Whether you handle recruiting in-house or rely on a trusted staffing service, there’s no denying that hiring is big business. And where there is a strong business impact, there is a strong tech scene aiming to innovate, improve efficiencies, and increase outcomes.
Research published by CB Insights valued the HR tech market at $6.7 billion at the end of 2019. In the same year, the staffing industry achieved a record-breaking $153.5 billion in revenue, according to the US Staffing Industry Forecast from Staffing Industry Analysts. In-house human resources as well as outside recruiting agencies are now all eyeing up the next big development in their industry: artificial intelligence (AI).
There is no shortage of use-cases and applications to utilize AI in hiring and recruiting. In this article, we’ll cover a few of the most common ways your company can start implementing AI into your recruiting strategy today.
Conversational AI is King
Conversational AI (CAI) and intelligent “chatbots” can be deployed in every stage of the recruitment and hiring process.
Reactivate and Engage Passive Candidates – Companies typically have stacks of “resumes on file” from previous candidates or applicants who may have not been a fit for a particular opening at a certain time. Consider utilizing automated (but personable) emails and text messaging to prompt passive candidates in your talent pool to update their information on file and upload a more recent resume. You can even entice candidates with a fresh list of openings at your company.
Once the candidate has been reactivated by clicking through links from the email, you’ll know they’re still at least interested in what your company has to offer — that’s a warm lead! Human resources managers and recruiters can use this kind of CAI to better target their search, while also staying in touch with candidates that may be a quality hire for a future position.
Instantly Engage New Applicants – User data collected by Indeed.com indicates that most employers take between weeks and months to reach out after an application is submitted, depending on the size of the pool they want to review. But what happens when you are losing your top candidates to that drawn-out initial contact period? In combination with ATS (applicant tracking systems), machine learning can be used to instantly identify candidates with the top qualifications for the open positions. CAI can then be leveraged to invite candidates to continue a screening dialogue to complete further assessment. From this process, AI can help compile, report, and analyze top applicants into a shortlist for interviews.
Schedule and Coordinate Interviews – In a study of 200 hiring professionals in the staffing space, 60% of recruiters reported regularly losing candidates before ever getting to schedule an interview. Losing candidates when you’ve already started the recruitment process costs your HR team valuable time and effort. Why not cleverly use AI to help streamline your process from application to conversational screening to scheduling?
For example, conversational AI can help schedule interviews with qualified candidates while cross-referencing your hiring team’s calendars to prevent scheduling conflicts. On the day of an interview, your CAI chatbot can reach out to candidates and supply them with any pertinent information about your location, parking/building access, or materials to bring. This coordination can even be extended to have the chatbot answer common questions candidates have before interviews.
Intelligent Automations – AI software programs can also be used to keep contract employees and their reporting managers on the same page about next steps as contracts draw to a close. Recruiters can utilize scheduled outreach to contractors with expiring contracts to get information from the candidate on what they are looking for in their next placement, and start fielding upcoming opportunities for them. Your in-house HR team can use a similar automation and conversation AI flow to initiate conversations with managers who have an employee nearing the end of a contract. For instance, the manager may want to extend the contract or offer to convert it to full-time.
Integrating AI Solutions in Your Business
While there are hundreds of HR tech products on the market, choosing the best one for your company can be a daunting task with significant ramifications from poor deployment. When trying a new approach, it’s a good option to consider the software solutions you’ve already licensed, like Microsoft!
Microsoft Flow, Microsoft Power BI, and the Microsoft Power Platform can all be used to create the kinds of intelligent automations and chatbots discussed in this article. Windows Management Experts can help deploy these types of solutions so you can get the most from your Microsoft investment. WME even offers our expertise in staffing as a “recruiting by the hour” service, in which our highly experienced recruiters and HR professionals assist your in-house team with a search, or review your in-house recruiting strategy and processes to identify ways to strengthen them overall.
If these opportunities and ideas for improving your hiring and recruiting process excite you, then it’s worth exploring the wonderful world of recruitment AI using Microsoft’s Power Platform. Contact Windows Management Experts today to find out how.
