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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having a big moment. What was once seen as a futuristic idea, a “disruptive” technology, is now a familiar tool, making a profound impact on many industries, including IT, finance, education, healthcare, and more. Staffing, which provides talented candidates for jobs in these fields and many others, is an industry that requires speed and accuracy, and AI technology has the power to take on time-consuming tasks to reduce roadblocks and keep momentum going when your process is running smoothly.
Recruiters know that great candidates don’t wait around. The ability to quickly find and place the right candidate for a job helps businesses stay competitive, and that’s where AI technology can provide an advantage. Staffing and recruiting leaders can adopt AI-powered tools to streamline their hiring processes, improve candidate experiences, make data-driven decisions, and enhance the overall recruitment life cycle.
Yes, there is still some reluctance about adopting AI and trepidation about potential negative impacts, but the pros tend to outweigh the cons, especially given how much AI and automation can accelerate processes. According to Staffing Industry Analysts, AI promises to bring “transformative value” to staffing and recruiting, driving greater efficiency and success.
The use of AI in talent acquisition has gained traction for its ability to streamline hiring processes, enhance decision-making, and even improve the candidate experience. Given that experts expect that 39% of recruiting activities will be done through AI within the next few years, staffing businesses should find practical ways to incorporate AI into the recruitment lifecycle.
How To Use AI in Daily Workflow
Small changes can add up to a large impact. When it comes to using AI, even starting small can result in big gains. Whether businesses automate entire workflows, or incorporate AI in small increments, they will see positive results.
Fast Company reports that 70% of companies now use AI to speed up the hiring process. Here is a closer look at some of the ways AI is being applied in staffing and recruiting to enhance processes.
AI for Candidate Sourcing and Screening
Traditionally, sourcing and screening candidates has been a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. AI can significantly streamline these steps by automating tasks such as searching job boards for skilled talent, social media recruitment, and resume parsing. To start, many recruiters now use generative AI to help create and refine job descriptions to help them to appeal to a more diverse audience and improve reach.
When used in sourcing, AI-powered algorithms can pour through and analyze vast amounts of data to identify potential candidates who match specific job requirements in much less time than a human being. This can significantly speed up the sourcing process and help recruiters find qualified candidates more efficiently.
AI can also help organizations discover those elusive candidates who may not be actively seeking new opportunities. For example, by using social media monitoring tools, recruiters can quickly identify individuals with the desired skills and experience who might be open to exploring new roles.
AI-driven resume screening tools will boost productivity immensely. A study by Glassdoor found that about 250 candidates will apply to an open corporate job posting. Having to manually screen that many resumes for just one job, when you have many more you are trying to fill, is incredibly time consuming and not the best use of your time (and eyes!). Enhanced resume parsing software can alleviate that burden.
Plus, the latest AI-driven resume parsing technology has improved in the last year. According to HR Morning, today’s tech for your ATS can now deliver 95% accuracy in results.
AI for Assessments and Interviews
AI-powered assessments offer a more objective and efficient way to evaluate candidates’ skills and competencies. Pre-employment tests and simulations can be customized to assess specific skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and technical abilities. These assessments can provide valuable insights into a candidate’s potential fit for a role, reducing the risk of hiring the wrong person.
Fun might not be the word that comes to mind when thinking about testing, but AI can create interactive assessments that test a candidate’s skills in new and interesting ways. These gamified assessments can be more engaging than traditional tests and can provide valuable insights into a candidate’s potential.
In addition to assessments, AI-enabled tools can assist in the interview process. Gen AI can be used to brainstorm lists of interview questions, but that is just the beginning. Today, AI can even do the interviewing. Virtual recruiters can conduct initial screening interviews with an actual conversation to help recruiters narrow down a list of candidates.
Communications and networking provider Cisco is having success in using AI to schedule interviews. “In the past, we would manually schedule. When you can do all that via AI, it’s speed,” says Francine Katsoudas, a Cisco executive vice president.
AI can also enable asynchronous interviews, where candidates can record and share responses at their convenience. This provides flexibility for candidates located in different time zones or with busy schedules. Catering to candidates in such a way helps to improve their experiences with your business, which can boost your brand.
AI for Candidate Engagement and Communication
Businesses often view AI as a means to boost productivity. In fact, 95% of hiring managers believe that using AI in tasks like candidate outreach will increase productivity. In addition to this benefit, AI has the potential to enhance human connections. Staffing and recruiting is an industry that is known for relationship building, and contrary to the belief that AI could replace human interaction, recruiters can actually improve their candidate relationships with its help.
Timely communication matters! Nine in 10 of new hires who got a new job within the past six months said they heard back from their current employer within a week, according to a survey by ZipRecruiter.
A positive candidate experience is essential for attracting top talent. AI can play a crucial role in enhancing candidate engagement and communication throughout the recruitment process. Tailored communication makes a difference, and AI can personalize candidate interactions based on their preferences and qualifications. This can create a more engaging and memorable experience for candidates.
AI-powered chatbots can provide instant answers to candidate questions at any time, day or night, reducing response times and improving communication. These chatbots can also guide candidates through the application process, answer FAQs, and provide updates on their application status.
All this amounts to creating more time for recruiters to focus on complex inquiries and strengthening relationships.
AI for Better Decision-Making
While AI can provide valuable insights, human judgment remains essential in making final hiring decisions. AI should be used as a tool to accompany and augment human expertise, ultimately helping to mitigate bias and ensure fairness in the hiring process.
AI-powered predictive analytics tools can help identify top talent by analyzing various data points, such as candidate qualifications, assessment scores, and behavioral data, and provide objective insights to support informed decision-making.
AI is very good at using historical data and identifying patterns to help you figure out which candidates are likely to stay and succeed in the organization. Being able to predict a candidate’s fit and potential for success not only saves time in the beginning stages, but it also saves the time and money of having to find a replacement for someone who didn’t work out.
A Balanced Approach To Implementing AI
You might be wondering if you should go all-in on AI or take a slow and steady approach. The best advice is to make sure your approach to incorporating AI is achievable and balanced, and that will look different for every business. Start by identifying specific areas where AI can add value and selecting appropriate tools that align with your organization’s needs. Gartner suggests scaling AI adoption by considering business, technology, and behavioral outcomes to achieve success. It’s also crucial to ensure data quality and privacy compliance when using AI-powered technologies.
While AI offers numerous benefits, we can’t ignore the potential challenges and concerns. Some organizations may have concerns about job displacement or the potential for AI to perpetuate biases. Businesses also need to find balance when it comes to AI in hiring processes to maintain the human touch. A Capterra study showed that some job seekers were likely to avoid an offer that “used too much AI” in the process. Candidates want to know that a human being is still doing the recruiting and hiring—they want that personal connection.
Brian Westfall, principal HR analyst at Capterra, cautions that “While the benefits of AI are too big to ignore at this point, companies still need to think about how they implement AI in their recruiting workflow.”
By carefully considering these factors and adopting a human-centric approach to AI implementation, organizations can reap the rewards of this powerful technology.
Practical AI for Hiring Success
Today’s AI technology is enabling staffing and recruiting professionals to work smarter. They can now automate manual tasks, find and hire candidates faster, and communicate more effectively with the help of AI tools. When used strategically, AI delivers workflow optimization, which in turn will deliver the speed that staffing demands. Take a pragmatic approach to adopting AI in your recruitment processes and make AI a familiar tool in your recruitment arsenal. You will improve efficiency, enable recruiters to connect more fully with more candidates, and strengthen your business in the process.
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