With so much focus on how machines will automate recruiting, one researcher argues we cannot overlook the importance of human psychology as a crucial machine learning tool.

Given the amount of sci-fi films released in the last three decades involving robot uprisings, it’s clear that humans often cower in the face of machines’ intellectual superiority. However, the crux of many of these movies is that humans often win against Artificial Intelligence (AI) thanks to our creative problem solving and empathy. We point to this distinction to reinforce the idea that human labor is more valuable than robotic automation, particularly for tasks that require emotional intelligence.

This logic applies to make the argument why recruiters are indispensable to the hiring process. Whereas machines are capable of carrying out defined tasks, humans can differentiate nuances between candidates, allowing them to determine the best fit for any given role. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped the rise of AI technology within talent acquisition.

Industrial psychologist Dr. Charles Handler believes that organizations will fully automate, and enhance, the applicant selection and screening process by combining deep learning AI with the science of psychology. Dr. Handler sees greater potential for machines and humans after combining forces. “While a computer can beat any human at chess 100 percent of the time,” he says, “a computer and a human playing together can beat even the most advanced chess computer.”

Experts like Dr. Handler believe that automated predictive hiring decisions will soon be able to achieve near 100 percent accuracy. This means that an AI assistant or chatbot will choose candidates with infinitesimal margins of error.

In theory, this could replace an entire recruiting staff and automate the majority of HR functions, leading to billions, if not trillions, in bottom-line savings. AI assessment software like SmartAssistant, Zoom.ai, Textio, and Ideal are already in use at many forward-thinking companies. What’s more, high-impact teams are 6x more likely to use AI, predictive analytics, and other tech solutions to make data-driven decisions over their lower-performing counterparts. Research indicates that top performers see 18 percent higher revenue and 30 percent greater profitability compared to those that don’t use these tools.

In some ways, current AI technology is reminiscent of the droids in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Much like the simple robots themselves, basic AI can complete programmatic tasks like keyword or image recognition, but fall short when facing certain, more complex operations. The droids have no problem volleying lasers in gigantic battles, but once an enemy gets up close, these droids struggle to hit the broadside of a barn.

Currently, recruiting AI can scan a resume to identify patterns and compare against pre-programmed “high-performing employee” profiles. The model then predicts if the candidate will be successful based on the amount of matching criteria. Today’s AI models are still leagues away from watching and evaluating candidates through video interviews or more traditional face-to-face interactions.

Dr. Handler believes that these shortcomings could be solved if engineers were able to develop deep learning AI with an advanced understanding of human psychology. He argues that machines currently follow guidelines much more efficiently than humans, but cannot make value judgements about their decisions. By somehow “teaching” machines elements of human psychology (i.e. empathy) and assigning meaning to their behaviors, automated processes like candidate selection would look, and feel, more human.

“For hire-bots to be able to do their job as well, or better, than humans, they are going to have to understand individual differences the same way that humans do,” says Dr. Handler. “In other words, to be truly game-changing, hiring assessment AIs are going to have to think like psychologists.”

In this sense, “thinking like a psychologist” means the bots must base their analysis on psychometrics, clinical measurements of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits that determine an individual’s true self. Hypothetically, by combining this measurement criteria with programmed professional judgment, an AI model could spot individual differences between candidate profiles without ever looking at resumes and decide which candidate would be the best match for an open position.

Counter to these utopian ideas are ethical arguments criticizing recruitment AI tech. One argument warns how genetic data could factor into hiring decisions, introducing a previously unfathomable bias. Another fear from critics is the idea of AI “cyber-snooping” on social media to create potential candidate profiles for a position. Despite these concerns, Dr. Handler appears confident in the future of recruitment AI.

“There is a lot to be gained by using AI to help psychologists to better understand individual differences,” he argues. “So, when creating the hire bots of tomorrow, don’t forget to include good old-fashioned psychology into the mix.”

If you want to predict the end for your employees, look no further than the start. A bumpy on-ramp into your organization could very well be steering many of them to the nearest exit.

