Indeed, manufacturing is likely to be the hardest hit with the rise of the machines claiming large amounts of unskilled labour roles in the race to competitive advantage. But other markets such as Customer Service are being affected by Chat Bots and AI. With recruitment being an expensive and time consuming process, many have suggested that Artificial Intelligence will
But how will this affect the sourcing and selection of talented individuals?
Much like you or I taking that test in primary school that suggested you might make a good Policeman or Gardener, AI will be able to use you digital fingerprint, understand your work history, preferences, salary expectation and location. Feeding that information into, most likely, an advance job board or would be disruptive recruitment platform to suggest job roles that might suit you, hopefully opening up your mind to a world of options you might not have considered.
On the other hand, complementary systems will do the same for the employer suggesting diverse matches you might otherwise have not considered.
Candidate experience is crucial in attraction and retention of talent, especially so in markets where there are talent shortages. If this candidates experience is indicative, and I believe it is, out of 15 interviews, he received feedback from 10% of employers. This is 1.5 of the interviews he attended, which is a stark reminder that this is a two way street regardless of the uptake of technology.
Bias.
Worrying, there is also a further hindrance with bias. You might assume an algorithm, especially one written to identify talented individuals would be written free of bias.
“…if past data shows the algorithm that white middle-class males have previously performed well at a company, it might conclude that this is the type of candidate it should select in future, reinforcing gender and racial stereotypes. An example of AI not acting intelligently at all.”
You can, in fact, see this bias in action. Google (other search engines are available) “hands” now and you will almost exclusively see pictures of white hands, carefully curated by big data and specialist AI developers at all of the mainstream search engines. This is one of, if not the biggest issue for both candidates and clients alike when dealing with an automated recruitment process. How do you ensure that this is not the case?
The fact of the matter here is that we are talking about people, not taxis or takeaways. They have feelings, wants, needs, aspirations and motivations that are changing all the time.
It’s plain to see with Robotic Process Automation and the advent of technologies like blockchain there are many technologies that can and will complement the source and selection of talented individuals should they be adopted. But they will do just that, compliment.
If you would like to talk about RPA, AI or understand a bit more about how we can complement your recruitment process’ from a technical stand point please do get in touch on 01905 613413 or shoot me an email on sam@hewett-recruitment.co.uk
