How Technology is Transforming HR, Part 1: Disrupting Traditional Recruitment Practices

How Technology is Transforming HR

The tech sector continues to influence and develop a broad spectrum of talent-related innovations impacting numerous industries. At the top of the list are:

• new platforms to efficiently identify and recruit potential employees
• new data-driven tools to facilitate talent management and development, leading to higher levels of productivity and skill enhancement
• new social technologies that foster more collaborative work environments leading to creative ideas and innovations

Here is a rundown of several products and solutions that are driving transformation within the HR function.

Recruitment

This area continues to be one of the most dynamic facets of the HR function that is undergoing significant transformation. As competition for top talent heats up — while the pool of potential employees continues to grow in an environment of high unemployment — companies are finding it difficult to sift through the high volume of resumes and the range of preferences expressed by each candidate (i.e., industry, role, title, compensation, region, etc.) for every role that’s posted.

Here are some startups and expansion-stage companies that are trying to disrupt this area of HR through the usage of new models, technologies, and processes:

Bright	Utilizes artificial intelligence and big data to more accurately and efficiently align job seekers with employment opportunities.
Entelo	Applies a patent-pending algorithm, which analyzes over 70 variables that help indicate a potential upcoming career change.
Identified	Harnesses big data that resides on social media platforms and other websites to identify and recruit new hires more efficiently.
Invenias	An executive search, cloud-based software platform that integrates with MS Outlook in order to easily manage and view candidate data.
Jobandtalent	Provides alerts of employment opportunities to passive candidates through the use of a linguistic pattern recognition algorithm.
TalentBin	Aggregates profiles from a large number of social media platforms and related websites to identify passive candidates.
Zao	Enhancing the traditional referrals model by automating the process and integrating social networks and incentives to hire candidates more efficiently.

Despite some of the recruitment innovations that are underway (as illustrated by the examples above), companies are still finding that these technologies are not a panacea for addressing all of their recruitment needs. Rather, they serve as strong tools that support a holistic strategy that works in tandem with recruiters in order to streamline the process for identifying and hiring top talent.

Have you or your company begun to utilize some of the recruitment technologies outlined above? If so, how do you think they have fared compared to traditional recruitment practices? In your opinion, have they served to improve the recruitment process (i.e., efficiency and efficacy) and contributed to decreasing hiring costs for your company?