Category: Talent Technology

How Robotic Process Automation is Reshaping Recruiting

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Automation is one of the most popular emerging technologies currently being deployed in business. According to the Global Future of Work Survey, conducted by Willis Towers Watson, employers expect that 17 percent of all work will be automated by 2020. What’s more, 94 percent of U.S. organizations currently utilizing AI and robotics will increase their use of automation in the next three years.

The increased focus on automation is shifting the way organizations think about business processes such as IT support, data entry, scheduling, workflow and resource management. Beyond these functions, business leaders realize the value of automating HR and recruiting processes. According to research conducted by PwC, 40 percent of the HR functions of international companies are currently using AI-applications. One form of AI — robotic process automation – uses AI to automate business processes to human-like efficiency and effectiveness, making workers more productive. In this post, we outline what robotic process automation technology is, how it can benefit recruiting and how to successfully implement a robotic process automation solution.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic process automation (RPA) refers to technology that utilizes bots to replicate human actions for time-consuming but straightforward back-office administrative tasks. RPA software allows users to configure bots to collect data, trigger responses and communicate with other business systems. RPA software integrates with existing tools, so it does not require a complete update of a legacy system; rather, RPA acts as a supplemental enhancement. RPA applications can handle automations that range from a simple task such as automated email responses to managing thousands of bots that complete individual tasks.

According to the Institute for Robotic Process Automation, the top five business departments deploying RPA software are:

  1. Financial operations
  2. Human resources
  3. Information technology
  4. Procurement
  5. Data and analytics

The Recruiting Case for RPA Adoption

Automation and AI technology have been gaining traction in HR and talent acquisition. In fact, according to a LinkedIn survey on talent trends, 35 percent of talent professionals and hiring managers say that AI is the top trend impacting how they hire.

For organizations looking to optimize their recruiting, RPA software can provide time savings, increase recruiting accuracy and help reduce bias in the recruiting process. RPA technology can also be utilized for high-level repetitive tasks such as candidate and resume screening. RPA systems can work every hour of every day to source, screen and organize candidates. This gives recruiters more time to establish a more consultative relationship with clients and better engage candidates in a personal one-on-one relationship.

An RPA software solution can help optimize an organization’s HR department and recruitment initiatives through the automation of tasks such as the following:

  • Sending automated communications such as auto reply emails and texts to candidates.
  • Collecting, processing and organizing candidate information and storing it in an organizations ATS system.
  • Recruiting process such as candidate sourcing and screening.
  • Answering simple questions from candidates and providing automated application instructions.

HR and Recruiting Applications for Robotic Process Automation Technology

Learning and understanding the value of RPA and HR automation provides forward-thinking organizations and talent acquisition professionals additional tools to improve recruiting efforts. Below, we list several HR applications of RPA technology and how they can improve HR and recruiting functions.

Sourcing Candidates

According to a LinkedIn report, 90 percent of global professionals want to hear from recruiters to talk and learn more about opportunities. With so many candidates willing to entertain prospective job opportunities, it can be nearly impossible for recruiters to engage with every qualified candidate. RPA technology can automate the online sourcing process by canvassing hundreds of talent pools and databases for quality candidates.

With bots sourcing candidates on the web, recruiters can spend more time consulting clients on talent acquisition strategies such as improving employment offers and bolstering recruitment marketing campaigns. With bots sourcing candidates and expert talent acquisition professionals offering guidance, organizations will be better positioned to extend attractive employment offers to top talent.

Chatbots

RPA technology can deploy chatbots that leverage sentiment analysis and computational linguistics to interpret a candidate’s communication and to formulate an appropriate response. Chatbots enable organizations to offer a more responsive and engaging candidate experience by eliminating the downtime between a candidate submitting an application and receiving a response from a recruiter.

Chatbots can also perform the following tasks:

  • Ask candidates for their resume, cover letter and contact information
  • Ask pre-screening questions regarding a candidate’s education, experience and skills
  • Answer candidates’ FAQs about advertised jobs and the application and hiring process
  • Schedule an interview with a recruiter or hiring manager

Enhancing Recruitment Marketing Campaigns

RPAs can help organizations by reliably engaging and communicating with candidates. Recruiters can design attractive email campaigns that can be sequenced and programmed to “drip” messages to both passive and active candidates, creating a higher level of engagement. Automating recruitment marketing campaigns ensures regular correspondence and delivers relevant job postings and content to multiple candidates. This builds more robust talent pipelines and strengthens an employer’s brand.

Interview Scheduling

RPA technology can also assist both an organization’s HR team and candidates with the interview scheduling process. RPA bots can provide candidates with real-time access to a recruiter or hiring manager’s calendar and suggest specific time slots based on availability. After a candidate selects an interview time, an automated invite is sent to both interviewers and interviewees and the scheduled time becomes unavailable for other candidates. What’s more, if an organization utilizes a video interviewing platform, bots can send automated emails containing links and instructions on how to complete the video interview. Hiring managers can then review interviews and select the best candidates for in-person follow-ups.

Enhanced Candidate Experience

With RPA tools, organizations can better manage their candidate experience. Bots can be used to collect real-time data throughout the candidate experience and monitor candidate satisfaction in each stage of the hiring process. Recruiters can program bots to generate emails soliciting feedback or short surveys as candidates progress through the process.

While automation can help improve and monitor candidate experience that does not mean every component in the process should be turned over to technology. Talent acquisition leaders need to remember that humans make a difference when it comes to engaging candidates.

Affinix

Affinixtm, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology stack, utilizes many of the automated functions made available through RPA software like AI-enabled software, automated email drip campaigns and chatbots. Click here to learn more about Affinix and its automation capabilities.

Best Practices for Integrating Robotic Process Automation Technology into the Recruiting Process

While RPA technology can make HR and recruiting functions more efficient, organizations need to be aware of how to successfully implement the technology into their current systems. Below, we outline a three-step process to successfully implementing an RPA tool into your recruiting and hiring process.

