passive? This might seem like an odd word choice, but passive candidates are simply highly qualified candidates not currently job hunting, while active candidates are applying to your open roles right now.

Research indicates that passive candidates may be more successful in organizations. According to Glassdoor, passive candidates are more efficient workers. Furthermore, passive candidates are twice as likely to join an organization. However, some do not think passive candidates make better employees, partly because tracking passive candidates’ success at organizations has been poorly measured.

Regardless, data shows that it takes an average of 42 days to fill a role for a qualified external candidate. Some roles take longer, such as 67 days in the UK to fill a product management role. Engineering roles are also consistently harder to fill, taking 58 days in the U.S. and UK and 56 days on average in the rest of the world. When these types of hard-to-fill roles are needed, passive sourcing can be the best option to pursue.  

What is Passive Sourcing?

Finding a qualified hire usually consists of a mix of active and passive applicants. Today, recruiting teams find passive candidates through various means, such as referral programs, online forums and job boards. More recently, recruiters have also started posting to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to find their next hire.

Passive sourcing searches were historically done through tedious Boolean search strings using dozens of search terms, like location, phone number and email address, to find candidates. These searches are manual and time consuming.

How Does AI Improve Passive Sourcing?

Recruiters spend approximately $200,000 per hire and 23 hours to screen for each open position. Meanwhile, recruiters carry a workload of 30-40 positions at a time. Add these numbers up and it might take several months for a recruiter to fill their open roles. Meanwhile, organizations also lose months of productivity and revenue from unfilled roles. Compound these losses with the rush to hire someone that might not be right for a role, and there is a possibility the recruiter may have to start the cycle all over again.

How can AI help? As AI’s influence throughout talent acquisition grows, sourcing qualified passive candidates in record time is now possible with AI.

Massive Data 

AI excels at scale. Finding candidates instantly, AI algorithms can improve with each search, creating increasingly more intelligent sourcing. This is done by compiling and analyzing a massive data set of millions of pieces of information including potential candidates’ social media profiles and past online activities, among other data. 

passive sourcing

AI’s passive sourcing function can also find triggers that indicate a candidate’s interest. Using an engineering requisition as an example, AI tools can scrape the Internet for candidates with specific job skills. For example, a search can be set up to find candidates with electrical engineering backgrounds with five to ten years of experience that are active on LinkedIn. AI will identify these parameters, search all additional available channels for intel including email, text, chatbot and phone records then aggregate the data and deliver a pool of qualified candidates to the recruiter.

Improved Personalization

AI applications can also send targeted information to candidates using marketing-like campaigns, bringing in “leads” to help grow talent pipelines. This activity targets the right persona or type of candidate needed for a role and keeps passive candidates better engaged or “nurtured.” It also creates a unique candidate journey.

A recent report cites that organizations with an employer brand platform experience an average turnover rate of 10% compared to the overall turnover average of 16%.

At PeopleScout, we know a positive employer brand plays a significant role in their ability to hire talent. We implement AI sourcing and digital brand recruitment marketing campaigns through our Affinix™ platform that streamlines the sourcing process. Using these digital campaigns reinforces a company’s employer brand and consequently increases the nurture and conversion rates of future potential passive candidates. 

Considerations for AI Passive Sourcing

While using AI to help source passive candidates is beginning to help organizations, there are a few considerations to keep in mind.

Mind Your Algorithms

Countless articles lament how well-meaning coders accidentally create biased AI tools. Most recently, Amazon released a recruiting tool that put female applicants at a disadvantage by highlighting more masculine language such as “executed” and “captured.” Therefore, AI algorithms should be used in concert with other recruiting tools and constantly monitored pre and post-build. Organizations such as the AI Institute and Explainable AI, among others, are reviewing AI’s impacts to make sure issues like unconscious bias are appropriately addressed.

Fit AI into Your Strategy

AI has the potential to improve aspects of the full recruitment cycle from sourcing, screening, selecting, hiring and onboarding. However, AI is only part of your toolkit and should be thought of as an efficiency tool to find better candidates faster. Monitor and adjust your strategy by testing AI’s sourcing skills. Because of the rapid data feedback loop you receive from AI, you’ll be able to quickly tweak social media and email campaigns as well as content you use to interact with candidates.

Getting Started with AI

According to a Deloitte Human Capital Trends report, 38% of companies are already using AI, and 62% expect to implement AI in some way by the end of 2019. In order to prepare for AI passive sourcing, keep the following in mind.

