It seems that everywhere you turn, someone is talking about AI in talent acquisition. Whether it’s a LinkedIn post, a thought leadership piece, an industry conference, or in casual conversation, AI is everywhere. At a recent summit, we asked a room full of customers how many people were sick of hearing about it and looked out onto a room of raised hands.
Despite the fatigue, the importance of automation in improving candidate experience and engagement, recruiter efficiency cannot be overstated. Additionally, automation has a significant impact on brand and reputation cannot be overstated. As talent acquisition and contingent workforce leaders, the relentless promotion of AI in talent acquisition can feel overwhelming, especially when deciding where and how to use it. But the core concept behind AI—automation—is not just a trend; it’s imperative. The challenge lies in sifting through the noise to find genuine innovations making a difference.
Candidate experience is one area where automation is making a major impact. Automated solutions can significantly enhance how a candidate interacts with your brand by providing timely, personalized communication, 24×7 availability, and mobile-friendly application processes, reducing the time-to-hire. For example, AI-driven chatbots can answer candidate questions 24/7, ensuring potential hires feel valued and informed throughout the application process. Additionally, automation can streamline assessments and interview scheduling, making it easier for candidates to book these at their convenience.
It is crucial to keep candidates engaged throughout the recruitment process. Automated follow-ups, personalized emails, and regular updates ensure that candidates remain interested and nurtured throughout. These automated touchpoints can create a seamless and positive experience, reducing candidate drop-off and negative experiences, and garnering referrals from their networks in the process.
Failing to implement effective automation, on the other hand, can be a major hit to an organization’s talent pipeline:
- 60% of job seekers report a negative candidate experience with employers
- 72% of job seekers share negative experiences online
- 55% of job seekers avoid companies after reading negative reviews
Candidates aren’t the only ones who benefit from automation. Recruiters juggle a multitude of tasks, including sourcing candidates, sifting through thousands of resumes for every job opening, shortlisting candidates, conducting interviews, and managing offers. Automation can save significant time by streamlining these processes, allowing recruiters to focus on more strategic activities and have meaningful conversations. For example, automated resume screening and parsing can quickly identify the most qualified candidates, matching them to the roles for which they are most experienced. Automated talent relationship management can collectively drive and nurture candidates through campaigns, referrals, and other methods for current and future opportunities. AI-powered analytics can provide insights into recruitment trends and performance. By analyzing your existing talent (i.e.; skills, health, credentials, profile completion), these tools can identify gaps between forecasted demand and actual performance, enabling you to source talent more effectively to fill your talent pools.
One global customer used WorkLLama’s AI-driven analytics to identify a shortage of skilled developers needed for an upcoming, highly visible, revenue-generating project. By having advanced warning, they were able to proactively recruit for these roles in the right locations and fill these critical positions for successful project completion.
The key to leveraging automation without falling victim to AI fatigue is striking the right balance. Not all AI tools are created equal, so focus on solutions that address your specific pain points and have a proven track record of success. How are you measuring the tools you have in place today? Are they improving candidate experience, engagement, and efficiency? Use data to make informed decisions. Are the systems you have in place talking to one another? Do you have too many disparate systems in place?
By leveraging automation, companies can not only attract top talent but also create a positive impression that sets the tone for a successful employment relationship, now and in the future, creating future brand ambassadors and a positive market reputation. The key is to implement automation thoughtfully, ensuring it adds genuine value to the recruitment and engagement process.
At WorkLLama, we have a single, native, unified platform for everything talent: marketing, acquisition, engagement, scheduling, and more. Our mission is to revolutionize the world of work by fostering meaningful connections between employers, job seekers, and employees. We do this by using automation to foster efficiencies at scale. Want to learn more? Visit workllama.com.
