AI recruitment is transforming how companies find and hire talent. A recent survey revealed that 65 percent of recruiters are using AI in their recruitment strategies, with 67 percent acknowledging its positive impact on the hiring process. However, this doesn’t mean human intuition is becoming obsolete. On the contrary, 96 percent of top HR professionals are convinced that, when blended with human insight, AI will significantly boost talent acquisition and retention.¹
There is a synergy between artificial intelligence and human intuition in recruitment. Keep reading to learn how to effectively harness both to identify the ideal candidates for your organization.
How Does AI Recruitment Function?
AI recruiting operates by harnessing a range of data like resumes, job descriptions, assessments, feedback, and performance metrics. This data trains and refines the AI’s algorithms. The beauty of these systems lies in their ability to learn from past data, user inputs, and feedback, allowing them to adjust to evolving needs and preferences. They employ natural language processing and sentiment analysis to interpret and react to human language and emotions, making them a dynamic tool in the recruitment process.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment
Recruiting AI comes with many opportunities, including:
1. Candidate Sourcing and Screening
According to Tidio’s AI Recruitment Statistics in 2023, 43 percent of HR professionals find screening candidates the most challenging task in the recruitment process.² AI can help find and attract qualified candidates from various online platforms, such as job boards, social media, and talent pools. It can also help filter and rank candidates based on their resumes, skills, experience, and fit for the job.
Once applications are received, AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) take over. These systems employ natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to parse and screen resumes, focusing on relevant qualifications and skills. This not only speeds up the process but also significantly reduces the manual workload for recruiters.
2. Skill Evaluation and Selection
Artificial intelligence can significantly streamline the assessment of candidates by focusing on their skills and abilities. This technology employs machine learning algorithms to analyze data from online assessments, video interviews, and simulations, thus testing candidates’ aptitude, personality, and behavioral traits.
3. Communication and Engagement
AI can create a more positive experience for candidates by offering timely responses and continuous support. For instance, AI-powered chatbots can instantly answer common inquiries about the job role, benefits, and application process, providing a 24/7 communication channel. This consistent, prompt interaction can foster a more engaging and supportive environment for candidates.
4. Cost-Effective Hiring
AI reduces hiring costs by automating routine tasks like data entry, resume checking, and interview scheduling. This efficiency cuts down time and financial expenditure, enabling a focus on human aspects of hiring.
5. Optimized Recruitment
AI offers valuable insights and data for better decision-making, tracking metrics such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and new-hire quality. This helps in identifying effective strategies and areas for improvement
6. Potential Bias Reduction
About 68 percent of recruiters believe that AI will help remove unconscious biases inhiring.¹ AI evaluates candidates using objective and consistent criteria, not personal feelings or opinions. AI can also help ensure diversity within the candidate pool. It can hide personal details like age or gender on resumes and use words in job ads that welcome a diverse set of people.
There remains concerns about hiring bias with AI, particularly regarding bias programmed into software and AI imitating human hiring biases, however the technology remains promising.³
Successful Applications of AI in Recruitment
Several companies have successfully integrated AI into their recruitment processes. These real-world examples demonstrate AI’s practical applications.
Unilever revolutionized its recruitment process by incorporating AI. They use online games and AI-powered video interviews to assess candidates. This use of AI saved them over 50,000 hours in candidate interview time and delivered over $1 million in annual savings while improving candidate diversity.⁴
IBM has also strategically incorporated AI into its human resources approach to enhance various aspects of its operations. Key applications include the Blue Matching program for internal job mobility, resulting in 1,500 internal job changes, and the CogniPay program, which aids in compensation decisions and has contributed to halving employee attrition. Their Watson Career Coach leverages AI for career development by identifying skills gaps and recommending growth resources. Collectively, these AI tools have saved IBM over $100 million, reflecting significant cost efficiencies.⁵
Related Reading: Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Today’s Workplace
The Point Where Human Intuition and AI Meet
While AI brings considerable advantages to recruitment processes, a significant portion of people—more than 68 percent, according to Tidio’s survey—still prefer human involvement in the final hiring decisions.² This preference is based on multiple factors, with trust and reliability in human judgment being the most important ones. There is a notable skepticism towards AI in making critical choices like hiring, with a consensus leaning towards confidence in human accountability.