It should come as no surprise to HR managers, but the first 18 months of employment — when turnover can reach as high as 50 percent — are pivotal in the employee-employer relationship. But according to a Gallup study, a meager 12 percent of employees “strongly agree” that their organization provides a sufficient onboarding training process.

Far too many HR departments risk an abbreviated tenure with new hires by neglecting this early stage. Given the costs of losing a team member — at least six to nine months of his or her salary — preventing employee turnover should be a top priority for every company.

The Untapped Power of Onboarding Software

Thankfully, many HR departments have the necessary tools right at their fingertips. Many of these teams have already implemented a learning management system (LMS) for staff training, but they might not understand some of the ancillary LMS benefits. What was once a tool solely for internal use can now be leveraged long before an interview.

The advantages of a learning management system can begin as early as the recruitment phase. One HR executive recently told me about a successful hire funneled directly from the company’s online recruitment program, which vets candidates with mini certification courses and games designed to test skills. This talent acquisition software enabled the company to build a robust profile of candidate data before the interview process, which ensured it was choosing from the best of the best.

Finding and Onboarding Top Talent With LMS Software

Taking your onboarding program online can yield similar results for your firm. Here are five benefits of recruiting and onboarding new employees using your learning management system:

1)

You can track recruits on a centralized platform. Without a central database enabling a rapid review of an array of applicants, a recruiting manager might have little time to assess résumés or set up interviews. Using online training platform software to aggregate all the pertinent information about your recruits can save precious time.

Once you have the data readily available, you can use it to quickly identify which candidates should stay in the running. The software enables you to find individuals who have the right degree or key qualifications much faster than thumbing through an unyielding mountain of résumés.

2)

You can fill in gaps using detailed reports. Onboarding software brings a host of analytics to your recruitment process. With detailed reports, charts, and graphs of assessment data, you can collect critical information to find the right talent to fit your gaps.

Companies like Johnson & Johnson are adeptly using these features to match recruits with departments. By analyzing the traits of its top employees, the pharmaceutical giant identifies criteria for its assessments and is able to screen out applicants who might be unlikely to succeed. Likewise, you can develop your own criteria for what helps someone thrive in customer service or sales and then structure your employee onboarding software accordingly.

3)

You can uncover hidden talents. As many recruiters and hiring managers have learned, it’s not uncommon for candidates to discover that they’re better suited for a different position during the interview process. Why not let your employee onboarding software accelerate this realization? You can use the system to help prospective hires identify their core talents and then see open positions that match their expertise.

By moving this critical discovery phase forward, you can save your organization a good deal of time and money. Instead of going through the painful exercise of re-recruiting after shifting someone toward another department, you can funnel new hires into the right role from the start.

4)

You can get face time with candidates. Most employee onboarding software has built-in support for video conferencing. Companies such as Unilever have scrapped résumés altogether in favor of a mixture of game-based assessments and automated video interviews.

Once again, software can save you and your department the effort of going through an in-person interview only to discover that your promising candidate is a poor communicator or a bad fit for your organization. Get that important face-to-face contact before an official interview by using technology to connect.

5)

You can customize your onboarding by pinpointing areas of improvement. Because you’ve already established a profile for new hires in your onboarding system through the recruiting process, you can transition seamlessly into training. Given that nearly 90 percent of new hires say they don’t enter a new job with all the knowledge they need, they will require help to bridge the gaps in their skills.

Regardless of any shortcomings that might have come to light during interviews, induction training for new employees coupled with specific online courses can quickly bring them up to speed. You’re thus able to dive right into on-the-job training, which more than 75 percent of new employees have identified as the most important part of onboarding.

***

While the benefits of onboarding new employees are well-established, relatively few companies think to put their learning management systems to work during these early stages. With a flexible LMS that supports gamification, video conferencing, applicant tracking, and advanced reporting features, you can employ this software to smooth the on-ramp and pave the way to success for your new hires.

Tech advancement is not slowing down, and as recruiters to struggle to find the best permutations for their HR needs, a bit of guidance of the latest trend is in order.

