HR technology can provide a bevy of benefits, but it must be executed with the candidate in mind.
COVID-19 certainly accelerated the adoption of HR technology. According to research from Sage. 82% of HR leaders say they had to scale HR technology to manage and operate effectively during the pandemic. Plus 89% of C-suite executives and 83% of HR leaders say HR technology enabled them to be more responsive to needs while helping their businesses become more resilient. Here, Rob McIntosh, Vice President of Recruiting Solutions for PSG Global Solutions, provides best practices on how to best manage and leverage tech investments during this tight talent market.
Q: What does the recent convergence in the recruiting tech space mean for HR?
A: In the last year, HR leadership has really taken note of the technology convergence as they look to digitize the workplace driven by increased remote work and the need for collaboration within their business in general. There is also a significant uptick in demand for certain roles across the U.S. given the reduced supply of available talent. This is putting pressure on recruiting functions given the competitive landscape. In this market, a role that would have historically been an average of $2.50 cost per application is now a whopping $20 cost per application. This fact alone is forcing HR leaders to rethink how they do things, opening up the conversation to more innovation.
There are certainly technology and digital solutions that help support organizations and offer significant gains. For example, in the last year, we have been able to drive down the cost per application to sub $1.00.
Q: What is tech’s role in the recruiting process?
A: One key factor that HR always needs to remember is that while technology can help automate and streamline processes, all design thinking around any tech investment should keep people at the heart of the solution. If recruiting technology is difficult for HR teams to use, then the benefits that they are set to experience from that investment will diminish significantly. This will be based on poor or inconsistent adoption.
Another example is around assessment technology, which is seeing a good amount of investment lately. HR needs to keep in mind the candidate experience and how a candidate will experience the technology when implementing. If a solution is designed and not executed correctly, organizations could be turning away large volumes of candidates because of a bad user experience.
Q: What benefits will HR experience if tech is done right?
A: Most HR leaders are smart and don’t rush in to buy technology. They research to understand its value, be it helping increase productivity or other core benefits.
At PSG, we have a Delivery Excellence mindset where we ensure tech investments -be it build or buy -have a clear path to at least a “2X” gain in benefits. A good practical example is how we built our proprietary technology that helps recruiters and clients prioritize candidates by assessing candidate interest and engagement. One organization experienced the benefit of it directly helping to nearly double the volume of hires of every recruiter. This improvement came after many months of refining the technology and process with a consistent focus on the impact on hiring results.
My recommendation for HR leaders is take the time to clearly define the benefits, goals, and associated measures before investment, then continually measure results post investment to locate areas of improvement that will get you to your goal. Sometimes it might be small process changes after investment and implementation that helps you get that “2X” lift.