  • Assess your current state. Are your operations streamlined today? Do you have existing issues with your methodology that need to be resolved before AI is added to your recruitment platform?
  • Centralize your efforts so your AI tools tie together and create information in one place. Also, make sure all data streams, such as information from candidates and job boards, are collected in one place.
  • Choose your vendors wisely to bring your AI ambitions to life. If the vendors you use are not able to articulate their business plans and longer-term technology capabilities, you should walk away.

Conclusion

Recruiters need to monitor AI passive sourcing capabilities as one of many AI efficiency tools to execute in the recruiting process. While ongoing debates swirl about the effects bias from AI efforts can create, if implemented and monitored properly, AI can also yield huge returns for your passive sourcing efforts. Organizations should consider PeopleScout to help source passive roles through PeopleScout’s proprietary, simple-to-use talent technology platform, Affinix. 

Five Ways Talent Technology Will Make HR More Strategic

Posted on by nfuqua

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to look at the past twenty years and see the inflection points where companies and industries either embraced or avoided disruptive technology. When Kodak struggled to adapt to the digital world, the company eventually declared bankruptcy. Blockbuster passed on the chance to purchase Netflix, and now, the video rental chain has just one store left open. Taxis fell to Uber and Lyft. There are countless examples in the graveyard of defunct or irrelevant companies and industries.

It is more difficult to spot that inflection point in the moment. For human resources, that moment is now. With an influx of new technologies entering the market, the role of HR is about to transform, and if it cannot adapt, it is bound to be left behind. Currently, many HR professionals are pulled away from more strategic work for simple repetitive tasks – which are prime targets for automation. Emerging tools can also provide HR with new insights – about things like which candidates are more likely to stay with the company and whether a role is better filled by a contingent or permanent worker in the current economy. These insights will provide HR with the opportunity to play a more significant role in decisions that impact the future of the business.

In this article, we walk through five ways new and emerging talent technology will make HR more strategic and why leaders should embrace change.

1. Automation Will Save Time

Everest Group predicts emerging technology has the potential to automate half of all talent acquisition activities. According to the report, “processes that are highly transactional and repetitive in nature have a higher potential for automation.” This includes tasks like resume screening, interview scheduling and sourcing candidates. However, other tasks, like communicating with top candidates and hiring managers, will continue to require a human touch.

Robotic process automation is already taking over some of the communication with candidates through recruitment marketing campaigns, interview scheduling tools and chatbots. RPA technology can ask prescreening questions or answer FAQs about positions and a company’s hiring process through a chatbot, send automated emails to engage candidates through a candidate relationship management tool and find an empty spot on a recruiter
or hiring manager’s calendar to help a candidate schedule a phone or in-person interview through an automated scheduling tool.

These tools mean that the way recruiters and talent acquisition professionals spend most of their days will transform drastically. Rather than spending time sifting through resumes, scheduling interviews and responding to emails, recruiters will be able to focus on the best candidates, develop creative solutions for hard-to-solve problems and build better candidate engagement strategies. This will reduce recruiter burn out, leaving them fresher and more engaged in important tasks.

Automation also improves the candidate experience. Rather than waiting for a response from a recruiter with an inbox full of emails, candidates can have a simple question answered instantly by a chatbot. Candidates won’t have to play phone tag or do the awkward dance of comparing schedules over email because they can easily schedule interviews on their own. This means, regardless of whether or not the candidate ultimately ends up in the role, they will be left with a more positive image of the organization. However, HR leaders need to take care to select the correct tools. If they don’t work as intended or don’t integrate well with other systems in place, recruiters may not be able to use them effectively and candidates could be left with a negative impression.

2. Data Analytics Will Provide New Insights to Inform Decision-Making

Big data is everywhere, and when applied to HR, it can allow leaders to make better, more informed decisions on both the micro and macro levels. Data analytics tools have the power to provide insights and predictions about individual candidate behaviors, the best tactics to use to fill a role and even long-term predictions about local job markets.

Predictive analytics is a type of data analytics that uses data to find patterns and then uses those models to attempt to predict the future. Predictive analytics can’t tell you what will happen, but it shows what is likely to happen based on past trends. Tools that incorporate predictive analytics can tell recruiters how likely a candidate is to leave their current job or stay in a position at your organization, for example.

