Interest in HR tech has never been higher. According to CB Insights, there were over 350 deals and approximately $1.96B invested in HR tech startups in 2016 alone.
Today’s workplaces are being transformed by technology. HR tech specifically is automating and streamlining manual HR practices to become more efficient, cost-effective, and high-performing.
Here are four promising applications of technology that are helping to solve the biggest challenges in recruiting and hiring.
AI for recruiting
Industry statistics estimate 75 percent of resumes received for a role are screened out. This adds up to the hundreds of hours a recruiter wastes reading unqualified resumes per year.
As one of recruiting’s biggest bottlenecks, resume screening is in dire need of better tools to help recruiters manage their time more effectively.
This is why AI for recruiting is the biggest topic in HR tech right now. AI and recruiting are a natural fit because AI requires a lot of data to learn and large companies often have millions of resumes in their ATS.
Recruiting software that uses artificial intelligence can automate the screening process by learning the experience, skills, and qualifications required for the job and then shortlisting, ranking, and grading new candidates who match the requirements (e.g., from A to D).
This type of AI recruiting software can also be used to source candidates from external databases such as Indeed and CareerBuilder or find previous candidates in your existing ATS database by applying the same learning ability to match candidates to an open req.
By automating the manual processes of resume screening and candidate matching, companies who use AI recruiting software have reduced their screening costs by 75%.
Automation for candidate scheduling and outreach
According to SHRM, the average time to fill is 41 days. With LinkedIn reporting hiring volume is up 11% this year but only 26% of recruiting teams growing in headcount, interest in recruitment automation is only getting get stronger.
Today more than ever, finding top talent will depend on a recruiter’s ability to intelligently automate their workflow.
Recruitment automation can enhance a human recruiter’s capabilities in multiple ways. Low hanging fruit include automating your candidate outreach with tools that allow you to auto-email and auto-text interview requests to candidates your screening tool identifies as good matches (e.g., all candidates graded as an A).
These outreach automation tools help recruiters reduce their time to fill by integrating with major email and calendar providers and automatically finding time slots when the candidate and the interviewer are all free to meet.
VR for job testing and training
Another technology getting a lot of attention is Virtual reality (VR). VR is a realistic simulation of a three-dimensional environment that you control with your body movements.
A survey by Universum found that while 3% of people use VR currently, about 30% think that it will transform their workplace in the next ten years.
The most promising applications for VR in HR are candidate testing and training. Employers can use VR technology to create more realistic job tests to assess a candidate’s skills and personality. For example, a realistic simulation that tests a candidate’s social skills and problem solving abilities when dealing with an unhappy customer.
A survey by Korn Ferry found that 39% of employers state new hires leave within their first year because the role was not what they expected. VR could be an intriguing tool to help reduce employee turnover by provide candidates with a more realistic preview of what a day on the job would look like and get a better sense of the company culture.
The same technology can be used during new hires’ onboarding and training process. High-stakes environments such as hospital trauma bays are already employing VR technology to train residents.
Wearable tech for engagement and productivity
According to Deloitte, one of 2017’s biggest HR trends is employee engagement. To help improve engagement and productivity, employers are starting to use wearable tech that tracks employees’ behaviors to learn more about how they communicate and interact at work.
Wearable tech such as digital employee badges are being used by companies such as as Microsoft and the Boston Consulting Group to track employees’ physical office movements, who they talk to, and the amount of time they spend talking to others.
These types of wearable tech collects data to provide employers insights to help optimize their physical office spaces, understand their employees’ communication styles, and manage team dynamics. The hope is these insights can help managers identify their employees’ needs and re-organize teams for better collaboration.
In the future, wearable tech may be used in the recruiting process to provide insights into a candidate’s personality and emotions during a pre-screen or interview.
About the Author:
Ji-A Min is the Head Data Scientist at Ideal, software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate time-consuming, repetitive tasks and quickly move top candidates through the recruiting funnel.
Ideal’s AI can instantly screen and shortlist new candidates, uncover strong past candidates that are a great fit for a new role, and initiate candidate contact – all within your existing ATS. Learn more at Ideal.com.
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