To flourish, all businesses need to employ excellent talent. In an ever-increasing digital age, how can hiring managers keep up? Dr Mary Collins explores the latest recruitment technologies available.

Global talent shortages are reported to be at the highest levels in 15 years, with 69% of companies globally reporting talent shortages in 2021, according to the 2021 Q3 ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage and Employment Outlook Survey.

All businesses need the right talent to move forward. From the smallest start-ups to the largest global enterprises, having the right talent at the right time provides a competitive edge that can guarantee success. This is especially true of businesses relying on professionals, particularly in the knowledge economy where the margin for error in hiring decisions is low, and especially in smaller organisations, where every hire counts. But what does the recruitment landscape look like now in a digital-heavy age?

The balance of power

The concept of ‘The Great Reshuffle’ has gained momentum in recent times, where people are reflecting on their career values, motivations and work-life balance in a post-pandemic world. Talented people will always have choices, and it is incumbent on business leaders to continue engaging and retaining talented employees. How employers respond during times of crisis will be remembered, and a positive response will generate loyalty of current employees and an enhanced employer brand for future hires.

The candidate and hiring manager have always been central to the talent-acquisition process. However, as hiring has grown in importance as a key strategic imperative for organisations, the balance of power has shifted away from the hiring manager and towards the candidate.

The new rules of recruitment

While traditional talent recruitment methods such as graduate hiring, agencies, and job advertisements are still necessary, new approaches must be embraced in a market of key talent.

With the forced move to digital over the last few years, automated video interviews have become an increasingly popular part of the recruitment process. Instead of being on a video call with a human interviewer, the candidate will see questions and scenarios presented on screen and record themselves responding to these as though it were a traditional interview.

While this may seem like an impersonal approach to recruitment, it allows greater flexibility for the candidate. Instead of scheduling a time with the recruiter, candidates can take the interview at any point, which suits those with childcare commitments during the day or even people living in different time zones. Furthermore, with robotic process automation and psychometric testing, candidates who may excel in the role but do not ‘interview well’ can be identified.

Disruptive technologies

Recruiters and hiring organisations should embrace disruptive technologies to broaden the talent pool. Some of the more disruptive technologies in talent acquisition are as follows:

• Artificial intelligence (AI): AI fact-based algorithms make more logical recruitment decisions, which can help reduce bias through screening candidates objectively and without prejudice based on defined skillsets and qualifications.
• Robotic process automation (RPA): Robotic process automation involves configuring software to capture and interpret a company’s existing applications for processing transactions, manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other systems.
• Natural language processing (NLP): Natural language processing (NLP) allows computers to ‘understand’ and interpret human language. When people interact with AI, natural language processing is important for creating a positive interaction.
• Predictive analytics: Predictive analytics uses algorithms to find patterns in data and then uses these patterns to model or predict the future. In recruitment processes, it can use large datasets on trends and patterns in hiring to show hiring managers how long it will take to fill a position and the optimum compensation and benefits packages to secure successful candidates.

To attract the brightest and the best, recruiters need to ensure that they’re using the most cutting-edge technology to accommodate an ever-growing diverse talent pool.

Dr Mary Collins is a Chartered Psychologist and Executive Coach at the Royal College of Surgeons. She is also the author of Recruiting Talented People (2021), published by Chartered Accountants Ireland.