Best Practices for RPA Process Selection

The RPA implementation process begins with identifying the recruiting processes that would most benefit from automation. To begin, HR leaders should conduct a high-level assessment of potential recruiting processes for automation and document the efficiencies and cost-savings that could result from automating each process. This step helps HR leaders, IT and an organization’s leadership decide which recruiting functions will benefit the most from automation. Not all HR and recruiting function are a good fit for RPA, so identifying the right ones depends on the unique needs of an organization.

More process selection tips include:

  • Research RPA capabilities to learn what’s possible through automation.
  • Outline project team members and their roles and responsibilities during the preliminary assessment process (i.e., stakeholders, recruiters, SMEs, technology evaluators).
  • Research the compliance risks associated with each recruiting process, for example, CAN-SPAM rules governing commercial emails.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders for guidance and strategic direction regarding establishing automated processes.

Best Practices for Implementing an RPA Solution

HR leaders need to make sure that HR, IT and talent acquisition personnel are trained and prepared to execute the implementation plan. Moreover, each implementation activity should be documented, tracked and completed per the plan.

During this step, those responsible for implementation need to thoroughly go over the end-to-end automation of selected recruiting functions to learn the full scope of the RPA solution. If errors and missteps occur in an automated process, organizations need to work with their RPA partners to refine and make final modifications before implementing the new processes. No matter how well an organization implements an RPA solution, it is still important to monitor and periodically amend the RPA program to ensure long-term success.

Conclusion

Robotic process automation is a valuable tool for streamlining the recruiting and hiring process. Leveraging automation in recruiting empowers talent acquisition and HR professionals to make the right hiring decisions faster by increasing efficiency across recruitment functions. However, for RPA technology to have a positive impact on an organization, it is important to remember that human interaction with candidates is paramount. Organizations need to find the right balance between talent technology and human interaction.

Predictive Analytics: A Powerful Talent Acquisition Tool

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In this tightening talent market with unemployment rates at record lows, predictive analytics is emerging as an essential AI tool for employers looking to stay ahead of the competition. Applications of artificial intelligence are transforming the talent acquisition process. As an AI tool, predictive analytics allows employers to use the power of data to make predictions about candidates and drive efficiencies throughout the entire talent acquisition process.

What is Predictive Analytics?

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. It’s as close as employers can get to predicting the future.

The ability to make these predictions helps shorten the entire recruiting process while making stronger hires. In a competitive talent market, this allows employers to identify the top talent for a particular role and make an offer to the best candidates faster than the competition. For employers, this results in improvements in time-to-hire and quality-of-hire, and for candidates, it builds a better experience, leaving a positive impression that will factor into their decision to accept an offer.

Using Predictive Analytics to Improve Sourcing

During the sourcing process, predictive analytics models can identify stronger candidates more quickly and accurately than traditional methods. AI sourcing that uses predictive models can provide recruiters with a solid slate of candidates as soon as a requisition is opened, giving the recruiter a strong head start to fill the role. An AI sourcing solution that uses predictive analytics modeling can also provide the recruiter with information about how well the candidate matches the job opening and how likely the candidate is to leave their current role. With this information, recruiters are able to work more quickly and efficiently, filling the role with the best talent in less time. In the end, it saves companies time and money.

To roll out a predictive analytics sourcing tool, employers first need to establish what makes a good hire. This requires looking back into data from previous hires that demonstrates how well those hires performed. This step is critical because employers may find that the factors that predict success are not what they thought. For instance, when filling certain roles, employers may prioritize candidates with advanced degrees. However, data may show that an advanced degree is not a reliable predictor of success. Instead, industry experience or high scores on a pre-employment assessment may better predict the success of a candidate.

Once an employer has the data to identify qualities that predict success, the predictive analytics technology that’s part of an AI sourcing tool can use that information to identify candidates who match that criteria. The technology can scour social media sites, job boards, talent communities and networking and career sites to find the best talent. Using available data, the tool will make predictions about the candidate, and the recruiter can use those predictions to determine which candidates to target for more personalized communication.

As recruiters use the predictive analytics tool, they constantly feed more data into the system. This means that over time, the technology is able to learn more and make even more accurate predictions about candidate success. At PeopleScout, AI sourcing using predictive analytics is a key component of AffinixTM, our proprietary talent technology.

When implementing a predictive analytics sourcing tool, there are a few important considerations to ensure success. The first is making sure that data you use is good, accurate data. You need accurate information about previous hires, including pre- and post-hire information. Since an RPO is only engaged through the hiring and onboarding process, if you’re using an RPO to manage your talent acquisition, it’s important to share post-hire data that demonstrates whether the candidate made a strong employee. Knowing about performance or employee tenure will make predictive analytics tools more powerful. To make that data work for you, it is key that you share that post-hire data with your RPO partner.

Using Predictive Analytics to Make Your Recruitment Funnel More Efficient

In addition to sourcing, predictive analytics can be used throughout the entire recruitment process to drive efficiencies in an employer’s recruitment funnel. A recruitment funnel encompasses all of the steps between when a candidate applies for a position until that candidate is hired. At different steps in the recruitment funnel, candidates will either be eliminated from consideration or move along in the process.

For instance, in a recruitment funnel, an employer may receive 100 applications. During the initial resume screen, a portion of those candidates will be eliminated. After a phone screen, more candidates will be eliminated. The process continues until there is one candidate left and the employer makes the hire.

By analyzing the recruitment funnel, you can work backward to learn how many applicants are necessary to make one hire. To accomplish this, you need multiple data points from a large number of hires. The more data you have, the better and more accurate a prediction will be. That data will give you an understanding of what your recruitment funnel looks like now, and from there, predictive analytics technology can make the process more efficient, which means you would need fewer applicants to hire the right candidate. That turns into decreased time-to-fill and cost-per-hire, while increasing the quality-of-hire.

As in the souring process addressed above, you need to start by evaluating and analyzing existing data. Again, this is a process where the quality of the data will determine the outcome. By analyzing data about factors that can predict successful hires, the predictive analytics tool will learn what qualities make for a strong hire. Like in the sourcing process, the data may tell a story that you don’t expect about what makes a good employee. For instance, you may expect your strongest hires to come from a specific degree program at a nearby university, so you spend significant time and money recruiting those graduates. A predictive analytics tool could help identify other university programs that produce candidates who also match your hiring needs.

