How technology has changed the hiring process
The first employee is like the first love — the one you remember forever. From my own experience I can say that I was lucky, the law of attraction of similarly minded people worked for me. I was not mistaken in the person, and that person did not let me down. But more often, based on the results of a traditional interview little is clear, or the picture is greatly distorted.Sometimes great specialists simply have no chance: interviews take too long, questions may be confusing, and HR officer’s personal stereotypes and clichés may become the basis for making a decision.
Sometimes HR people are unable to resist a charismatic job seeker who has mastered the science of interviewing but has little more to offer. Technology is changing the world, including HR.
The following changes seem to me the most important:
Video conferencing
At first glance, an option to hire a person remotely does not seem unique. But I remember the times when I was looking for people in a very small town, mostly without the Internet, using the media and word of mouth. Hence, I sincerely believe that remote work and freelancing are the best things that could have happened.
I can avoid being limited in the search for employees within the boundaries of a single city or country, I can hire expensive personnel for top importance tasks and less expensive people for routine processes. And at the same time, no one needs to move to another city/country, into complete obscurity and then reflect on unreal expectations.
Virtual communication with the candidate often remains online. If everything is okay, you invite a person to the team and work remotely. It is not unlikely that having met in reality, I would not change my mind and that we would be able to successfully interact at all. And here I have little influence on my perception. But this already is my next point.
Neurobiology
Big Data and artificial intelligence have changed the game. New methods of assessing cognitive and personal qualities as well as algorithms for predicting career development have appeared. There is no need to ask each applicant a million questions, you can get information on 100 applicants at once. It is enough to ask them to take an entertaining online test.
Websites like Pymetrics are innovative products based not on a face-to-face psychology game, but rather on a more precise science — neurobiology.
At MOST, we are also focused on developing a universal system for testing and assessing flexible skills using artificial intelligence. A potential employee’s growth map with numbers and diagrams seems to me more compelling than mere good phrases. At the same time, I am not belittling the importance of the personnel department. We have a great career consultant. I understand however that to keep up with the times and to continuously learn, automation is required. If I send Marina (our consultant) to study all the time, who will perform the work? Automation is the answer, the circle is complete. First, we automate, then we rebuild processes in favour of learning and development.
Office is not required
An important point that made the previous two possible. Indeed, having an office does not guarantee an amazing career or that a company is a real deal. I believe this is a giant leap forward. But the process is not completed yet. It is fine with the zoomer generation, but the generation X and early millennials are still adapting.
There was some negative experience, too, however. One-day offices from the troubled 90s, strange locations of HR departments of large companies in the 2000s — all this has become history. My acquaintance once went for an interview at a large foreign company in St. Petersburg, whose personnel department was like a separate island. They shared office space with the immigration service. Applicants were asked to take paper IQ tests, no joke. And all this happened side by side with lines of people wishing to obtain citizenship or a residence permit. I suspect it was a sophisticated form of stress interview, but who knows.
However, even many companies with luxurious offices with no migration service as a neighbour have long abandoned formalities. Denmark is an especially good example in this regard. You only need a business suit if you are applying to a bank. In all other cases, there is no dress code, especially since interviews are more often held in an informal setting — over dinner or a cup of coffee.
Values
Today, the list of values is the main document in a company, which helps to build business processes and not get lost in the flow of information and developing trends.
Amazon is particularly well known for its commitment to values. The basic requirements for employees and managers are recorded in the Amazon Leadership Principles. Among them: an obsession with the client, to invent and simplify, to learn and be curious, to hire and develop the best, to think globally, to act fast, to deliver results, etc.
The principles work the same for decision-making in difficult situations, evaluating employee performance, or selecting people for a team.
But the principles of Zappos company are slightly different though: you can feel a different approach and tone. For example, the company is focused on “constant growth and development” but recommends adding “a little fun and weirdness”.
Facebook values are:
- Create value for society
- Be brave
- Be open
- Move fast
- Focus on the essentials
Having studied the company’s values, it immediately becomes clear which employee will ideally fit into it. Not so long ago, MOST and I did an important job — got together and walked through the values set several years ago. Despite the fact that some great progress was made, our views have not changed. This once again proves that the strength of the company lies in its beliefs.
“Hire the best!”, “I need the best!” — I myself often repeat these catch phrases. But honestly, you need to hire those who are right for you. And to understand this, the company will have to identify itself in the world of copy-paste and abundance. This process is painstaking, but important.
