AI isn’t Going to Fix hiring…
Everywhere I look at the moment, it’s a constant stream of AI! The Talent Acquisition and Recruitment space on Linkedin is no different. It appears that everyone has a new AI tool to sell you that ‘changes the game’ or fixes the recruitment process. Sure, most hiring processes are broken and in dire need of fixing, but I’ve got some sad news for you… AI isn’t going to fix it.
Now, I’m not saying AI cannot be used to support the hiring process, especially for those responsible for it in organisations, but it’s not the silver bullet many are trying to convince you that it is. This isn’t me trying to be different to stand out, or even openly judge people for using. There are many people online that know way more about AI and the negative impacts than I do. I’m just looking to draw attention to very real issues in the hiring process that we should be prioritising as well, that AI won’t fix, but perhaps it can help you fix.
Plenty of these tools are focused on screening and interviewing, which does make sense when we know TA teams are dealing with higher volumes of applications per role and simultaneously working in smaller teams. I’m a Talent Acquisition Partner, of course I have experienced the workload issues and I’m not calling out anyone for wanting some breathing space but this isn’t the only part of the hiring process that needs addressing for better outcomes.
Now I can’t tell you for sure that the UK will follow suit and adopt a similar Act to the EU with relation to AI, where Recruitment will be considered high risk and therefore a human being will need to review and make decisions at all stages of the hiring process, but there are still important data regulation in the UK that you still need to adhere to. The Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR strictly govern how we collect, store and use personal data. If we take the most common way we in Talent Acquisition collect, store and use the personal data of applicants, by utilising an Applicant Tracking System where you are the ‘data controller’ and the ATS company are the ‘data processor’. We, as Talent Acquisition, are responsible for GDPR compliance and therefore responsible for the use of the candidates’ personal information under the law. A candidates applies for a role at your organisation and they are agreeing for their personal data to be used as part of the hiring process for the role they are applying for, and perhaps also to be stored for Talent Pools, but you have to state this upfront. They also have the right to request their data to be deleted at any given time, for which you must abide. From what I’m seeing and hearing, this is a big area of which a lot of these tools are breaching the law here in the UK because they are putting in candidate CVs in to AI tools without their knowing or consent, and they are popping in to tools that aren’t exactly super secure, just ask Claude…
We also have the concerns around candidates utilising AI in interviews, CV and application processes, so wouldn’t it make us super hypocritical to also being using it? I think so anyway. Plus, if we have candidates using AI in an interview with an AI interviewer, and AI screening CVs that were made by AI, what are actually getting out of these processes?
What we should be prioritising
Hiring manager enablement, candidate experience and bringing the human being back in to the limelight are some of the key things I think we should be prioritising more to help getting better hiring results.
Support the hiring managers to be more effective in the hiring process, by giving them impactful training and guidance on shortlisting and interviewing. Help them understand the ‘why’ and influence them to offer better experiences for candidates, and way more impactful onboarding processes. Get them from dreading doing recruitment to being engaged and better informed. Understand how to better support them through the process and get a smoother hiring process which is likely to yield better results, whilst improving your stakeholder relationship.
Candidate experience is always a must if you want to increase your offer acceptance rate, be more attractive and also not get dragged on TikTok for your poor hiring practice. Unfortunately, I feel like the candidate experience as a topic has not only dropped away from the focus in the TA world, but actual candidate experience has also declined, and I think at least in part we can apportion some blame to AI and all the noise around that. I personally have candidate experience as my ‘why’ in my Attraction, Recruitment and Retention plan, and I am building everything off of it. I want people to feel respected and at least seen, especially at a time when the job market is so poor and there is so much noise and misinformation around about recruitment and ATS’. You won’t please everyone, and it’s not completely fool proof to preventing offer drop outs or failed hiring processes, but I can guarantee you’ll feel better at your job for it.
Both hiring manager enablement and candidate experience are bringing the human aspect of hiring to the forefront because you’re focusing on the experience of the human beings at both ends of the process. You’re hiring a human being, not a CV, and I think we all need to remember that a bit more, myself included. Humans have qualities that AI will never have, so utilise them. Recruitment has always been about people, so let’s keep it that way.
Use AI to help you with administrative tasks, help you put together some tools to support managers, maybe let it help you with your adverts. Free up your time to focus on the human parts of the role and the other key areas that need fixing, rather than utilising a plaster out of desperation because you’re being run in to the ground. Leaders – properly resource, support and respect your talent teams! It’s more than a support function that runs a process – it can be an integral cog in your organisations’ success, you just have to let it!
Let’s fix broken hiring instead of putting a plaster over it.