With the data about candidate success, you can tailor the entire application process. If the best candidates come from certain sources – job boards, employee referral programs, etc. – you can target your recruitment marketing spend to connect with those candidates and decrease or eliminate advertising that doesn’t yield strong results. When you start with stronger candidates, you need fewer applicants to make a quality hire.

Predictive Analytics Considerations

You should also ensure that your RPO partner uses a technology that is programmed to prevent discrimination and has external checks in place to be sure that isn’t taking place. The technology cannot take factors like gender, race or disability into account as it combs the web for candidates, as this could violate anti-discrimination laws. Additionally, you must take care that the technology does not learn biases from the people who use it. When used correctly, predictive analytics technology can help eliminate discrimination from the recruiting process. It is important to look at variables like race and gender to measure potential bias, but the technology should not use that information to target or exclude candidates. To help prevent discrimination, combining the technology with the intelligence of the recruiter is the differentiator.

Finding a Partner

When looking for a predictive analytics technology solution, it is important to work with a partner with deep expertise of not only the technology but the entire talent landscape. You should look for an RPO provider that can respond to the unique challenges of your industry and that has an end-to-end technology solution that can be customized to your needs.

In an industry-leading technology solution, predictive analytics should be integrated throughout the entire process so that you’re able to harness the full power of the data. If your data analytics tool in the sourcing process operates independently of the data analytics tool that operates later in your recruiting funnel, you risk losing valuable insights. PeopleScout’s Affinix combines the best recruitment technology in the industry, and fully integrates the entire process. With Affinix, our clients get the most out of their data.

When working with an RPO provider, employers will also benefit from the data that the RPO has across its entire client base and in your industry. You can use that data to benchmark and improve your own programs. To get the most out of the partnership, it is important to work out an agreement where you share post-hire data with your RPO provider. Data is valuable, and good data is what makes a predictive analytics program successful. Sharing data with your partner ensures you have the strongest possible souring and recruitment solution.

Predictive analytics should be a part of an overall talent acquisition program and a complete technology solution. To stay ahead in a tight talent market, employers should use the power of data to make better hires, faster.

Healthcare HR Technology To-Do List

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Marc Miller, president and founder of Marc S. Miller Associates HR Technology Consulting, gave the presentation “HR’s Strategic Shift: How to leverage HR technology to drive results for your Healthcare organization” at the Healthcare Talent Acquisition and Management Summit held in New Orleans earlier this year. Miller’s presentation covered a wide range of topics related to HR technology and its impact on healthcare HR professionals. Below, we take three items from Miller’s HR technology “to-do” list and explore the ways in which emerging healthcare HR technology is helping achieve success in these areas.

Leverage Healthcare HR Technology to Reduce Time Spent on Administrative Tasks

Administrative tasks are the backbone of a well-run healthcare organization’s HR department. They put into action the ideas and concepts developed during HR strategic planning and include educating employees on benefits, keeping employment records and processing essential paperwork, from job applications to time sheets and travel per diems.

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Keeping up with administrative tasks can be daunting for healthcare HR professionals. This may be why more and more HR professionals are turning to HR technology to alleviate some of the burdens. A robust HR technology platform can help manage many basic HR functions — including payroll, benefits, employee onboarding and time off tracking. An HR technology platform will also organize these tasks into categories so users can easily navigate information from a single platform. With multiple HR functions organized in one space, healthcare HR departments can be more efficient and productive in handling administrative tasks.

Before sitting down with potential vendors, healthcare staffing teams should outline a list of questions including:

  • Will the platform integrate with current systems?
  • How secure is employee data inside the platform?
  • Will the vendor or a third party be involved in training staff on the technology?
  • What proprietary features does this platform offer?
  • Is the interface easy to navigate?
  • How customizable is the platform?
  • What ongoing support can be expected of the vendor?

Outsource Important HR Functions to Tech-Capable Partners

While HR professionals are adept at managing a wide variety of critical HR functions, there are only so many hours in a day to get things done. Outsourcing HR functions to companies who possess the know-how and technology to manage them efficiently can help maximize productivity. In fact, according to a SHRM survey, 18 percent of companies surveyed outsource HR functions to take advantage of technological advances.

For instance, in the healthcare industry, attracting and retaining qualified talent can be challenging. Competition is fierce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics believes the total healthcare labor market will grow to 22 million jobs, or a 29 percent increase in overall employment, in the next decade. What’s more, according to a SHRM survey, 46 percent of HR professionals reported it was “very difficult” to fill full-time roles for high-skilled medical positions such as nurses, doctors and specialists.

To brace for the looming surge in demand for healthcare talent, HR professionals should look to recruitment outsourcing as a viable and necessary solution. Talent acquisition experts at recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) companies can manage healthcare recruitment. A healthcare RPO provider can deliver a comprehensive assessment of the whole talent spectrum and can source and hire clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers.

The right RPO provider can employ cutting-edge talent acquisition technology to help manage all aspects of the recruiting process, from identifying talent to creating a more efficient applicant experience. For example, AffinixTM, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology platform, combines AI, predictive analytics and machine learning to deliver speed and scalability to a user’s recruitment process. Affinix can also improve candidate experience with a mobile-first application process, digital assessments and video interviews. If you would like to learn more about Affinix, please download our fact sheet here.

Use Healthcare HR Technology to Organize and Track Metrics

Tracking HR metrics is important for healthcare HR professionals and leadership teams looking to better understand the health and vitality of their organization and its workforce. However, according to research conducted by XpertHR, 95.5 percent of HR professionals have experienced problems gathering and analyzing HR metrics data.

HR technology can make tracking, measuring and analyzing the value of employees easier. Advances in technology such as HR dashboards allow organizations to gather data better. An HR dashboard can be used to analyze performance and identify areas for improvement in an organization. Executives and HR leaders can work together to review the data they need in order to make fact-based decisions when it comes to the development and management of HR and personnel resources. We have outlined some measurement best practices:

Keep HR metrics focused

Even though technology has made it easier to gather and report HR metrics, it is still important to be discerning and careful about what metrics are measured and reported on. Healthcare HR professionals should focus on tracking metrics that directly impact key performance indicators. This can be achieved by determining the key factors impacting an organization’s staff from turnover to employee satisfaction to tell the story of what is happening with employees.

