In the recent webinar from The HR World, Right From The Start: Best practice for recruitment in a challenging market, sponsored by Day One our panel of experts addressed the challenges facing HR as organisations search for the talent they need across diverse employment sectors.
Sian Wilson, Co-Founder / Executive Director, Day One; Claire Webster, HR Director, Avantia and Fiona Mason, Chief Human Resources Officer, RDT all discussed the ongoing challenge of sifting through candidates, balancing technology with the human touch to ensure all applicants are considered fairly, equitable and efficiently. The webinar is well worth a watch, packed as it is with ideas and best practices. Below, members of the panel address two more questions:
1: Technology is clearly changing recruitment – do you think there will ever be a time when technology will select and schedule someone to work for an organisation with no human input?
Sian Wilson: Technology is becoming a large part of the TA journey and is actively supporting with high time constraining activities – auto screening, predictive analytics, AI sourcing and interviewing to name a few. I think we will get near to it for some roles where sourcing, onboarding and scheduling of work could be done all through technology however we need to not lose sight of connecting to the values and culture we build in the workplace as well as the candidate experience. I always put myself in the candidates shoes – would I take a job if I had not met anyone that works there or got a feel for the place? Ethical concerns around bias in algorithms and fairness need to be considered as well. I think there needs to a healthy blend of both – get rid of the bureaucracy, the time and the risks of hiring through technology, think of them as your TA companion and then your TA teams can focus on great onboarding and workforce planning.
Fiona Mason: I can see a time when recruitment is purely technology driven for some roles, for bulk recruitment, for temporary positions, for lower skilled work, jobs with traditionally high turnover. The question doesn’t ask whether I believe this will work or whether it is a good thing, but I can see the human intervention reducing in this space. However, I see technology being a tool and increasing the level of human intervention in more skilled roles, specialist positions etc.
Claire Webster: I think technology will develop so that this could theoretically happen, but don’t think it will be the right approach to take for the majority of role placements. Very short term, temporary contracts with a low skill level may be the exception, but unless you are placing these roles on a frequent basis, it probably won’t be worth investing in the tech and developing the processes to enable this.
For any longer term placement, I think human oversight will remain an important part of the recruitment process. The selection process should be a two-way process and without engagement from representatives of the company I think it would be hard for a candidate to confidently make a decision whether it’s the organisation they wish to join. I think candidates will still want to meet their manager and peers, they’ll still want to have a two-way discussions about development opportunities with a stakeholder who will be invested in making this a reality. Equally, if the technology exists to assess candidates fit, it also exists to allow candidates to manipulate their responses, so I think human oversight will also be necessary to ensure the candidate presented through the selection assessment process actually exists.
2: I am trying to assess candidates on skills/potential for the role but am worried I’m moving too far away from people’s actual ability or track record. Is there a balance to be struck here?
Sian Wilson: Absolutely. It is important to first define what is it that you are looking for in the role first and ensure everyone involved in the process is clear and agreed on that. Being clear in terms of Skills, Values and what potential means in your business is also a good place to start. Using skills based assessments can streamline your process and help you in skills identification and matching – we have also used simulations for certain roles. I would then calibrate with stakeholders such as hiring managers and peers to agree what ‘potential’ looks like so there is alignment – for example if a candidate didn’t have the perfect background and experience but joined and learnt fast – would they thrive in 6 months and what else would we gain from them? A balanced scorecard I find helps with % weighting on a % on current skills and ability, % on potential and depending on the role % on proven experience.
Claire Webster: As an organisation we very much focus on hiring people with the right behaviours and attitude and then training them where any skills gaps exist. We’ve found this important in order to overcome challenges of a competitive marketplace and also to ensure we have people who are culturally aligned with our aims and behaviours that we believe are critical for their success. That said, it’s important to start with a review of what skills are essential, which are optional and if they need developing, how would we go about this, how much time would it take, what resource pressure would this put on other areas whilst they develop competence in this area. Generally, after discussing these elements with Hiring Managers, we normally have a clear view on what skills / experience really is essential to be effective in roles within the timeframe the business require.
Fiona Mason: It is always a balance here and the mix is probably different for every role and every organisation. Perhaps the starting point should be when you conceive the role to be hired, what is our aim here, what are we looking for? Are we willing to grow someone, how much development is there in the position? My mantra is always hire for potential, train for skills… but it is impossible to get it right every time. Every recruitment process is inherently flawed!
