Maximising Technology in Recruitment

Recruitment relies heavily on interpersonal skills and thus it would seem, on the face of it, that technological advancements in this sector are somewhat limited to basic or functional purposes.

However, some technology can actually enhance those human interactions that the recruitment industry relies upon. The right technology can make our interactions more specific and more effective, ensuring the recruitment process is streamlined and as efficient as possible.

But it is not about throwing all the technology available at the process. I mentioned the ‘right technology’ above, and that could mean different things in different circumstances.

Identifying the ‘Right Technology’ for Recruitment

There are two perspectives that need to be considered when identifying the right technology for recruitment. The first is the recruiter’s perspective, and how technology can improve efficiency. The second perspective belongs to the clients and candidates and refers to their user experience with the recruiter.

Ultimately, it is the job of technology in recruitment to cater to both perspectives, so it will be helpful to clarify what the ‘wrong technology’ is. It is quite simple, as essentially it would be anything that benefits one of the perspectives while harming the other. For example, an automated chat interview for candidates would allow you to interview many more in a single day than you possibly could in-person. However, it would diminish the user experience of the candidates who would be left feeling unimportant and disconnected from the process.

Identifying the right technology requires separating each of the workflows in your recruitment supply chain to get a complete view of your core operating model. This will probably include the likes of sourcing clients and candidates, marketing, account penetration, and any dedicated front or back-office activities.

After the workflows have been separated, you can better understand every contributing component to each workflow and measure its performance. You can now highlight components that are not performing to an optimal standard and the technology that will bring them up to speed. You can also identify those components that can be further improved with technology that benefits one or both perspectives without diminishing either your company’s efficiency or the user experience of the clients and candidates.

How to Maximise Technology in Recruitment

There are a lot of considerations when seeking to maximise the positive impact of technology in recruitment. You need to understand how your clients and candidates prefer to engage with you and be able to cater to a variety of needs.

You will also want to focus on where most of your success is coming from, and how your consultants are searching and sourcing clients and candidates.

As well as well helping you reduce wastage and energy consumption, another great way to maximise the usefulness of technology in recruitment is by automating repetitive tasks and streamlining non-core activities. By separating the workflows and examining each of their components as outlined above, you will be able to work out how much time is spent on such tasks, and thus implement a solution to free-up this time that can be better spent on more productive activities.

Ultimately, recruiters should be looking to take advantage of data and automation so they can spend more time doing what data and automation cannot do, and that’s add the human touch.

Recognising Technology’s Limitations

It must be clear that technology in recruitment should only ever enhance human interactions rather than outright replace them. There is a lot to learn from stats, facts and data, but the human factor can only be fully understood by another human.

Being qualified for a role doesn’t automatically make a candidate ideal for it, while having experience in one field shouldn’t automatically disqualify someone from moving into a different field. There are many aspects to consider when matching a candidate with a role and not all of them can be calculated by a computer, and therein lies the issue with integrating ever newer technology.

You can see this in action across all industries. Businesses doing business with other businesses like to meet in-person before finalising any contracts. They even fly across the world to conduct such personal interactions, when it seems like they could achieve the same result with a video call or even by email. But using technology like this is just not the same as being face-to-face in the same room with someone, where we can feel each other’s energy and truly connect.

The right technology only ever enhances our human interactions and keeping that in mind will guide you towards good decisions when it comes to building your tech stack.

Future-Proofing Recruitment with Technology

Building your tech stack to cope with today’s demands is only one part of how to maximise technology in recruitment. Technology is always improving and evolving, and we need to maintain the ability to adapt and evolve along with it.

We are all likely keeping an eye on what is happening in the sector and what innovations are being introduced but looking forward and beyond our current scope can be hugely rewarding further down the line. There will be chances to progress from simple search and placement services to offer other services that raise the ceiling of customer yield potential. There will also be opportunities to expand into other areas and regions.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the needs of clients and candidates will also be evolving, and not always in predictable directions. By keeping our technology up to date and flexible to change and innovation, we can ensure we are ready for the future today.