Align reports with the organization’s strategic goals

Healthcare HR professionals need to be deliberate about aligning metric analysis with overall organizational goals. This is important to show how HR programs are driving progress and helping the organization reach its strategic goals as well as illustrating the value and impact employees make every day.

Use metrics to drive executive action

One of the main objectives of reporting key metrics is to compel the executive team to take action on HR-related issues that may need attention and improvement. Healthcare HR professionals need to be sure to illustrate where employees are struggling as well as the progress of HR programs to give leadership a clear picture of where to allocate resources.

Conclusion

The world is rapidly evolving with apps, big data, real-time communication and increasing use of artificial intelligence, chatbots and predictive analytics playing a larger role in our everyday lives. These technologies are quickly bringing new functionality to the world of HR. The future success of healthcare HR professionals will be directly linked to how well they adapt to new developments to create and design the healthcare workforce and employee experience.

How to Improve Your Candidate Experience

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Candidate experience is becoming a popular topic of discussion in the talent acquisition and recruiting community—with good reason. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 78 percent of candidates say the overall candidate experience they receive is an indicator of how a company values its staff. What’s more, the same survey found that 86 percent of job seekers believe employers should treat candidates with the same respect as current employees.

The results of CareerBuilder’s survey illustrate that the lines between the candidate and employee experience are blurring, making it critical for organizations to strengthen their candidate experience. In this post, we outline the importance of improving the experience of your candidates and how organizations can streamline the hiring process.

What is the Candidate Experience, and Why Does it Matter?

In order to build a strong candidate experience, it is important to understand what is and why it matters.

So, what is the candidate experience?

The candidate experience is the sequence of interactions a job candidate has with an organization throughout the recruiting and hiring process. These interactions can include correspondence that a candidate receives from an organization’s HR department, recruiters and its software systems.

Common candidate experience touch points include:

  • An organization’s career site
  • Job advertisements
  • The online job application process
  • Any communication from an applicant tracking system
  • An organization’s interview process
  • Any correspondence with HR professionals, team members or leadership
  • Notifications about a candidate’s application status
  • Candidate rejection letter or job offer

What is a positive candidate experience?

According to Talent Board’s CandE Research Report, candidates rated “communication” as the number one way to engage talent. So, organizations looking to craft a positive candidate experience should communicate clearly and honestly with job seekers to create the type of candidate experience they value.

A positive candidate experience meets the following standards:

  • Communicates realistic expectations for the job and work environment
  • Clearly communicates an organization’s employee value proposition
  • Outlines all of the employment details to candidates upfront
  • Provides an easy and mobile-friendly application process
  • Respects a candidate’s time at all stages of the application process
  • Provides a pleasant and smooth interview experience
  • Seamlessly transitions selected job applicants into new employees
  • Maintains a kind and respectful process for rejecting job applicants

What are the Benefits of Improving Candidate Experience?

Improving candidate experience not only benefits candidates and job seekers, but it can also have a positive impact on an organization’s workforce. Below, we outline three ways a strong candidate experience improves the overall talent acquisition process.

Improve applicant retention  

According to research conducted by Indeed, applications with 45 or more screener questions lose 88.7 percent of their potential applicants to application abandonment. Improving the candidate experience often begins with refining the application process. A short and streamlined job application process will increase the likelihood of job seekers finishing job applications, thereby increasing an organization’s applicant pool.

Create a better first impression

Research from labor economists Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger suggests a growing interest in joining the gig economy. The number of Americans working these “gigs” has risen from 10.1 percent a decade ago to 15.8 percent in 2015. Nearly 40 percent of workers in these jobs have a bachelor’s degree or higher. This means that organizations are not only in a battle with competitors for skilled talent but also with the candidates who may want to work for themselves.

To win the war for talent, organizations need to see the experience of candidates as more than just a part of the recruiting process; it is also a sales tool that can help win over top talent. A job application is often the first interaction a candidate has with an organization. So, making a great first impression on top talent with a superior candidate experience will help organizations differentiate themselves and stand out as great places to work.

Increase brand awareness

The candidate experience affects more than just job applicants; it also plays a significant role in how consumers view an organization as a whole. If an organization offers an exceptional experience, candidates are more likely to share the experience with colleagues and write about it online. What’s more, a survey conducted by Software Advice found that 71 percent of candidates are more likely to purchase from a company they feel treated them well throughout the recruiting process.

How Technology Can Help Improve the Candidate Experience

Technology continues to shape the way job seekers search for work and how organizations find and hire qualified talent. The rise of social and professional networking sites, mobile devices, job boards and online applicant systems means that creating a meaningful candidate experience often begins with crafting a technology-first approach. Below we list three ways in which organizations can use technology to improve their candidate experience.

Offer a mobile-friendly candidate experience

Research conducted by Indeed found that 78 percent of Millennials, 73 percent of Generation Xers and 57 percent of baby boomers conduct job searches from their mobile devices. This means that organizations looking to improve their candidate experience should look to create a mobile-friendly recruiting environment for job seekers. Organizations should make sure that their career website and other resources candidates may need while applying for job openings are mobile-friendly.

Affinix™, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology, is designed as a mobile-first platform for both candidates and recruiters, ensuring seamless engagement from any mobile device at any time throughout the application, scheduling and screening process.

Quick questions to ask yourself to improve the mobile the experience for candidates:

  • Is career-related text and content easily readable on mobile devices?
  • Are job pages optimized for better visibility in mobile search?
  • Is navigation of the career site and job application simple on mobile devices?
  • Will candidates have to go through trial and error to complete applications on mobile devices?

Clear Communication

Establishing timely and clear communication between candidates and recruiters is essential for developing a positive candidate experience. However, many candidates are left without feedback or status updates on their application. In fact, a Talent Board report found that 47 percent of candidates were still waiting to hear back from employers more than two months after they applied.