These tools can also identify new channels to find strong candidates by identifying common themes in previous successful hires. For example, a predictive analytics tool could tell a recruiter that the best candidates tend to come from a few specific educational backgrounds. That way, a recruiter can focus on recruiting efforts to identify the best candidates with those qualities.

Predictive analytics can also help with more strategic business decisions. Workforce planning tools focus on the future by assessing current hiring needs and modeling how those needs will evolve. This data-focused approach can help organizations match talent forecasts with analysis of the talent pool to create a realistic view of the labor market. On a micro level, analyzing market data can help predict whether a role is better filled by a permanent or contingent worker in a specific location.

Workforce planning tools can also identify potential problems before they arise. For example, hiring patterns in a market could signal an impending shortage of talent six months into the future, allowing organizations to prepare and stay ahead of the competition. If an organization is looking to expand, predictive analytics can identify areas with the best candidates to fill the needed roles. This empowers HR to have a larger role in shaping the direction of the company. Because of this, it’s key that the right tools to collect historical and current data are in place. If the predictions are inaccurate or the data is not used properly, it could have the opposite effect.

3. AI Tools Will Develop More Effective Candidate Profiles, Job Descriptions and Recruitment Marketing

Another way technology can impact HR is through the use of AI tools that make recruiters more effective in interacting with candidates. This process starts during candidate generation, where AI tools can help you craft job titles and descriptions and continues as recruiters communicate with candidates throughout the hiring process.

AI tools can help recruiters put together stronger candidate personas, by using data to show what factors predict success and where recruiters can find the best candidates, as we discussed earlier. Then, certain technology tools can help recruiters optimize job titles and craft job descriptions that will show up in search results and appeal to the greatest number of candidates.

AI can also help identify exclusionary language that could discourage a certain gender or minority group from applying to a position. This is particularly important because unconscious bias can allow gendered words to creep into our vocabulary without us realizing it. According to Harvard Business School, words like “ninja” discourage women from applying, while words like “supportive” and “collaborative” can discourage men. By using technology to avoid this, recruiters can build better and more diverse candidate pipelines.

As recruiters communicate with candidates, other tools can make the process more personal. Career sites can track what types of jobs candidates view, apply to or start, but never finish. Tracking this data allows recruitment marketing tools to recommend jobs that appeal to the candidate and match their skills and expertise, or to prompt a candidate to complete their application. Once a candidate provides their information, recruiters can use recruitment marketing tools to build personalized marketing streams that will appeal to candidates and encourage them to apply.

These tools help recruiters identify and market to stronger candidates more efficiently, which not only frees up time but also helps build a better workforce, improving business outcomes for the organizations. Here, AI algorithms need to be carefully monitored. Because AI is constantly evolving, errors in an AI platform’s logic can quickly grow, making problems hard to trace. This is especially true if errors are made at the beginning of the process causing the common problem of garbage in, garbage out.

4. AI Sourcing and Improved Assessments Will Identify Candidates with the Right Cultural Fit

Talent technology will also help recruiters identify passive candidates with the skills of the future and the ability to learn and grow with an organization. Passive sourcing tools use artificial intelligence to identify the best candidates for a role – regardless of whether or not those people are actively looking for jobs. The tools can search social media, job boards and more, finding candidates who match target personas. Passive sourcing provides recruiters with a list of strong candidates without the time required to conduct manual searches.

New types of assessments will also help recruiters identify the best candidates. Video interviewing tools can provide additional information about candidates from their facial expressions and tone of voice. This can provide insights into a candidate’s personality, which will help recruiters make better choices about which candidates are the best cultural fit with an organization.  

Additionally, new assessments can evaluate the passion, purpose and mindset of candidates. This means recruiters can learn about a candidate’s enthusiasm, enjoyment and commitment to mastering the requirements of a role, their alignment with and willingness to contribute to the vision and values of an organization and whether they have a growth mindset, which is the belief that one’s talents can be developed through education and effort. With this information, recruiters can identify candidates who will align with the goals and culture of an organization, increasing the likelihood that the candidate will stay long-term. By identifying candidates with a growth mindset, recruiters can select candidates who have the ability to learn and grow in the rapidly transforming world of work.

