How Technology Assists (or hurts) Recruiting

According to a survey conducted by the American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor, 80% of Americans think that applying for a job today seems like sending their resume into a black box, while 69% of the job aspirants believe or feel that the hiring process today is far too impersonal.

With the emergence of computerized algorithms and AI, technology is being used increasingly to filter out job applications at each stage of the hiring process.

While the use of advanced technology allows the employers to sift through large number of applications in an efficient and time-saving manner, it also leads to impersonalizing of the hiring process. This de-humanization could lead to two key problems for your business in the medium and long term:

Dent in Your Brand Value

The success of any business in the post-modern world is practically inseparable from its brand value. A cold and impersonalized hiring process may easily do some damage to your brand value in this era of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Bad news tends to travel faster than good news, so you have to be always cautious of the effects of your hiring process on the brand value.

A Bad Hire

Before hiring an applicant, you must be able to vet their behavior, their proclivity to work in a team, and other such attributes. If you are not putting in enough time to provide a personal touch to the hiring process, you may end up hiring the wrong person.

While you may consider investing time and energy in vetting the applicants costlier when cheaper automated processes are available, the costs of hiring and having to replace candidates later are far larger.

Tips to Avoid being Impersonal while Hiring

In the long run, humanizing your hiring process is vital to the success of your business. Take note of these simple ways to avoid an impersonal hiring process:

  • The process typically begins with creating a job ad. Do not use standard templates to create the content of your advertisement, and start infusing a personal touch from the beginning of the process.
  • Once you have received a few applications, take your time to personally respond to each of the applicants. The receipt notification should be written in a friendly tone. You can also give links to your social media handles (LinkedIn for sure) and websites to invite the applicants to learn more about your business.
  • Evidently, if the number of applicants is large, it could be tedious to respond personally to each of them. In such cases, you must at least acknowledge the receipt of the application.
  • If your firm uses algorithm to filter applications, do not send rejection e-mails immediately.
  • A personal touch should be maintained after the filtering as well. You must keep the candidates updated on their status. If the process is taking more time than usual, do not keep the applicants uniformed.
  • If the number of applicants is too large, you could even consider creating a secure Facebook group and keep posting updates on it.
  • During an interview, the candidate must be adequately educated on the nature of the job, potential manager, goals, and expectations
  • Email the candidates after the selection process is over. Inform even those candidates who have not made the cut. This friendly and personal treatment will make them to apply again in the future.

A business cannot afford to lose potential talent due to a cold or mechanical hiring process. While technology cannot be eliminated from the hiring activity, employers should take care to strike the right balance between human interaction and technology in order to reap the maximum benefits.