Artificial intelligence has the power to streamline recruitment, reducing the cost of hiring and easing the workload of recruitment teams. But how much technology is too much?
New research released this month by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office suggests that job seekers have significant concerns about fairness, transparency, and accountability when AI and other tech tools become part of the hiring process. In response to these concerns, the office has announced that it will update guidance on automated decision-making (ADM) tools and develop standards for the use of AI and ADM in recruitment.
What does that mean for hiring teams and staffing agencies? Let’s examine some of the key concerns identified by the ICO — and how recruitment professionals can leverage the benefits of AI in recruitment while respecting the rights of applicants and employees.
1. Transparency is Vital
A number of respondents in the ICO study reported that they believed they had encountered automated decision-making tools during the application process, citing confusing or frustrating evaluation processes, overly quick turnaround times, and identical rejection letters that, to them, suggested they were interacting with AI rather than a human recruiter.
What hiring teams can do: Disclosing how and where your team uses AI or other recruitment technologies in the hiring process can go a long way toward building a relationship of trust with potential applicants. Make sure that the recruitment tools you choose are appropriate for the position you want to fill, and avoid screening tools that will frustrate or confuse candidates.
2. Hiring Still Has to be Human
At the end of the day, job seekers want to know that the final decision about whether or not their application succeeds is made by a human professional — not an algorithm. They want a fair hiring process and individual feedback.
What hiring teams can do: AI, algorithms, machine learning, and programmatic technology are valuable tools that can make recruitment easier, faster, and more efficient. They are not a replacement for the expertise and experience of hiring professionals. Resist the urge to hand off too much to technology — find tools that enhance your abilities, not ones that take over your tasks.
3. Bias is a Big Deal
A key concern among applicants is that automated decision-making tools can perpetuate or exacerbate societal biases, leading to discriminatory hiring decisions. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are a high priority among today’s job seekers — especially in younger generations.
What hiring teams can do: Recruitment technology is only as good as the data it works from. Ensure that any tools you use have a large, comprehensive, and up-to-date database to learn from.
Pro Tip: Hirematic’s omnichannel recruitment platform is trained on millions of jobs across multiple sources and includes tools to help remove potentially discriminatory language from your job adverts.
4. Experience is Everything
A subpar candidate experience is bad news for recruitment and retention. One negative experience can deter qualified applicants from accepting your employment offer. A pattern of bad applicant experiences can damage your brand reputation and make it hard for you to hire and retain the staff you need.
What hiring teams can do: Review your hiring process from start to finish. How would you feel about it if you were the candidate? Long gaps in communication and vague feedback will reduce your chances of hiring the right people, but immediate, impersonal responses that are clearly computer-generated can be just as bad.
5. Context is Key
The job seekers surveyed by the ICO weren’t wholly against the use of AI and automation in recruitment — they simply felt it was more appropriate in some cases than in others. Screening questions that are automatically generated during application submission are widely accepted — even expected — by job seekers, while fully automated hiring decisions raise significant concerns.
What hiring teams can do: Choose the recruitment technology tools your team uses thoughtfully. There are many applications where AI can be used to streamline hiring and optimise the recruitment process without affecting candidates’ experience.
Optimise the Recruitment Process with Hirematic
Hirematic’s omnichannel recruitment platform lets you leverage the power of AI and programmatic technology to automate the manual, repetitive tasks associated with hiring and optimise the results of your recruitment campaigns. If your team is ready to embrace recruitment technology but has concerns about how it will affect your hiring practices, our experts can help. Contact us today to learn how.
