Embrace technology to avoid becoming a dinosaur

By failing to move with the times HR consultants and internal recruiters, who shun new recruitment technology, risk becoming extinct.

There's always some apprehension when new technology starts to disrupt your industry. It's tempting to stick your head in the sand and hope it will go away, but history shows that this approach never works out well.

Instead, the smarter approach is to understand what this new technology offers and how it can help you be better at what you do.

Adapt or be left behind: Lessons from the Excel revolution

History is full of examples where a technology that would seemingly put people out of a job instead changed the nature of their job. Accounting is a perfect example.

Long before the rise of AI, automation and algorithms, the arrival of desktop PCs and computerised spreadsheets back in the late 1970s forever changed the nature of accounting. 

Traditionally, the job of an accountant had been basically to add up columns of numbers on a piece of paper. Things had been that way for hundreds of years.

Suddenly, this new technology could do a better job in a fraction of the time with fewer mistakes. Accountants looked like dinosaurs, about to be wiped out.

So, was the arrival of Microsoft Excel an extinction event for accountants? Absolutely not, these days there are more accounting jobs than ever.

Spreadsheets revolutionised accounting but rather than making accountants redundant, it actually freed them to spend less time crunching numbers and more understanding what the numbers really mean. This actually made them far more useful.

No-one wants to go back to a world before computerised spreadsheets, especially not accountants. You can imagine how long an accountant would last in a modern workplace if they refused to use Excel.

Today, modern accountants are trusted business advisors rather than human calculators – in turn creating the demand for more accountants. They've become an invaluable asset to any business.

Likewise, new technology isn't going to wipe out HR consultants and internal recruiters. Instead, it will let them spend less time on menial tasks, like skimming resumes, and more time on higher-value tasks which still require the human touch. In return, they'll actually become more valuable to the business.

As an HR consultant or internal recruiter, you're not paid to read resumes. If you think that's your job, then you might be in for a rude shock.

Related article: Employers get hooked on applicant volume and foolishly listen to their heart

You're really paid to ensure that the business has the right people to drive success. This includes building a great team, shaping workplace culture, understanding industry trends and ensuring the business can rise to meet new challenges.

When you look at it this way, the HR team becomes the engine which helps drive the business. It can also be a competitive edge in a tight labour market, helping you both find and retain the right people.

Why smart recruiters are embracing predictive tools

The hiring process often starts with a huge pile of resumes, and hirers typically only spend around six seconds skimming through each one and glancing at the applicant's supposed skills. This is not a great use of your time, but it's an area where new technology can help you work smarter. 

Instead of this traditional approach to hiring, you need to take advantage of the new generation of recruitment tools that focus on asking the right set of screening questions. This helps you assess the critical soft skills as well as the hard skills which determine wither or not someone is actually a good long-term fit.

Related article: How to overcome the administrative burden in recruitment

Using short surveys, Expr3ss! quickly and cost-effectively pinpoints job applicants with the right skills, attitudes, temperament and cultural fit. These surveys typically only take around six minutes. They can include deal-breaker questions to ensure applicants have all the necessary qualifications and certifications before they are recommended for an interview.

The beauty of this approach is that it lets applicants show you who they really are, rather than tell you who they claim to be. It allows the right people for the job to shine, even when you're looking for a needle in a haystack.

As a recruiter, all of this means you can spend less time shuffling paperwork and more time looking at the big picture – safe in the knowledge that you're finding the right people.

The future of recruitment is human–backed by tech

To be honest, if you're an HR consultant or internal recruiter who is just the equivalent of a human calculator then you're in trouble. It's on you to ensure that you're actually reaching your full potential.

New technology won't put recruiters out of a job, but rather recruiters who take advantage of new technology will put those who don't out of a job. You're either the asteroid or the dinosaur, the choice is yours.