The role of intuition is also significant, particularly in making challenging decisions, such as choosing between equally qualified candidates or enhancing diversity in recruitment. Furthermore, human insight is crucial in evaluating intangible qualities like cultural fit, empathy, and understanding, which AI might not evaluate with the same finesse.
The desire for authentic interactions and connections with real people, especially during complex hiring stages, further highlights the indispensable value of the human touch in recruitment, blending AI’s efficiency with the nuanced understanding that only humans can provide.
Finding Balance: 6 Best Practices for Combining AI and Human Intuition
While AI can streamline certain aspects of the process and provide valuable insights, it isn’t a replacement for human intuition. Combining these two elements can help optimize your recruiting process, find the best candidates, and grow your organization.
1. Define the Role and Criteria Clearly
Before using AI to screen and assess candidates, define the role and the criteria for the ideal candidate clearly and explicitly. This will help AI algorithms to filter and rank candidates based on relevant data and metrics and avoid irrelevant or biased factors. You also need to review and update the role and the criteria regularly, as the organizational needs and the market conditions may change over time.
2. Take Advantage of Automation AI Provides
Some companies utilize it to sort through resumes and applications. It can identify candidates who meet the basic qualifications and criteria, thereby saving time and resources.
3. Don’t Neglect Your Intuition
While AI offers valuable insights and recommendations, it’s best to rely on human evaluators for assessing soft skills, cultural fit, and other nuanced aspects of a candidate’s profile. Human involvement is also crucial to explain and justify hiring decisions and to ensure a positive experience for candidates. These are areas where human intuition and emotional intelligence play an indispensable role.
4. Ensure Bias Monitoring
You can use AI to monitor and identify potential biases in the recruitment process but have humans review and address these biases. AI can process data to detect patterns that might indicate bias, but human judgment is essential to interpret these findings and implement changes.
5. Use AI to Facilitate and Enhance the Onboarding Process
AI can provide new hires with necessary information. This can result in a seamless and efficient onboarding experience.
The Road Ahead
Looking forward, there will be an increased reliance on AI and Automation. A LinkedIn report revealed that 68 percent of hiring managers said they’re hopeful about the impact of generative AI on recruiting.⁶ As technology continues to improve, we can expect AI-driven tools to further streamline candidate sourcing, screening, and initial assessment processes, making recruitment more efficient and data-driven.
However, Al and Automation are not without challenges, such as ethical, legal, and technical issues. We must be aware of the potential risks and limitations and then use AI responsibly.
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References
1 Flynn, Jack. “15+ AI-Recruitment Statistics [2023]: Hiring Trends, Facts, and Data” Zippia, 16 May 2023, www.zippia.com/employer/ai-recruitment-statistics/
2 Stefanowicz, Beata. “AI-Recruitment Statistics: What Is the Future of Hiring?” Tidio, 28 Nov. 2023, www.tidio.com/blog/ai-recruitment/
3 “Risks of AI in Hiring Tools – Peatworks.” Peatworks, 24 Apr. 2023, www.peatworks.org/ai-disability-inclusion-toolkit/risks-of-ai-in-hiring-tools.
4 “AI case study: Unilever’s HR team improve recruitment” Digital Strategy Consulting, 25 Aug. 2021, www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/transformation/ai/ai-case-study-unilevers-hr-team-improve-recruitment/64045/
5 Lewis, Nicole. “IBM Transforms Its Approach to Human Resources with AI” SHRM, 21 May 2019, www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/technology/ibm-transforms-approach-to-human-resources-ai
6 “The Future of Recruiting 2023” LinkedIn, Accessed 9 Jan. 2024, www.business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/resources/future-of-recruiting
