Ensuring Inclusive Hiring with AI

Business during a pandemic feels a little like hitting the pause button, or in some cases rewind. However for some companies hiring has gone into overdrive. There has been a 50% increase in candidate applications per role in comparable months. Hiring Managers are battling with reduced resources, finding themselves ploughing through a mountain of applications whilst trying to ensure a more inclusive placement.

How can you ensure a fair and inclusive process while navigating these new challenges?

AI in Recruitment

In recent years AI has been a useful tool in recruitment. The concept is fairly straightforward, technology will sift through the applications on your behalf, compare the applicants experience to the job spec and then the computer will select for you who should move on to the next round and who should not! We can go into the technology and the money spent in Silicon Valley trying to perfect the hiring process whilst eliminating the presence of a human, however, the truth is, you can’t remove the human from the process and expect the best placement, and more importantly, an inclusive one!

The Problem with Recruitment AI

Irony

In the end all you end up with in an industry aimed at helping candidates, using a computer to decide whether candidates are a suitable fit or not, based on words they have chosen to include or exclude from their resume! No one, including the companies themselves understand how the decisions are made!

The AI algorithm for reviewing resumes and sourcing the best talent for the role ensures that everyone is at the mercy of technology, where is the human in human resources, where is the instinct, inclusiveness, inspiration?

Bias

Being at the mercy of the algorithm means predictions and selections can only be as successful as the training set provided! Therefore for companies with existing issues with diversity, surely this has only set a precedent that the company will continue to function in?

How To Resolve?

To avoid these issues you just have to put the human touch back in the recruitment process, scoring applicants with simple, explainable rules can be just as accurate! It’s incredibly important for the candidates and the company to understand how and why a decision has been made.

Understand your needs, if you don’t know who or what you are looking for, how will you know when you find it? Be clear on your placement objectives before finalising the job spec, what are your company and team? This will help you identify explainable decisions.

Be transparent about the role! Rather than hiding tasks or bigging up the position to make it sound amazing, be honest! How else will you attract the right candidates, who will do the job and accept the position and not turn it down because it will eventually transpire that the position is not what it first seemed from the unrealistic job spec. Share details about the recruitment process, this will remove any unfair advantages.

All in all, how can you ensure a more inclusive hiring process? First of all, AI cannot ensure an inclusive hiring process, the only way you can do that is with the human touch! Develop a perfect job spec, review the applications, ask the question, communicate the process, give the reasons… be better be focussed, be inclusive!

However there is still one burning issue, the number of applicants per position! This is where the Screenable platform comes in, you select the applicants to record an interview for you, answering your questions and it’s delivered to you in 3 simple steps! Review the recorded interviews and make your selections on who to take through the next round of interview based on experience, attitude, skills and fit! Unlimited screenings for free — get started today at www.screenable.co