The right technology platform can help by sending automated messages to candidates via email or chatbot technology letting them know their application status. You can even craft messages letting a candidate know if they did not get the job. While missing out on a job is never pleasant, receiving prompt feedback communicates to a candidate that their application and time were respected.

Social Recruitment Marketing

Enhancing the candidate experience also means reaching candidates where they are. According to Social Talent’s 2016 Global Recruiting Survey, 37 percent of survey respondents said that social media is the primary source of finding candidates. This shift towards a digital hiring model has seen the traditional résumé be displaced by the online footprint of candidates which showcases their skills and experiences.

PeopleScout’s Affinix platform can help organizations reach digitally native candidates with customized ads, optimized job descriptions, personalized landing pages, career portals and recruitment marketing that elevates job postings with robust content and campaign management.

Conclusion

Learning from past mistakes and successes is essential to improving the experiences of your candidates. While there is no such thing as a perfect hiring process, learning and evolving processes and procedures will improve an organization’s ability to attract great talent and retain the strongest workers.

Healthcare Recruiters: How Technology is Improving Healthcare Recruiting

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According to a recent study conducted by Georgetown, healthcare providers in the U.S. will need 5.6 million more healthcare workers by 2020 to meet the growing demands on the healthcare system. From 2010 to 2020, the healthcare industry will grow by more than 70 percent, from $1.8 trillion to $3.1 trillion. This will require the most dramatic workforce growth of any sector in the U.S. within the next decade. For healthcare organizations looking to keep pace with growth, investing in the right recruiting technology can streamline the recruitment process and help healthcare recruiters keep up with staffing demand. In this post, we outline how recruiting technology helps healthcare organizations stay ahead of the talent curve from the beginning to the end of the hiring process.

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Optimized Job Descriptions

A well-written job description is essential for attracting the best candidates for open positions. Accurate and optimized job descriptions not only engages great talent but clearly outlining the scope of the position also ensures that once hired, healthcare workers can fulfill their duties and responsibilities.

Optimized job descriptions also enable healthcare recruiters to match the right candidates with available positions by documenting the specific responsibilities of each role, including the certification and licensing requirements, the physical demands of the job and the location of the facility.

By creating more appealing and inclusive job descriptions, healthcare organizations can also increase the diversity of their candidate pool while attracting better-fitting candidates to open positions.

Tips for creating appealing job descriptions include:

  • Use keywords in job titles and descriptions so applicants can find the postings more easily.
  • Make job descriptions concise and easy to read on mobile devices.
  • Answer the “so what?” question: what makes your healthcare organization a place job seekers should want to work at?

How technology can help optimize job descriptions

Technology can be leveraged to optimize and create more engaging job descriptions for both clinical and non-clinical healthcare positions. For example, some recruiting technology platforms can conduct sentiment analysis on job descriptions to identify the potentially biased language and suggest alternatives and synonyms for more objective and neutral terminology.

Removing biased language is not the only way technology helps healthcare recruiters optimize job descriptions. At PeopleScout, our Affinix™ platform can help healthcare organizations improve job descriptions by optimizing career pages and job postings for search engines. One way the tool does this is by offering suggestions for optimized title tags for every job posting.

Examples of optimized title tags are:

  • Nursing Job Opening | XYZ Healthcare
  • RN Jobs Available, Chicago | XYZ Clinic
  • Hospital Food Service Jobs in Chicago | XYZ Hospital

Technology platforms that provide SEO guidance are also powerful tools for adding relevant keywords, which are crucial for job description optimization. Once relevant keywords are identified, recruiters can add them to the job description text, especially in the page title and subtitles, in order to help the page rank higher in search engine results for those specific keywords.

Helping Healthcare Recruiters Source Candidates

For healthcare recruiters, maintaining a steady pipeline of qualified talent is essential. Unfortunately, the tight healthcare labor market can make consistently sourcing qualified candidates difficult. What’s more, it can be difficult for healthcare recruiters to identify and keep track of previous applicants who may be a good fit for new roles.

The unfortunate reality is that many healthcare organizations lack the time and resources to source high-quality candidates consistently. This can add up to a lot of stress for those responsible for maintaining a healthy talent pool for an organization’s open positions.

How technology can improve sourcing candidates

Recruiting technology can help reduce the amount of time recruiters spend on sourcing candidates by finding more platforms, channels and databases to search for passive candidates. Beyond time savings, one of the more significant developments in recruiting technology is the proliferation of AI-enabled candidate sourcing, which has the following benefits:

  • AI-enabled sourcing tools can discover patterns in resumes, social profiles and other sources of data to find candidates that are ideal matches for a job’s requirements.
  • AI technology can help reduce bias in candidate sourcing by disregarding candidate demographics (e.g., race, gender, age) in its decision making.
  • AI algorithms crawl potential candidates’ online profiles and portfolios to help source passive candidates.
  • AI can be used to source both external and internal candidates by screening the existing resumes in a healthcare organization’s applicant tracking system (ATS) to find strong matches for current open positions.

Screening Candidates

The process of screening candidates, much like candidate sourcing, can be time-consuming for recruiters who are already stretched thin. Recruiters need to analyze workforce data, formulate job descriptions, verify candidate information and check references. To make sure recruiters are able to perform all of these functions, it’s important that the screening process is as efficient as possible.

How technology can help healthcare recruiters screen candidates

One of the most efficient applications of recruiting technology is utilizing AI to automate the resume screening process, especially for high-volume or high-turnover positions. Intelligent screening software that incorporates predictive analytics and machine learning to understand top talent behaviors and predict factors such as cultural fit. Smart screening that analyzes a healthcare organization’s existing ATS or CRM to figure out which candidates became successful and unsuccessful healthcare workers based on their performance and tenure and turnover rates make screening and hiring the top candidates easier than ever.

Digital assessments that test an applicant’s skills and capabilities are also making screening candidates easier. Hiring managers can deploy digital assessments to test aptitude, personality, and skills and use the objective data and results to help make more informed hiring decisions.

