Will AI give me the best candidates and candidates the best experience?

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By Klaudia Nastanska, Resourcing Co-ordinator, Reward Heads

[email protected]

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AI tools are significantly disrupting the business space and are becoming extremely popular for streamlining recruitment. Often, companies choose to augment part of the recruitment process, drawn in by the promise of more objective and unbiased selection. Others implement it to reduce time to hire and cut costs, which, considering the current economic climate, can be very tempting. The vision of delegating the task of sifting through a huge number of low-quality applications, which simultaneously minimises bias, seems like an attractive remedy for what is seen by most recruiters as the most tedious and time-consuming part of the job.

?It appears to be a perfect antidote to the challenges faced by recruiters in the fast-paced corporate environment. And yet, the practical application of this concept often falls short of the idealised vision.

Automating some parts of the recruitment process with Artificial Intelligence tools undeniably presents some benefits. The unmatched speed at which AI can screen out less qualified applicants, ensuring equal consideration of CVs, brings a degree of fairness to the selection process. However, this efficiency is not without risks and challenges. Questionable accuracy and the inability to provide transparent criteria and logic behind AI-driven selection decisions raise serious concerns about fairness and can lead to unintended discrimination. It’s not a perfect system, and the technology is still immature.

AI selects candidates using particular keywords that match the job description, and algorithms are based on past data. If the position was male dominated in the past, it can teach itself to categorize women as less suitable, skewing towards male applications and perpetuating bias.

?This is why organisations should approach AI implementation with caution, as it still requires substantial expert supervision to be effective and needs to be monitored to avoid the risks it carries. Getting AI wrong can significantly harm a company’s reputation in the long term and have potential legal implications that may outweigh initial cost-saving advantages. This may be too high a price to pay for taking out the human aspect to streamline the process with AI automation.

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Finding the best person for the role is another aspect that AI technology enthusiastically promises to help organisations with, by improving their ability to elevate the quality of hire with less effort. However, selection for a certain position often calls for nuanced judgment that goes beyond the simple formula that AI relies on. It requires the experience of the recruiter, who knows how to evaluate a set of complex factors such as skills, personality, attitude, transferable soft skills, and cultural fit to assess candidate suitability. Yet, no other software can possibly replace that. ?

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?AI can only process candidate information based on keywords, facial expression, or assessment results but is simply not capable of capturing nuances and judging the quality of work experience to predict candidate success.

?Organisations must not forget that the recruitment process serves as the initial interaction with a candidate, potentially shaping the beginning of a professional relationship. The absence of a human factor can impact the perception of a company, deterring top-tier candidates. ?As this kind of interaction can be compared to a conversation with a bot - it is nearly impossible to find it engaging. Contrastingly, a candidate-centric approach, incorporating regular human communication with personalised feedback, stands out in the competitive labour market. This approach not only aids in securing top talent but also contributes positively to long-term employer branding, a significant factor in talent attraction strategies.

As we navigate the evolving landscape of recruitment, let us not overlook the invaluable human aspect and insight that contribute to the richness of the hiring process. While AI brings certain advantages, organizations must carefully weigh its limitations and potential pitfalls to ensure its suitability in maintaining effective recruitment process. Securing the optimal match for a position is as vital as fostering a fair, transparent, and inclusive process for all candidates.

So we need to put our cards on the table and say that Reward Heads does not use AI to resource. We built a bespoke resourcing process that allows us to evaluate the requirements for the role and assess candidates using our own Skills and Knowledge framework and the expertise of our team Reward Consultants. We strive to provide great candidate experience and provide personalised feedback.

If you would like us to help you find the best possible candidate for your Reward role, please do get in touch with us on [email protected] or check out our website : www.rewardheads.co.uk/resourcing

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