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Research and thought leadership suggesting that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the answer to the challenges that Talent Acquisition Teams face is plentiful. In this insight, we look at whether the adoption of AI will alleviate TA sourcing challenges and support the most significant priorities.
Research and thought leadership suggesting that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the answer to the challenges that Talent Acquisition Teams face is plentiful. In this insight, we look at whether the adoption of AI will alleviate TA sourcing challenges and support the most significant priorities.
The top 5 candidate sourcing priorities* for in-house recruiters are:
Candidate experience (67%).
EVP & Employer Brand (49%).
DEI (46%).
Talent Pooling & Pipelining (44%).
Data & Metrics (43%).
With these priorities in mind, we must challenge ourselves to unpick how AI recruitment and talent acquisition tools address these priorities. Or look if tried and tested tools are already available that support the recruitment process much better.
FACT
Ipsos research finds that 2 in 3 (64%) Britons think AI will affect their job. While 46% agree that businesses should embrace AI in the workplace if it saves time and resources, there is a fear of AI replacing working people.
What are the pitfalls of AI for recruitment?
AI tools for recruitment and TA are still relatively new and touted as the holy grail for revolutionising talent acquisition. But is that true, or are we a long way off from AI becoming a talent acquisition staple in our tech stack?
Points to consider:
• Some research papers refer to AI, meaning a chatbot or scheduling assistant or summarising unstructured conversational data. It is unclear what is universally accepted as AI in TA. If you Google search AI in the recruitment process, it suggests automating tedious tasks, screening resumes for keywords, and using psychometrics tests to evaluate job applicants. Is this not recruitment automation that already exists?
• AI can remove the human touch, which is imperative in candidate engagement, and it is not fully understood where this new technology will help us gain an advantage. This could be detrimental if AI creeps into personalisation and human interaction. The IPSOS Public Trust in AI Report identified a key takeaway: ‘People are open to AI assisting humans but uncomfortable with it replacing human judgement for high-stakes decisions.
• AI should support and enhance human interaction, not rip and replace.
• Many leaders across the corporate world hoped AI recruiting tech would end biases in recruitment. Yet, there is still a debate about bias that organisations might encounter when implementing AI tools. Using AI ethically and identifying risks, fairness, privacy and security to use AI responsibly is non-negotiable. This research suggests that AI hiring tools may filter out the best job applicants.
• Other tech already exists for TA teams to do their job more effectively. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), for example, support the recruitment process through automation and already have sophisticated features that alleviate TA challenges such as scheduling – where does AI fit to deliver over and above what an ATS can?
Will AI fix what is broken? That is not yet clear and poses more questions than answers. There are ethical considerations, transparency requirements, and governance that will require more thought before we opt for AI to answer all our TA woes.
Katrina Collier, who works with companies globally to improve recruitment and candidate experience, touches on some of these topics in her Reboot Hiring book – “I don’t believe robots will replace recruiters ….or by other technology – but talent acquisition needs it to do their jobs effectively.
“I advise all recruitment technology buyers to ask vendors questions like, ‘Was a recruiter involved in or advising on the development of this tool?’ and ‘How does this technology save hiring managers, recruiters and applicants time, money and hassle?’ Then, rigorously test the tool and ensure it supports the process without adding unnecessary steps, bias or angst; don’t be the company that leaves talent acquisition out of buying decisions and ends up implementing something that makes hiring harder!”
Whether AI is set to revolutionise or if there is a whole lot of marketing hype that will burn out before it gets started remains to be seen.
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