Interviewing and Hiring Healthcare Candidates

In the healthcare industry, it is crucial to attract and hire the most qualified candidates because many positions have a direct impact on patient care. Hiring the wrong candidate can be not only dangerous for patients but also costly, as healthcare organizations can face litigation for injuries sustained or maltreatment of patients by staff. The right healthcare recruiting strategies and interviewing techniques can ensure that healthcare facilities hire the best candidates.

How technology can improve the interview process

There are a variety of ways that recruiting tools and technology can improve the interview process, such as:

  • Automated interview scheduling that allows candidates to schedule or reschedule interviews themselves. All recruiters have to do is provide candidates with available time slots.
  • Digital video interviews that can be conducted be pre-recorded and viewed when it’s convenient for recruiters and hiring managers.
  • Chatbots that can help answer candidates’ questions and provide information on next steps in the recruitment process.

Conclusion

Technology streamlines the healthcare recruiting and hiring process by providing an improved experience for both recruiters and candidates. While technology can assist recruiters in improving the functions of the recruiting process, it cannot replace human touch, experience and instincts when it comes to hiring the best talent. Employers should look for a talent partner with comprehensive talent acquisition and workforce management solution, where technology is just one part of the puzzle.

How to Use Chatbots to Improve Recruiting

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The use of artificial intelligence in recruiting is one of the most significant trends in talent acquisition. These solutions are driving candidate management and engagement in many ways, including through chatbot technology.

Chatbots have become much more advanced in the past few years, as natural language processing continues to improve. Much of the evolution is due to the improved technology that can read and respond more naturally to candidates.

Additionally, the growing popularity of products like the Amazon Echo or Google Home shows that people enjoy the convenience of chatbot technology.

Improving the Candidate Experience

As the talent landscape continues to tighten, a competitive candidate experience is essential to attract and engage the best talent. In addition, candidates have come to expect a consumer-like application and hiring experience that is similar to other interactions they’re having online and on their smartphones every day. Chatbots can help improve the candidate experience and address these challenges through their ability to interact with candidates on demand, streamlining and assisting throughout the application process on the channels candidates prefer and when they are available.

Chatbots are effective tools for candidate engagement, and they are continuously evolving to make the application process easier for the candidate. Many candidates need to complete application processes outside of normal business hours. Chatbots allow candidates to receive answers to questions immediately, at any time of day. They can also answer candidate questions on company policies, benefits or culture, and when it gets stumped, a chatbot can contact a human recruiter.

Through chatbot functionality, candidates can contact organizations around the clock.
Chatbots can also take on some tasks throughout the application process that would typically be done by recruiters over the phone or through email. Extended job application forms may feel time-consuming to job candidates. Through a chatbot, candidates can provide that same information in a conversational way that feels less daunting.

Streamlining the Process for Recruiters

Throughout the recruiting process, recruiters often take on tasks that are necessary but don’t add value for candidates. Chatbots can allow recruiters to spend more time with the strongest candidates by taking on some of the administrative tasks.

Chatbots can handle tasks like scheduling interviews. With a strong candidate experience enhanced by chatbot technology, recruiters will have a wider and stronger pool of applicants, which enables them to identify and engage with the best talent more quickly.

Additionally, one of the most significant issues facing us all is time. Chatbots can help recruiters gain more time in their days by taking on some of the time-consuming tasks that recruiters handle, like responding to simple questions, scheduling interviews and gathering basic information from candidates.

In this tight talent market, that extra time that recruiters spend with strong candidates will give employers an edge. The unemployment rate in the United States is around record low levels, so strong candidates will have several options. When a recruiter has more time to spend with those candidates, it increases the likelihood that the candidate will choose that employer.

Implementing Chatbots in your Recruiting

When rolling out chatbots in your recruiting program, it’s important to remember to strike the right balance between automated communication via chatbots and communication from a recruiter. Chatbots should be used for repeatable, automatable interactions, giving organizations the opportunity to enable recruiters to engage with best candidates in more high-value ways.

It’s important to remember that chatbots shouldn’t take on all of the candidate communication. They can automate some of the hiring processes, but candidates still need to interact with a recruiter. Studies show that candidates want an experience that includes a balanced mix of technology and human interaction – not just one or the other.

It is also important to keep in mind that simply launching a chatbot does not ensure success. Organizations need to take steps to continuously make their chatbots more attuned and responsive in order to drive successful engagements. This can take time, as well as the resources needed to understand the technology behind AI-enabled chatbots.

It’s also important to recognize that not all chatbot technology is created equal. Low-quality technology could mean that a chatbot would have a hard time answering common questions or respond inappropriately. That would harm the employer brand even more than relying on slower, more traditional communication. To make sure that the technology can effectively communicate, employers should look for a chatbot that is part of a larger technology solution that works throughout the entire application process.

For example, in Affinix™, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology platform, chatbot assistance is integrated within the technology stack in order to engage with and assist candidates during the application process. Through Affinix, we can integrate chatbot technology on an organization’s career page, during the interview scheduling process and to help candidates and recruiters prep for an interview, among other use cases.

Looking Forward

Chatbots can play an essential role in creating an improved candidate experience, but the talent acquisition industry has moved well beyond using just chatbots for communication. Now, AI and machine learning are transforming the industry. Rules-based onboarding functions, candidate sourcing, interview scheduling and candidate matching are being automated to enable talent acquisition professionals to spend more time with the best candidates and on critical talent acquisition functions that involve creative and strategic thinking. In addition to these evolutions, candidates may soon interact with chatbots primarily through voice, like Siri from Apple or Alexa from Amazon, rather than through text.

While chatbots, automation and AI are fundamentally changing candidate communications, we believe that striking the right balance between personalized technology and human interaction is key to success. PeopleScout uses AI and other emerging technologies that personalize the candidate experience while also enabling our talent professionals to spend more time on critical functions. Employers should look for a talent partner with a comprehensive technology solution, where chatbots are just one piece of the puzzle.

2017 in Review: PeopleScout Thought Leadership

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Throughout 2017, we’ve covered the biggest technology trends impacting talent acquisition and we’ve seen the growing gig economy increase the need for Total Workforce Solutions programs. We’ve also seen a low unemployment rate and a large skills gap impact a variety of industries. As 2017 draws to a close, we’re looking back on our most important thought leadership from the past year.