Speaking in jargonese, workforce analytics blend software and methodology that apply statistical models to worker-related data, allowing organizations to optimize their Human Resource Management. Sometimes referred to as descriptive analytics, this is helpful to understand, at an aggregate level, what is going on in your organization.

Tracking employee and candidate data to analyze in order to make better recruiting decisions, is a tried and tested strategy. What’s interesting now is the trend toward predictive and prescriptive analytics.

Recruiters are embracing rapid technological growth, not just because ATS systems continue to improve, but because the data they provide is changing their jobs for the better. Most notably, with a proper ATS in place, there’s a lot more recruiting and a lot less administration.

Workforce analytics gather data from enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and point of sale (POS) systems. The blending of data from these seemingly disparate sources makes for a more robust way to predict outcomes, and there are several software options to integrate with your current HR programs. Review and recommendation sites can help you narrow down your CRM, POS, or ERP software choices to those that connect the best.

Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics:

As we uncover predictive and prescriptive analytics, let’s take a look at how they’re different. When using predictive analytics, we’re beginning to move away from the traditional descriptive methodology, and beginning to ask, “what could happen”? It’s a use of statistical models and techniques that combine historical data pulled from a company’s tech stacks to forecast the future.

For example, when asking questions like “Which workers are most likely to leave”, or “which internal associates or external candidates are the best job fit”, you can use the data at hand to assist in knowing where your resources are best used.

Now, as we talk about prescriptive analytics, we’re taking things a step forward. Prescriptive analytics uses optimization and simulation algorithms to advise on possible outcomes, and answers the question of “What should we do”? Attempting to quantify the effect of a decision before it’s made, it’s not only an attempt to predict what will happen, but why it’ll happen.

So how does this new trend in workforce analytics affect recruiters?

One of the most notable ways recruiters use data is in succession planning, as well as internal recruiting. In the past, recruiters were limited to the short list of usual suspects based on gut feeling, two annual reviews, and senior management recommendations. Now, succession planning can be done using real-time data. What’s more is that the candidate pool is deeper, going beyond the top five people being nominated in secret to looking at another level of the organization based upon transparent, employee-driven career goals and performance metrics.

Another area where recruiters are using workforce analytics is in trying to understand what an ideal candidate profile should look like. Based on data gathered from the top performers in each role, it’s become simpler to identify the types of candidates who will also thrive in those positions. From there, recruiters will know from which pools to source, such as within specific geographic regions, professional organizations, or schools.

As the use of big data is disrupting just about every industry, consider how workforce analytics can change your recruiting strategy, as you consider how the face of recruiting is moving from what’s worked in the past to a predictive and prescriptive analysis and decision-making process giving you the best picture of where you’re going.

Data is being used to ever better understand company culture and employee profiles to find best-fit candidates for the enterprise overall. When it comes to assessing and analyzing culture fit, it’s essential we realize that regardless of which boxes you’ve checked – diversity, ability to work specific hours – at the end of the day, if people don’t feel included and accepted, you’ll never keep them.

From his popular HR in Mind blog, to our stage at Hiring Success 18 Europe, Robindro Ullah’s past informs his present, and even though he admits the future isn’t always clear, he’s not one to shy away from a dive into the unknown. In fact, he wants to take us with him.

What does Hiring Success mean to you?

Hiring Success is not only filling a position but making someone’s life more complete. Work is such a big part of life that having something which fulfills you is incredibly important. During my first recruitment job at Deutsche Bahn, someone reached out to me once and said thank you. I could hardly remember the person, so I asked what for. She said that ever since she heard my speech at the recruiting fair at her university, she thought Deutsche Bahn might be her employer of choice. And now, based on this very first thought she signed the contracted a year ago and was proven right. That’s Hiring Success from my point of view.

What drove you to start HR in Mind? What were some unforeseen issues while setting it up?

The first impulse came from my former colleagues, who asked me to sum up the latest recruitment news from the internet. They knew that I was constantly online searching for new ideas, so I started a weekly report which ended up online. After a few months, I got the feedback that my summaries were nice, but my opinions were more of interest. That was 2009, after I launched the first Twitter Career Account in Germany, for Deutsche Bahn.

