Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Impact on HR processes, Recruitment & Empolyee Experience.

Evolution of Recruitment

Over the last few years, we have noticed significant changes in the recruitment process. The way that HR, recruiters and candidates interact with the hiring process has evolved with technology and social sites. This shift has been felt through every step of the process. Those of us who have seen this shift can clearly see the path that recruiting and hiring is on. It’s headed towards Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the next evolution will be focused on the Intelligent candidate profile. Artificial Intelligence is on the verge of penetrating every major industry from healthcare to advertising, transportation, finance, legal, education, and now inside the workplace. 

The Reinvention of the Human Recruiter 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has finally come into its own, especially with its ability to quickly and effectively source candidates. And as big data and AI will continue to proliferate, top recruitment partners are able to streamline into one single sign-on platform virtually all aspects of recruiting, including sourcing, assessments, scheduling, creating accurate compensation models and following up with candidates for future opportunities.

So does that mean the human recruiter will become obsolete? Actually, it’s the exact opposite. With technology taking the brunt of the once cumbersome work, recruiters now have more time to invest in high-value areas of delivering an outstanding candidate experience and impactful advice to hiring managers. Still, there can be Job affect impacts that have been discussed later in this article.

The possibilities of AI in HR

Perhaps the most profound impact of AI will be seen in the recruitment function. With AI taking the “grunt work” out of HR, recruiters will have more time on their hands to optimize workflows and drive high-quality candidate experience that directly affects business’ bottom-lines. 

Long gone are the days where companies can expect candidates to sit through multiple interviews and assessment days. Today’s candidates want a faster process and ways to communicate via social channels such as texts, WhatsApp, Twitter or even Instagram. Because this takes less time and the response is often much faster, candidates are actually getting more interaction with recruiters, including an expanded talent acquisition team who can help with various aspects of the process.

There’s also been a lot of talk about cognitive recruitment bots (AI) that promise to revolutionize candidate experience through intelligent conversational interfaces. 58% of job seekers say that they have a negative impression of a company if they don’t hear back from the company after applying, whereas 67% of job seekers have a positive impression of a company if they receive consistent updates throughout the application process. Recruitment bots (AI) being tested today are capable of real-time interaction with candidates, asking questions based on the job requirements and providing feedback, updates, and next-step suggestions.

How will AI affect jobs in HR?

Automation transformations require change. HR will experience a shift in required skills sets. No longer will HR spend their time writing the perfect job description and sifting through a list of 100 people that have exact keyword matches. HR’s role will evolve, requiring a new focus and a new strategy.

HR teams are growing, adding HR tech managers and creating an IT team that reports to HR. These teams do everything from HRIS security to writing documentation to help desk support. As AI is further implemented in offices, reducing the number of positions related to mundane tasks, the availability of HR tech positions will increase.

ChatBots - The New Recruiting Agent

Many of us may have already interacted with a chatbot (defined as an automated, yet personalized, conversation between software and human users) whether it’s on Facebook Messenger to book a hotel room or ordering flowers through 1-800 flowers.

As we increase the usage of chatbots in our personal lives, we will expect to use them in the workplace to assist us with things like finding new jobs, answering frequently asked HR related questions or even receiving coaching and mentoring. Chatbots digitize HR processes and enable employees to access HR solutions from anywhere.

There are already a growing number of technology firms targeting HR with artificial intelligence solutions for sourcing (Textio), interviewing (MontageTalent), onboarding (Talla), coaching (mobile Coach), social recognition (growBot), and employee service centres (ServiceNow).

Watch a sample video of how recruitment automation has been done using AI ChatBot.

ChatBots - Transforming an Employee Experience.

HR leaders are beginning to pilot AI to deliver greater value to the organization by using chatbots for recruiting, employee service, employee development and coaching. A recent survey of 350 HR leaders conducted by ServiceNow finds 92% of HR leaders agree that the future of providing an enhanced level of employee service will include chatbots. In fact, you can think of a chatbot as your newest HR team member, one that allows employees to easily retrieve answers to frequently asked questions. According to the ServiceNow survey, more than two-thirds of HR leaders believe employees are comfortable accessing chatbots to get the information they need, at the time they need it. The type of questions HR leaders believe employees are comfortable using a chatbot for range from the mundane and factual ones; such as how much paid time off do I have left, to the more personal ones; such as how do I report a sexual misconduct experience.

The Road Ahead

Although enterprise AI adoption is still in the early stages, it would befit organizations to develop a concrete understanding of AI, its ecosystem, and its massive potential to create new job roles. Today we have just scratched the surface of how AI and conversational interfaces will transform all aspects of HR processes.

The future of HR will be a team approach, one in which humans and machines work together to find solutions. ‘Man vs Machine’ will not be the future of HR. Despite all the capabilities of this new tech, companies will still need humans in the human resource process. The skills required to be in HR will advance as all skills sets throughout the organization will need to be digitally capable. The good news is that training and development will fall within the responsibilities of HR and their machines.