Technology is constantly modified and developed to improve daily life. And one of the greatest forms of technology available right now is artificial intelligence or AI.
Most people know AI through big technological innovations like smart home devices and automated cars. But the truth is, AI is used everywhere, even in the most basic task of searching for something on the internet.
AI in Human Resources
One fascinating application of AI is in employee recruitment. Companies big and small use AI tools to automate many stages of the hiring process. For instance, this technology is used to screen candidates and process employee referrals. AI is also used to answer applicants’ queries, educate candidates about job descriptions, and prepare them for interviews.
AI provides a lot of value to the talent acquisition of companies.
Saves Time
AI automates many processes under recruitment. It’s used in screening applicants. Chatbots respond to queries. These automated processes are rapid. For example, the talent acquisition team in DBS Bank reduced their average screening time from 32 minutes per candidate to just 8 minutes. And as a result, recruiters will have more time for other more important tasks.
Improves the Screening Process
As mentioned earlier, AI is used to screen applicants. Screening tools can go through huge volumes of data to find potential candidates in a short amount of time. And then, an HR staff can extract the automated shortlist of candidates. AI also uses intelligent matching to analyze and assess data to find which applicants fit the experience, knowledge, and skills required in each position.
The automation of the screening process is particularly advantageous for employers since the talent pool nowadays has grown bigger. If done manually, the screening will take longer and may not be as accurate.
Eliminates Bias
There is a common belief in HR that great organizations get the right people on the bus and in the right seats. But this isn’t always easy due to bias.
When a recruiter screens applicants, there will always be a bias that can lead to a larger discrimination issue. It’s been an issue in HR for so long.
Though HR teams try to remove bias as much as possible, they can’t completely remove their unconscious bias. For instance, when a person’s photo used to be an essential part of a resume, HR may unconsciously prefer applicants based on race and physical appearance. Or one applicant may be preferred more just because of their educational background over a highly skilled individual with a mediocre educational background.
This unconscious bias can be removed by using AI tools in the hiring process. As a result, a company’s population becomes more diverse. Workplace diversity results in job satisfaction. It’s also seen to be critical to organizational success. Candidates will be hired based on skills, so the company will benefit by having competitive employees that can push their business forward.
Relieves HR of Heavy Workload
People in a talent acquisition team are very busy folks. They not only need to talk to potential candidates frequently. They also need to talk to hiring managers and other branches of HR, whether to discuss job requirements, salary brackets, and other factors to ensure that they get the right person for vacancies in the company.
But thanks to automation brought by AI, talent acquisition teams no longer need to do most of their repetitive tasks. They can have more time to focus on other tasks that can’t be automated, and they can get some free time too.
But There’s Still Room for Improvement
Despite its several advantages, AI is far from perfect. It still cannot fully replace human resource processes, especially talent acquisition. For example, there are some concerns about AI tools picking up the human biases as they can learn through patterns of behavior of a recruiter. However, this can be fixed by resetting AI tools.
Recruiters will still need to interact with potential candidates to understand better who they are and whether they are the right fit for the roles they’re applying for. Besides, a piece of paper doesn’t reveal everything about a potential candidate. Thus, recruiters must be well adept with the hiring process, whether through self-learning or consulting agencies like Miick.
AI is an emerging technology in the field of human resources. And many believe it’s going to become an essential aspect in practice, based on a 2018 survey. As time passes, AI may play a bigger role in HR and become one of its most essential tools.