What sort of things do you want the blog to accomplish?

The blog is my tool for clearing things up. HR is full of misunderstanding, and there’s a huge shortage of knowledge about digitization. It’s not one of those finger-pointing blogs, it’s a window to one likely version of the future.

Innovation is a word that gets thrown around a lot. What does it mean to you?

For me, there are two categories: the first one is about inventing something new out of nothing. The second is creating something new by bringing existing things together—which is the one I am good at. Even bringing people to the right position for them could trigger some innovation.

Why did you choose to write books, and why do you think that medium is effective for your message?

I think the question should be: why did you authorize your books to be printed. To write a book is quite obvious for a blogger. I agreed on printing it because the target group is still very used to content on paper.

If you had one message overall, what would it be?

Embrace the future and participate in determining it!

Who is your target audience?

HR Managers all over the German-speaking countries.

Tech has improved HR and destroyed publishing. Thoughts?

I don’t think so—tech has improved everything and destroyed outdated mindsets. With the right modern mindset, publishing can still be successful—even in these tech-driven times.

Where do you see HR in 2020?

Ohhhhhh in 2020—no one can see that far. But what I would love to see evolve are people’s old-fashioned mindsets. And that’s exactly what I think I can help with.

The surest way to earn 3x revenue and 3x profit as your peers? Invest in recruiting.

The current global marketplace is highly dependent on technology, but when it comes to finding and hiring the best candidates, much of the tech deployed to do so is out of date. With power shifting from hiring teams to candidates themselves, coupled with forecasted talent shortages in the coming years, companies need to assure they have the best systems in place for candidates to apply quickly, easily, and on the go.

Recruitment systems, usually integrated into blanket enterprise resource planning (ERP) models are notoriously clunky. Tech reminiscent of the dot-com boom has no place in a world run from smartphones and social media. Management often misidentifies talent acquisition as weeding through resumes, and chooses an ERP with back-office HR functions in mind. That’s because most ERP models specialize in managing specific aspects of HR like payroll, benefits, and performance management. While settling for an ERP with a “good enough” Applicant Tracking System can seem like a simple solution, the Boston Consultant Group found that companies who make the investment to assure they’re recruiting the best talent earn three times the revenue and two times the profit of their peers.

With the world is moving at an ever-faster pace, candidates aren’t compelled to fill out long applications. With one-step-apply features on sites like LinkedIn, many expect to send their CV with the press of a button. A recent CareerBuilder study found “the more in-demand a skill set, the less likely a job seeker with that skill set will jump through hoops.”

Thus Recruiting has had to turn itself inside out, and put effort not only on intake, but acting more like a marketing department, attracting potential candidates to their organization before the usual process is underway. In a survey of SmartRecruiters’ Marketplace partners, 30 percent said recruiting marketing tools were what they were most likely to invest in this year.

While slow, some organizations are waking up to the problem more quickly than others. According to a recent IDC survey, 23 percent changed ATS solutions in the past 18 months —and another 22 percent plan to make a change in the next 18 months. But this doesn’t necessarily mean going for a complete overhaul.

Many still turn to a Recruiting Point Solution (RPS), specialized software that supplements the shortfalls of an organization’s blanket ATS. Many companies look to RPS to “plug holes” in their aging ERP package, and though this might seem like a quick fix, the problems associated with having an RPS and an ERP can be numerous. Instead of addressing fundamental problems in their HR software, companies end up doubling-up on recruiting programs, and overpaying. Additionally, many ERP’s operate as individual entities, making transferring data between a company’s ERP and its band-aid RPS an IT nightmare.

For companies willing to leave ERP behind, there’s best of breed (BoB) – systems organized like a digital lunch buffet. Companies pick and choose relevant software across all fields of HR – talent acquisition, talent management, and workforce management. This allows companies to ditch their expensive and overly configured ERPs for a conglomeration of sleek, targeted systems. Some BoBs, like SmartRecruiters, also offer a marketplace, an integrated collection of third-party technology that provides an easy platform for companies to continue to integrate into modern systems. Beginning with the SmartRecruiters Talent Acquisition Suite, an engine that gives hiring teams the newest tools for recruitment marketing, applicant tracking, and onboarding, companies can continue to acquire top-of-the-line HR software that encompasses functions like payroll and onboarding. The benefits of BoB don’t stop there.

