SECTION 2
Adding power to talent: tech innovation in talent acquisition

Adding power to talent: tech innovation in
talent acquisition

Pinpoint ATS does a great job at redacting any sort of information that could lead you to know a diversity statistic, like which university a candidate went to. It also changes the candidates name to a fruit or vegetable. So it is a totally blind screening process.

Jaime Manos
Talent Acquisition Partner,
Anthesis via Instant Impact

With these new, hugely disruptive technologies, we are at an exciting juncture in the people and talent market. The power of AI, automation and TI lies in the opportunities they give talent acquisition professionals for strategic thinking and potential to become true business partners – by leveraging technology where it excels and tapping into human talents to add intellectual and emotional value.

Have you started to use AI within your
recruitment process?

We believe we will see three levels of people and TA tech innovation. Companies should start optimising their systems to take advantage of each stage:

01

The first stage focusses on creating more efficient and optimised processes within the people function: everything from briefing new roles, through assessment, onboarding and the employee life cycle. All administration here can be stripped out, so talent and people professionals can focus on areas of role that require high levels of EQ and human touch. “It already starts to elevate us to do the jobs that we’re good at – acting as a business partner, as well as improving candidate and human interactions.” Felix Mitchell, Co-CEO, Instant Impact

02

AI and tech start adding insight, allowing us to understand what is behind the data and improve people and talent functions and how they can contribute to overall business performance.

03

AI and tech are adding value to organisations far beyond traditional remits of TA and people – helping to guide strategic decision-making by better understanding dynamics in marketplaces, and providing deep insight such as how skills are evolving and a greater understanding of developments in the marketplace.

Over 70% of HR and TA professionals already use AI and automation. But while 71% say that AI is already making their function more effective, only 28% strongly agree that they are happy with the performance of the recruitment function.

Felix Mitchell
Founder and Co-CEO
at Instant Impact

Using data and AI in the right way complements TA and people functions, assisting and optimising productivity. With a range of AI-enabled, value-additive solutions used throughout the recruitment process - from finding the right candidates to helping them through the recruitment journey, even through to onboarding– TA and people teams can become deliver their role more effectively and become part of a company’s wider strategic decision-making.

The key question for TA and people professionals should be where they need tasks to be automated: where is tech better than people to do this role? How can I use it to free up more time? And how can AI act as a co-pilot so support the role?

Because ultimately, if we don't put the right things in place and we don't give teams the tools and experience that they need to be successful, they can and will go to somewhere else that will allow that. Having a people team in place that's really close to their people, to their users, will be hugely beneficial to a successful technology initiative.

Charlie Voller Barnes
Head of Solutions, Amdaris

The Art of the Possible

Benefits of using AI, Automation and TI for people teams

Gain more time to focus on high-value tasks. AI rewards HR and TA professionals with time to focus on high-value, strategic work and the opportunity to engage as true business partners: from answering more complex candidate questions, to conducting soft skills assessments or engaging with passive candidates.

Get data-driven insight. A top challenge identified by HR and TA professionals is the ability to find the right candidates with the right skills. With accurate talent data-driven sourcing tools, they can spend shift their focus to higher-value elements, such as understanding the nuances of organisational culture and building relationships.

Assess candidates. Using AI and tech tools can provide a foundation for interview and support decision-making, with AI acting as a copilot to guide TA specialists – but not making the decisions for them

Check if candidates are suitably skilled for a role through knowledge-based online tests
Give the recruiter suggestions of impactful questions to ask for a more rounded view of candidates
Help with objective feedback for candidates.

Automate manual tasks. AI and tech can automate manual tasks to save time, avoid errors and drive data-driven decisions. Companies are already using technology and AI tools to help automate tasks, including:

Taking meeting notes
Booking interviews
Generating job descriptions and other copy required for effective Talent Marketing
Summarising candidate interviews
Helping plan assessment centres
Running competitor analysis, which are integrated effectively and provides TI

Click to the next page to see more benefits

Benefits of using AI, Automation and TI for people teams

Improve candidate experience. AI can automate and smooth the recruitment process, adding structure and rigour to interviews and making sure that candidates never go without a response.

AI and tech enhance hiring transparency by automating updates to candidates, clarifying AI usage, and explaining why they have been successful or unsuccessful.
Allows candidates to query vast quantities of company documentation to understand a role
Act as a candidate co-pilot and helps them to understand how good a fit they are for the role (and whether other roles are better).
Candidates can self-schedule interviews and access instant answers to simple questions about compensation and location, enabling self-screening.

Tap into internal talent. AI and TI can provide a deeper level of understanding of who you already have in the business and the upcoming skills gaps. TA functions that are working hand in hand with HR are better able to move relevant candidates laterally in the business and set up training programmes to address future skills bottlenecks.

Improve onboarding. A hugely time sensitive process and prone to human error. AI can do this role and make sure every stage of process gets done on time - automatically.

Check if candidates are suitably skilled for a role through knowledge-based online tests
Give the recruiter suggestions of impactful questions to ask for a more rounded view of candidates
Help with objective feedback for candidates.

Practical ways to use technology

One-way video interviewing is a fantastic tool, very user-friendly, great candidate experience. We built into assessment, so it was very tailored to the skills that we were looking for. The candidate could do the interview at any time. It didn't matter whether it was midnight, they could do their recording and the same applied for the hiring managers assessing the interviews. At any given point they could assess and make their notes – even on mobile.

Lauren Bass
Talent Director,
Instant Impact

We’ve been able to book directly into hiring managers’ calendars using AI. Having specific instructions sent out for each stage of the process has been super useful in speeding up the process and making things more efficient for candidates.

Rachael Leinster
Talent Acquisition Manager,
Field via Instant Impact

Read Rachel’s blog on embracing
generative AI in Talent Acquisition

Finding the right balance
between AI and the
human touch

A process audit is key to gaining a deep understanding of the candidate experience. HR and TA professionals should look at each stage to understand what’s possible and consider the EQ required and whether it’s better for the candidate, the company and the recruiter to have a human-led process.

Rachael Leinster explains: “AI is black and white, so there’s no space for anecdotal experience to come in and influence decisions. It’s not something which can replace human intuition. You can't interpret and forecast industry nuances, there's no empathy or rapport building - these are all the things that set great recruiters apart from good recruiters. Technology can’t take over that. We need to look at AI and automation as another string to our bow, another tool.”

How your candidates feel is just as important as getting them through. Companies need to look at where the AI is being applied, and what human interaction is needed to oversee what's been happening in that area.

Christine Morton
Principal Consultant,
Proxima

There’s a big fear factor – people don’t know when AI is being used. Companies should make it crystal clear at what stage AI is being used and how – aiming for absolute transparency.

Everyone wants to feel important and everyone's time is very precious. And we have the opportunity with technology to be able to speed up certain laborious processes and... be mindful of people's time and make people feel important, you know, not have to wait around or have a delay in stages or a delay in your review meeting turning up.

Charlie Voller-Barnes
Head of Solutions,
Amdaris

Click to view a list of recommended AI tools >

Balancing AI and the human touch

Research the different types of AI and tech tools available.
Think through your recruitment process and list tasks that don’t require EQ.
Assess where your team’s skills are best used and what will make their day easier.
Cross reference the tasks that technology can support - sending out mass personalised emails for example.