#2 Role of AI in Recruitment

- August 13, 2023

AI recruitment is a developing technology that can quickly analyse large amounts of data and evaluate the possibilities available. Not only in IT, but also in R&D, marketing, and research, AI technologies are frequently used. It's not surprising that businesses have begun implementing AI recruiting solutions in HR procedures, particularly recruitment, in an effort to automate the hiring procedure and look into alternative hiring strategies.

The Rising Need of AI in Recruitment

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new category of HR technology designed to cut back or even completely remove time-consuming and tedious hiring processes like manual resume screening. One of the main problems in the talent acquisition industry is still effectively and strategically screening resumes. According to research done by Ideal, a proponent of HR technology and solutions, finding the best individuals from a large application pool was the process' most difficult challenge for 52% of talent acquisition leaders.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can show to be a boon to handle these difficulties and focus on getting the right personnel time-efficiently because recruitment is the department that is continually under pressure to decrease cost, deliver value, and acquire the best talent.

What part does AI play in hiring?

1. Automation of High-volume Tasks

The best AI-powered solution or software not only automates the part of recruitment workflows but also gets integrated smoothly within existing recruitment systems, so it doesn’t affect the current workflows. In addition, speeding up these areas of recruitment via automation also reduces time-to-hire, implying that recruiters are less likely to lose the right fit to the competitors.

As revealed in the Korn Ferry Global survey, considering responses from almost 800 HR professionals, 63% of recruiters consider Artificial Intelligence as a technology that is radically changing the way recruiting is done today.

2. Selecting Quality Employees

The quality of hire has been a recruitment KPI black box because of the inability to close the data loop, i.e., losing the interaction with the applicant once he or she is hired. As HR data is now easier to gather, access, and analyse, the quality of hire is recruitment’s top KPI.

Artificial Intelligence provides companies with a way to use data to make strategic decisions about their hiring process. It’s not just about using algorithms to analyse resumes, though—it’s about using machine learning to analyse the people who apply for jobs, predict what they’re looking for in their next role, and match them with opportunities that would be a fit.

According to one of the studies published on a blog, the early adopter organizations using AI in recruitment had their screening cost reduced by 75%, revenue per employee increased by 4%, and turnover decreased by 35%.

3. Enhanced Employee Experience

A strong AI program can handle most of the candidate sourcing and contact, ensuring that candidates experience a smooth process.

Recruiter chatbots can answer candidate questions immediately, provide feedback and suggestions on a broad range of topics, and schedule interviews assuring enhanced employee experience and satisfaction.

4. Improved Candidate Screening

AI is a game changer for recruitment. It’s not just about automating the screening process, and it’s about screening better than ever before.

AI can find candidates that might have slipped through the cracks and match them to your job description better than you ever could on your own.

AI-powered applicant tracking systems ensure that high-quality candidates are identified immediately so only qualified individuals are brought in for interviews. And that means less time wasted on candidates who aren’t going to work out anyway.

5. Providing Assistance while Interviewing

The hiring procedure is difficult and demanding. Candidate interviews are some of the most crucial phases of the procedure. Before inviting a candidate in for a face-to-face interview, you can use some AI tools to conduct an automated interview.

Using a video interview with predetermined questions, you can run an AI software that examines candidates’ facial expressions, tone, and choice of words to determine their suitability for a position. This technology will increase the likelihood that you’ll hire employees who are well-suited to your company culture.

6. Onboarding

he process of integrating new hires into your company is known as onboarding. It includes software for onboarding, coaching, and training. A decent AI platform will assist you in streamlining this procedure by offering automated training modules that address subjects like business values and culture fit. Instead of creating these resources yourself or engaging a third party supplier, you can save time and money by using an AI solution to offer them.

Where AI Tools Can Go Wrong — and How to Mitigate This Risk

Low Trust in AI-Driven Decisions

People may not trust and accept AI-driven decisions — a phenomenon known as algorithm aversion. Research shows that people often mistrust AI because they don’t understand how AI works, it takes decision control out of their hands, and they perceive algorithmic decisions as impersonal and reductionistic. Indeed, one study showed that even though algorithms can remove bias in decision-making, employees perceived algorithm-based HR decisions as less fair compared to human decisions.

Mitigation strategies include:

Offering opportunities for decision control: Research suggests that when people have some control over the ultimate decision, even if minimal, they are less averse to algorithmic decisions. Moreover, people are more willing to trust AI-driven decisions in more objective domains. Therefore, carefully deciding which types of talent management decisions should be informed by AI, as well as determining how HR professionals can co-create solutions by working with AI-driven recommendations, will be critical for enhancing trust in AI.

Erosion of Employee Privacy

Organizations have deployed AI technologies to track employees in real-time. If implemented poorly, these tools can severely erode employee privacy and lead to increased employee stress, faster burnout, deteriorated mental health, and decreased sense of agency. Reports show that the Covid-19 pandemic has driven a huge uptick in employer adoption of these tracking technologies, with as more than 50% of large employers currently using AI tools for tracking.

Mitigation strategies include:

Being transparent about the purpose and use of tracking technology: Gartner Research reveals that the percentage of employees who are comfortable with certain forms of employer tracking has increased over the past decade. The increase in acceptance is much higher when employers explain the reasoning for tracking, growing from 30% to 50% when organizational leaders transparently discussed why these tools were being used.

Conclusion

The results of this study indicate that applicants have a positive perception of AI technology in hiring processes. The TAM technology acceptance criteria, Perceived Usefulness, and Ease of Use influence the acceptance of AI technology and the willingness of applicants to participate in AI-driven recruitments. Similar results on users' satisfaction with AI tools in recruitment and the perceived attractiveness of companies using these tools in hiring processes further support the use of AI in HR. The advantages and disadvantages of this technology from the users' perspective also have some practical implications. Regarding benefits, about 70% of applicants mentioned reduced response time as the significant advantage, followed by ease of use, improved quality and objectivity of the hiring process, and better user experience. The major disadvantage of AI technology, also mentioned by almost 70% of respondents, concerns the AI lack of nuance in human judgment or human touch, followed by low accuracy and reliability, immature technology manifesting itself in biases in algorithms, speech/text recognition, inadequate optimization for video interviews, and lack of transparency when interacting with AI. Other drawbacks relate to ethical concerns, privacy implications, and legal issues. The identified weaknesses in the current stage of AI development could help HR practitioners and software developers improve AI tools and support their effective adoption in the HR environment.

References

Agarwal, P., Swami, S., and Malhotra, S. K. (2022). Artificial intelligence adoption in the post COVID-19 new-normal and role of smart technologies in transforming business: a review. J. Sci. Technol. Policy Manag. doi: 10.1108/JSTPM-08-2021-0122 [Epub ahead of print].