The SmartRecruiters Marketplace is fully integrated within a single system, allowing data to be transferred seamlessly between programs as if it was a single ERP platform, with a range of third-party services organizations need to keep ahead of the curve in today’s war for talent. In the SmartRecruiters Marketplace survey of where this year’s big spends will occur, tools to address self-scheduling, onboarding, and analytics were only outranked by methods to address diversity hiring – essential to be seen as forward-thinking and inclusionary in 2018.

Additionally, the pick-and-choose aspect allows companies to slim down their HR systems to only what they need, saving resources that would have previously been wasted on an overpriced ERP.

BoB systems are a multi-faceted solution to a multi-faceted problem, providing a platform for companies to choose specialized HR software from industry leaders, all integrated into a single BoB system.

Recruiting Tech Options — ERP or BoB?

• ERP models are all-inclusive Human Resources packages, a blanket software aimed at integrating all of a company’s HR needs onto a single platform. Unfortunately, many of these behemoths base their programs on outdated technology; and, due to the production of all HR software being delegated to a single team, many features of ERP’s, especially those based around recruitment, lack the features present in a more specialized Talent Acquisition Suite.
• ERP models often specialize in managing specific aspects of HR like payroll, benefits, and performance management, while other features, mainly those centered around recruitment, feel tacked-on, in order to present a complete HR package to the market.
• Many companies look to Recruiting Point Solutions (RPS), in order to “plug holes” in their aging ERP package. The problems associated with this can be numerous. Instead of addressing fundamental problems in their HR software, companies end up doubling-up on recruiting programs, and subsequently overpaying. Additionally, many ERP’s operate as individual entities, making transferring data between a company’s ERP and its band-aid RPS difficult and time-consuming, creating a disconnect between the candidate and hiring team.
• Talent Acquisition Suites bring the integration of all-inclusive ERP’s and the modernity of RPS’ into a single package. Designed to target one specific aspect of the hiring process, TAS’ are at the forefront of technological innovation. TAS’ track job candidates from the moment they show interest in a position, through to the end of the hiring process.
• Due to its modernity, a TAS will be able to integrate with job-posting sites like Monster and LinkedIn, allowing a company to advertise positions, review applications, schedule interviews, and make hiring decisions seamlessly, all from a single platform.
• SmartRecruiters is constantly updating their software in order to stay cutting edge. “When you buy an off-the-shelf ATS, it’s out of date as soon as you buy it.” (Tracey Allison)
• Although ATS systems have become the industry standard for Talent Acquisition, Aptitude Research found that 51 percent of companies are employing multiple ATS systems, and only 20 percent of companies are satisfied with their current ATS.
• The SmartRecruiters Marketplace allows companies to pick-and-choose their HR software from industry leaders, all of which is fully integrated into the same same system.

The transparency of the modern Internet user has transformed recruiting, and simply put, anyone hiring must learn from the analytics, content distribution, and conversion tactics that marketers leverage.

In 2012, we’ve seen the two large gorillas of HR software, Oracle and SAP, make big moves into the talent management space with the acquisitions of Taleo and SuccessFactors respectively. And we also witnessed the formal birth of a third major player in Workday’s IPO.

This is not to say that the recruiting technology market is top heavy; on the contrary, recruiting technologies everywhere are playing catch up to the rapidly evolving behaviors of Internet users (or more aptly put, “candidates”).  In my mind, great new technologies that connect the dots of candidate behaviors to job opportunities will emerge and prosper.

I see five major growth points for recruiting technologies in 2013:

1. Death of the Resume.  The resume lacks context. It’s a piece of paper. I want to be able to learn about a candidate’s former company in one click. When I read a professional reference, I want to be able to click on the personal’s professional page to gauge the relevance of this recommendation. Employers want context. Applying with social profiles gives employers the information they need to make a quicker and more informed hiring decision. In January 2012, SmartRecruiters reported social media profiles attached to 22% of job applications; in December 2012, SmartRecruiters reported social media profiles attached to 40% of job applications. More candidates want to apply with social media profiles.