Technology

To stay ahead in the constantly shifting talent landscape, it’s important to take advantage of the best technology solutions. In 2017, PeopleScout launched Affinix™, our propriety tech platform designed to help connect our clients with the best talent faster. These blogs and ebooks cover the technology you need to know to stay ahead.

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Analytics: What Does it Mean for Recruiting

Defining the Terms of Data Analytics

New Ebook Download: Seven Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape

Introducing Affinix – Empowering Faster Connection with the Best Talent

Does Your Candidate Experience Meet Candidate Expectations?

Four Applications of AI to Improve your Talent Acquisition Program

RPO, MSP and Total Workforce Solutions

RPO, MSP and Total Workforce Solutions are the core of what we do here at PeopleScout. As more people join the gig economy, Total Workforce Solutions are becoming even more important for employers who want a holistic view of their entire talent strategy

Lexicon for RPO, MSP and Total Workforce Solutions Terms

Whitepaper: Total Workforce Solutions: Optimizing Talent Acquisition by Blending RPO and MSP

The Outlook for Total Workforce Solutions: Why Now?

Designing a Total Workforce Solution

Ready, Set, RPO: What to Expect in a New RPO Partnership

Leave it to the Pros: Why Contingent Labor is Better Managed through an MSP

Gig Economy: Beyond the Buzzword

Recruiting in the Gig Economy

Five Key Drivers of MSP Programs

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are important in every workplace. A diverse workforce increases business outcomes, but it can be difficult to attract diverse talent.

Getting it Right: Understanding and Managing Diversity in the Workplace

Creating an Effective Diversity and Inclusion Program

Workplace Diversity: Benefits of Hiring LGBTQ Individuals

Improving Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Workforce

Age Discrimination in the Workforce: What Employers Need to Know

Veteran Hiring

The veteran hiring landscape has transformed over the past several years, and it’s important for employers to understand the needs of veterans and military spouses so that they can build veteran hiring programs to meet their needs.

Exploring the Veteran Talent Landscape: Why it’s Time to Focus on Turning Veteran Jobs into Veteran Careers

13 Best Practices to Hire Veterans

Ebook Download: Best Practices for Hiring Veterans

Hiring Our Heroes: A PeopleScout Commitment to Veterans and Military Spouses

Recognizing Our Veterans

Industry Outlooks

Disruptive technology and talent shortages are impacting different industries in different ways. It’s important to understand the factors impacting an industry to build an effective talent acquisition program.

The Commercial Driver Talent Landscape – Candidates are in the Driver’s Seat

Healthcare Talent Shortage: A Generational Divide

Managing the Skills Shortage in Healthcare

HR Functions

There’s more to building an effective talent program than just making good hires, you need to attract and keep the best talent.

Three Ways to Increase Employee Engagement

Four Ways to Strengthen Your Employer Brand and Recruit Top Talent

The Economy

It’s important for all talent acquisition professionals to understand the job market and the economic factors that could impact hiring. Throughout 2017, we dug deep not only into the U.S. Jobs Reports, but also the international unemployment landscape.

Dissecting the March Jobs Report

Dissecting the April Jobs Report

Dissecting the May Jobs Report

Dissecting the June Jobs Report

Dissecting the July Jobs Report

Dissecting the August Jobs Report

Dissecting the September Jobs Report

Dissecting the October Jobs Report

Dissecting the November Jobs Report

PeopleScout Events

Throughout 2017, we’re proud to have attended several industry events and to have hosted our client forum on the changing world of work. Additionally, we were honored to be named the Skills For Chicagoland’s Future 2017 Corporate Champion for the Unemployed.

PeopleScout 2017 Client Forum Wrap Up

Skills for Chicagoland’s Future: A PeopleScout Partnership to Aid the Unemployed

PeopleScout at the 2017 CWS Summit North America

PeopleScout APAC 2017 Innovation Forum

Four Applications of AI to Improve Your Talent Acquisition Program

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We’re hearing about artificial intelligence everywhere these days. It’s constantly in the news with developments like self-driving cars. If you’re interacting with a company through a website chat window, chances are you’re talking to a computer.

Now, applications of AI like machine learning and natural language processing are transforming talent acquisition. The right AI tools can streamline the sourcing and recruiting process, providing a better candidate experience and keeping your organization ahead in the tight talent landscape.

Dig Deeper

How to Use Chatbots to Improve Recruiting

Download Free Ebook Or Contact an Expert Today

When you think about AI, think of artificial intelligence as the umbrella term. Put most simply, it is a branch of computer science that involves computers doing things normally done by people. Different applications of AI can play different roles throughout the talent acquisition process. To attract and hire the best talent, employers need a process with a strong candidate experience and a partner with the expertise to identify the best person for a job. To accomplish that, it’s important to understand the different applications of AI and how they can optimize every step of a candidate’s journey.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is the next step in artificial intelligence, where computers are able to learn how to do something without being specifically programmed how to do that one thing. Machine learning develops algorithms, which are procedures or processes for solving problems.

Examples of machine learning are everywhere. Email spam filters learn how to identify spam depending on context and subject. Facebook’s photo tagging algorithm learns to recognize faces based on previous tags.

Machine learning can have impacts throughout the talent acquisition process. When applied to the sourcing process, machine learning technology can identify active and passive candidates within seconds of a job requisition being posted. There is so much publicly available information about which candidates are likely to join a company or leave their current job.  This saves time for the recruiter and can provide valuable information including how likely a person is to leave their current job or how well their past experience meets the job description.

When it comes to the application process, machine learning technology can help create a personalized experience for the candidate. By analyzing the information a candidate shares online, the technology can provide them with job openings that fit their interests and experience.

Natural Language Processing

Natural language processing (NLP) is a way for computers to understand and interpret human language. It’s particularly difficult because human language is never as uniform and simple as code. When people talk and write, they have regional differences, use metaphors and display emotional cues that impact the meaning of what they’re saying.  When people interact with AI, natural language processing is important for creating a positive interaction. A chatbot needs to understand what people are saying to respond properly. A virtual assistant needs to process and respond to the speech of people with different accents and dialects.

