Recruiting redefined - how AI & automation changes roles & responsibilities within talent acquisition

It all begins. AI and automation are changing the usual workflow between recruiter and hiring manager. After discussing Pocket Recruiter, Heads of Resourcing in two major UK companies independently floated their desire to change the roles and responsibilities in the hiring process.

Pocket Recruiter - which is trained similar to a member of staff (read more about this topic here) - creates the initial matches. Then it is the hiring manager who goes through the list of candidates and selects the ones to interview, carrying out what would traditionally be a recruiter’s task. Pocket Recruiter learns from the selection and tweaks the criteria immediately, presenting further candidates if necessary. Once the hiring manager has made their choice, then the recruiter takes over and communicates with the candidates, to understand their motivations, assess their suitability and explain the role, company, etc.

What are the benefits of this approach?

It reduces the ‘back and forth’, saving time which ultimately creates better experiences for candidate, recruiter and hiring manager.

The hiring manager gains an unfettered, realistic view of the marketplace and can set expectations accordingly. Do the people they want really exist? This insight strengthens the hiring manager’s understanding when listening to the sweet, sweet promises of third parties.

Consequently, the hiring manager is significantly better placed to understand the requirements needed to perform a job, to assess the skills and experiences, and to read between the lines. The responsibility for candidate quality and selection are clearly defined.

What is the impact on recruiters?

It focuses the role of a recruiter. Instead of having to search, sift and select, the recruiter can focus on engaging with the candidate, becoming their guide and confidante. They evolve into the living embodiment and important feedback source for the talent brand, while simultaneously acting as first triage point. The improved recruiter experience enhances the candidate experience.

Additionally, the recruiter can spend more time identifying internal candidates, therefore helping internal mobility and retention.

At the same time, I would advise any recruiter to investigate how they can remove more and more of their repetitive tasks by using chat-bots, adding value through implementing a standardised approach to assessing a candidate's suitability and likelihood to succeed at the beginning of the hiring process, linking their hiring data to performance data, to permanently refine the hiring funnel.

What are the benefits for a company?

The approach removes excuses from the hiring managers, creating a faster and tighter workflow linked to a more human representation of the talent brand. That, in turn, results in quicker, streamlined hiring for more appropriate candidates.

It minimizes the susceptibility of hiring managers to approaches by third-party recruiters, making huge savings in external spend. If it is so easy, why use a middleman?

In theory, it works. Will it translate into real gains? We don't know yet, but I certainly applaud and support companies that are running trials to deliver more value out of existing workflows, those who are not afraid to test, learn and adapt, and hopefully find ways that improve the recruitment process for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers alike.

Or as Pulitzer Prize winner, Ellen Goodman puts it so eloquently: "We ought to walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but looking for potential."