2. Death of the Applicant Tracking System.  Applicant tracking simply does not encapsulate the modern hiring process. What is the applicant? A person. People want engagement, and the traditional applicant tracking system lacks engagement. The candidate must be treated as well as the customer. In 2013, we will see recruiting technology solutions gravitate toward customer relationship marketing, and the result will be a candidate experience that leaves a positive impression of your employer brand whether the candidate is hired or not.

3. Google for People. As more and more of our lives transition to online, we leave behind an increasingly wide digital trail. Some companies are starting to index and aggregate all this activity to build rich profiles. We will soon see sourcing tools leveraging Big Data to offer real-time access to 1 billion “resumes.”

4. Mobile. Everyday a higher percentage of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Ericsson reported that the internet usage on mobile devices doubled from the end of 2011 to the end of 2012. Our reliance on smartphones and mini tablets is not slowing anytime soon. Now it’s time for employers to acknowledge that. Mobile-friendly career sites – where people can easily view jobs and express interest from their phone – is now a must have for any employer.

5. Wider Net, Pickier Employers. A company is only as good as the people it hires. In the knowledge economy, savvy employers understand what it takes to acquire top talent: build a wide net and make the right choice. The technology to source smarter and faster is here. Engaging candidates over the internet is easy. Assessment science is increasingly precise. The Smart Recruiters will be picky in 2013.

In weighing the value of a recruiting technology, ask yourself, does it adhere to these market trends? If so, you will be ahead of the game in recruiting top talent, and when it comes to the lifeblood of your business, that is the only thing that matters.

Now that the Super Bowl is over, we take a look back on the human resources and recruiting trends, what has driven hiring and engagement innovation, and what’s in store for HR for 2013 when it comes to HR Tech and collaboration.

I’m taking an unconditional approach to workforce predictions and trends because when we speak of trends, untrendy stuff are the things that are actually trends in the industry we work, life and maybe even love. HR is not sexy and yet it is so important in the future of our business in being competitive, healthy, and successful.  Trends for actual HR practitioners is not a trend.  It’s the reality we are living now.

In 2013, HR tech and recruiting technology will shift to mobile, make relationships more real, leverage big data, and empower HR to be more than cogs in the machine:

• A shift from mobile recruiting to mobile work & life.  This trend isn’t really about having a mobile recruiting website so much as it is that the candidate and employee audience is moving to a multi-device and option-filled lifestyle.  In addition to a mobile careers page you should be interacting with candidates on their most popular apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. We are working while living and that happens while doing many things at one time.  Television has become interactive as we tweet (over 24 million tweets during last nights Super Bowl), watch videos and check our email on the same device or multiple ones all at the same time.  Your recruiting and employee engagement strategy should be interactive and engaging on the many channels of life.

• Making relationships real.  Moving from automated relationships and the candidate experience to focusing on the actual relationship and the long-term aggregate benefit of educating, helping, and assisting job seekers even if they don’t work for us right now but possibly at a future point in time.

• Focus on data, data, and more data.  As practitioners in the industry we know the value of our role in the organization.  We often view this measure or metric as elusive for our industry.  With all the buzz surrounding big data, companies and talent departments should be focusing on understanding the business and finding ways to articulate the benefits of what they do in a way that our senior leaders understand.  Numbers are just numbers until we put real meaning behind them.  That’s part of what improved technologies and efficiencies will help us do in HR.

• Technology that makes us more than cogs in the machine.  I feel like there is a belief that HR and recruitment technologies will completely end the need for human resources and recruiters.  Automation helps us focus on the human elements of our most valuable business resource, the employee.  This technology should help elevate the human element taking us away from viewing employees as replicable cogs in the hiring machine to employees with lives, experiences, and personalities you can’t automate.

What other trends are you seeing when it comes to technology, recruiting and the human capital industry?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media.  She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. When she talks, people listen. 

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