The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the case for the modern-day recruiter. Years ago, the challenge in recruiting was finding skilled talent. Once you did, you usually had little difficulty engaging with them. Fast forward and today, thanks to technology, job boards, social media and the like, the problem is no longer finding the talent. Oh, you can find anyone. Technology can do that for us. The hard part now is engaging with that talent. And technology cannot do that as effectively as a live human being. As in conversation. Verbal conversation. Yes, in today’s world a recruiter’s initial outreach and connection to a candidate is typically through text or email. However, it cannot stay there. At some point, actual conversations need to take place for that recruiter-candidate or recruiter-client relationship to take root. And grow. Yes, technology can do a lot for us. That should be a good thing, but that is not always the case.
With the onset of AI and automation, the best recruiters have become even better. They recognize that these tools can handle the taxing administrative tasks that, while busy, are not as productive as other tasks. Such as being on the phone and having meaningful conversations with candidates and clients.
Is there a place for AI in the recruiting industry? Absolutely. Should its use be clearly defined and governed? Yes. And this is where companies need to take a pause. There has been such a rush to keep up with the Joneses – to get on board with the AI craze – that some companies are investing in tools before they know what they need. So, what should a company be doing? First, evaluate your current state and processes. If they are broken…if your data is bad or corrupt for example…guess what? It will still be broken and corrupt once you implement AI. Fix problems first. Identify areas of your business where you could save time by implementing AI and/or automating processes. Focus on removing the busy work so that recruiters can have more time to recruit. THEN evaluate AI tools that will solve the problems you are looking to solve. Not the other way around.
Talk with your best recruiters. Find out what holds them back, what taxes their time. What is preventing them from finding and delivering talent faster. That should be the focus. Don’t implement AI simply to say you’ve done it. Don’t implement it without a clear plan on why you are doing it and what you expect the outcome to be. And, once it is implemented, measure, measure, measure your recruiters’ productivity and results. Know what data you are going to track and what you want success to look like. And communicate that throughout the entire workforce so everyone understands what is being done and what is expected. It is critical that all are on the same page.
With AI integrating into modern-day recruiting, we are seeing two types of recruiters evolve: those that see AI as a vehicle to do their work for them so they can do less, and those who see AI as a vehicle to do certain parts of the business for them so they can do more recruiting. The latter will thrive. The former will not. It is said that AI can, on average, free up as many as three hours in a recruiter’s workday. The question recruiters then need to ask themselves is what will you do with that extra time? The better recruiters will be able to convert that into more phone conversations. Others will schedule an earlier tee time. The former will succeed and thrive. The latter will fall behind.
Companies that implement AI and automation solutions need to understand this and be prepared to manage through the change. Expectations should be communicated with recruiters so that it is understood that with an investment in AI to help ease the mundane tasks that recruiters don’t like to do, also comes the expectation of a return on that investment. More productivity, not less. More candidates in the pipeline, not less. More placements, not less. The company will demand more. The clients will demand more. And they should.
Something old, something new. Relationships and conversations are nothing new. AI is. In fact, AI is in its infancy as far as the recruiting industry is concerned. And the best recruiters understand that AI is not designed to do their job for them. It is designed to get them to the conversation faster. Because recruiting always has been and always will be grounded in relationships. And to forge deep relationships, you need to get to know the people you are working with. And technology cannot do that. Only a live human being can.