This empowers talent acquisition leaders to better identify and hire the candidates who align with the long-term goals of an organization, enabling the company to meet strategic objectives faster and stay ahead. However, this is another case where HR should be aware that the wrong tools and assessments could actually inject bias into the process, so leaders should be sure to partner with an organization that is aware of and carefully monitors for that risk.

5. Compliance Tools Will Reduce Risk, Freeing Funds and Resources

Another significant aspect of HR is dealing with the multitude of compliance risks that vary by jurisdiction. Technology can automate parts of that process, making it not only more efficient but also more compliant.

Compliance tools can automate background checks and drug tests as a part of the pre-employment and onboarding process. This ensures that every potential employee completes the testing and that the process aligns with all local and federal regulations.

According to SHRM, predictive analytics tools can also be used to assess pay equity, an incredibly hot topic in compliance right now. At least 12 jurisdictions have some sort of pay equity law preventing employers from asking about salary history in an effort to reduce pay discrimination. Because the issue is at the forefront, employers should track this information and take steps to reduce pay inequality at their own organizations. Data analytics tools can monitor and report on any pay gaps for protected groups.

Additionally, Forbes reports that AI can identify “red areas” where fraud or unethical behavior may be more likely and bring those to the attention of HR so they can intervene early or even before bad behavior occurs. AI can also identify behaviors that cause poor work performance, recognizing patterns of stress or bad behavior that could cause safety concerns.

Technology can also assist in the process of collecting documents from workers, and providing workers with required forms and legal documents, protecting the organization from potential regulatory errors. Compliance lapses can be expensive and time-consuming; having reliable tools can keep your organization safe.

Conclusion

The current talent acquisition technology landscape is both exciting and complicated for employers. Technology already available on the market will allow HR to be more strategic, but it needs to be implemented and used effectively. When selecting the right tools, employers need to look for solutions that have tangible benefits – not just tools that are interesting. Using the wrong tools has the potential to do more harm than good, so employers should look for partners that can meet their needs now and flex and growth with them into the future.

Cutting Time-to-Hire with On-Demand Digital Interviews

Posted on by skatz
Cutting Time-to-Hire with On-Demand Digital Interviews

Multi-Country RPO

Cutting Time-to-Hire with On-Demand Digital Interviews

PeopleScout delivers multi-country RPO for a multinational food distribution company to hire warehouse workers and truck drivers, reducing time-to-hire by implementing digital interviews.

58 % of candidate complete the recruitment process—up from 33%
12 day reduction in time-to-hire
6,200 annual hires

PeopleScout partnered with a multinational food distribution company to facilitate its warehouse and driver hiring across the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Ireland and Northern Ireland. PeopleScout’s full-cycle global RPO program manages more than 6,200 annual hires, 3,000 of which are distribution truck drivers. PeopleScout’s solution provides the client with the insights and expertise to improve recruiting outcomes.

Situation

Before engaging with PeopleScout, the client struggled to meet its global hiring goals. Approximately two-thirds of candidates dropped out of the hiring process between the first two steps of the screening process as many candidates couldn’t complete screening during traditional business hours while they were on the road.  

In response to these challenges, PeopleScout’s international RPO solution provides a highly scalable delivery team to meet the client’s fluctuating hiring needs and address regional and cultural preferences during the screening process. PeopleScout’s centralized recruitment support ensures compliance and streamlines the process through innovative technology solutions.

Solution

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • On-Demand Digital Interviews
  • Improved Interview-to-Hire Ratio
  • Improved Time-to-Hire

ON-DEMAND DIGITAL INTERVIEWS

PeopleScout uses on-demand digital interviews that candidates can complete at their convenience—outside of typical business hours.

REDUCED CANDIDATE FALLOUT

PeopleScout’s digital interview process is designed to be completed in 10 to 12 minutes to reduce candidate fallout.

CANDIDATE REVIEWS

PeopleScout’s team reviews the digital interviews and scores candidates based on adherence to safe work practices, demonstrated ability to do the job and genuine interest in the organization.

Results

EXPANDED CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT

The number of candidates who completed the screening process increased from 33% to 58%.

IMPROVED INTERVIEW-TO-HIRE

The interview-to-hire ratio improved from 2.25:1 to 1.7:1.

IMPROVED TIME-TO-HIRE

Time-to-hire was reduced by 12 days.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Multinational food distribution company
  • INDUSTRY
    Transport & Logistics
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    6,200
  • LOCATIONS
    Across the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Ireland and Northern Ireland
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