NLP should play a large role throughout talent acquisition. Starting with the process of crafting job descriptions, NLP can help write a description that attracts more strong candidates. In sourcing, an AI tool needs to have NLP to search for quality candidates and understand the information they share through social media and other online resumes.

Additionally, chatbots can play a role in the application process, reducing the need for long application forms, and perform some candidate prescreening. This can free up more time for recruiters, but it can also improve the candidate experience. Business Insider reports that people are growing more comfortable with, and in some cases even prefer, interacting with a chatbot over another person. To accomplish this and provide a good candidate experience, natural language processing is necessary.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics finds patterns in data and then uses those patterns or 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. It works by taking large sets of data and then applying artificial intelligence technology to see trends and patterns that would be difficult, time-consuming or possibly impossible for humans to accomplish alone.

Predictive analytics can make an impact throughout the entire hiring process. The ability to make predictions and suggest a certain course of action can give employers a better understanding of factors like how long it will take to fill a position or what kind of salary and benefits package will be required to secure a successful candidate.

When it comes to candidate success, predictive analytics can use candidate assessments to predict how successful a person will be in a given role and even how long they may stay with the company. Armed with that information, organizations can make better hiring decisions.

Robotic Processing Automation

Robotic processing automation (RPA) is the process of using software to automate simple business tasks. According to the Wall Street Journal, RPA works by following simple rules to mimic the way that people interact with different business applications. By doing this, the technology is able to automate manual processes that would be tedious or time consuming for a worker.

RPA can automate many of the administrative tasks that can take up a lot of a recruiter’s time. When a job requisition opens, RPA can automate the keystrokes required to submit information and post jobs to sources that require manual submission. Additionally, it can automate the distribution of job openings notifications to community organizations. This can ensure a job posting reaches as many candidates as possible and save recruiters’ time for more valuable tasks, like engaging with the strongest candidates.

RPA can also play a role after a candidate accepts an offer. The technology can automate many of the post-offer activities that clear candidates for hire, like collecting more information from candidates, submitting forms and processing pre-employment checks.

To learn more about how PeopleScout is using AI in Affinix and how it can help you get ahead, schedule a candidate experience evaluation

Introducing Affinix – Empowering Faster Connection with the Best Talent

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Today, PeopleScout released Affinix™, a proprietary technology solution designed to help its clients connect with the best talent faster through a candidate experience that mimics the simplicity and usability of the best consumer websites.

Affinix is a mobile-first, cloud-based platform that creates a consumer-like candidate experience and streamlines the sourcing process. Embedded within PeopleScout’s talent solutions, Affinix delivers speed and scalability while leveraging artificial intelligence, recruitment marketing, machine learning, predictive analytics and other emerging technologies with one point ATS and VMS integration and single sign-on.

Affinix simplifies the fragmented talent acquisition technology ecosystem by deploying best-in-class technology to create a seamless experience for both the candidate and hiring manager. Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud infrastructure for stability, scalability and security and engineered for flexibility and future enhancement – Affinix integrates with ATS and VMS technology to support compliance and provide insights across a client’s total workforce.

Affinix balances human expertise and automation, enabling PeopleScout to enhance talent intelligence by better leveraging the power of data gleaned from engaging millions of candidates and contingent associates every year.

Affinix boasts powerful capabilities including:

  • Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies that extend across the platform, streamlining the sourcing and screening process and identifying the top talent quickly. Affinix sources strong passive and active candidates within seconds of an open job requisition.
  • Digital and social recruitment marketing to reach candidates where they are and enhance an organization’s employer brand through customized ads, optimized job descriptions, personalized landing pages, career portals and more. Recruitment marketing elevates job postings with robust content and campaign management.
  • A mobile-first application process designed to mimic the simplicity and usability of the best consumer websites. The platform is mobile-first for both the candidate and the hiring manager, ensuring engagement from any device at any time throughout the application, scheduling and screening process.
  • Video interviews and digital assessments that cut days off the hiring process by using data analytics and machine learning to identify and rank the best candidates. This simplifies the screening process, allowing PeopleScout to share top candidates with hiring managers faster.
  • Predictive analytics and machine learning extend across the hiring process to enable PeopleScout to better understand top talent behaviors and predict factors such as cultural fit, willingness to change companies and future tenure potential. Over time, this improves hiring speed and accuracy by more quickly identifying, screening and assessing top talent.

To learn more about how Affinix will add speed, scalability and personalization to our talent solutions, please read our press release and watch our new PeopleScout Now to Next and Meet Affinix videos.

New Ebook Download: Seven Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape

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7 Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape

Download our ebook, Seven Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape


The shifting technology landscape impacts every industry, and new developments are already transforming talent acquisition. Chatbots have gone from an interesting novelty to a method of conducting interviews. Driverless cars once seemed improbable, but their inevitability is already building a new class of in-demand candidate. The possibilities are endless when it comes to how emerging technologies can influence the talent acquisition industry.


Technology is getting smarter and touching more parts of our lives – through computers, smart phones, watches and even devices on our countertops. Candidates are more connected than ever before, and that has changed their expectations when it comes to their job search. They expect to be able to complete the entire application process on mobile devices, and they expect it to be fast. Technology has changed our attention spans, and organizations need to stand out to attract the right talent. Considering the tight talent market, if companies want to hire the best candidates, they will need to meet and exceed those candidates’ expectations.


In our ebook, learn more about these seven trends:

  1. Artificial intelligence
  2. Deep learning
  3. Virtual assistants
  4. Predictive analytics
  5. Neuroscience
  6. Internet of things
  7. Driverless cars

With 13 new recruiting technologies launching each week, it’s important to watch trends to see how they can successfully fit into talent acquisition industry. At PeopleScout, we’re dedicated to finding the best technologies in order to create a world-class experience for candidates and our clients.


“It is extremely important for everyone in talent acquisition to stay on top of the technology trends, but the most important thing is to keep your potential candidates at the forefront of your considerations,” said Allison Brigden, PeopleScout’s global leader of innovation and support. “Making the candidates’ part in this process effortless will be the competitive edge.”


Download our ebook, Seven Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape