Three things AI can do for HR and recruiting

One quarter of organisations (23 per cent), which are already piloting or using artificial intelligence (AI), are doing so in the HR and recruiting domain to improve efficiency and enhance employee experience, a study finds.

Typically, AI is applied across areas such as talent management, HR service delivery and workforce management, according to Gartner’s AI Enterprise Perceptions, Plans and Implementation survey.

“Often, organisations demonstrate the use of AI in the HR domain after having showed value in other business areas,” said Helen Poitevin, research vice president at Gartner. “In the human capital management domain, AI applications dominate in employee- and candidate-facing situations.”

In the study, three common use cases of AI in HR and recruiting were identified:

1 Talent acquisition

Organisations with a very high volume of candidates, or those struggling to find specialists or other rare profiles, are likely to invest in AI technologies. “Overall, AI applications can analyse and interpret candidates’ responses and predict candidates’ degree of fit and performance for current vacancies and other potential roles,” continued Poitevin.

“AI applications should also be able to take over repetitive administrative tasks and enable recruiters to focus on strategic tasks.”

2 Voice of the employee

Voice of the employee (VoE) seek to improve how they monitor employee engagement.
Instead of relying solely on surveys, HR leaders are also interested in detecting, analysing and reporting on sentiment and attitudes as expressed across more employee communication channels.

For example, they may look at employees’ social media feeds, or conversations and comments in internal collaboration tools.

No-one has all the answers at the moment when it comes to how we extract maximum value from these tools so we are all on a learning curve

The goal is to identify what people are talking about positively or negatively, and which topics are most frequently raised. Some leading organisations use this kind of input to track the health of their corporate culture.

Modern VoE tools that capitalise on AI technologies use a variety of natural language processing and textual analysis techniques to analyse sentiment and get insights from text-based answers. This can be especially useful in times of significant change, such as a major restructuring, new leadership or a new strategy.

3 HR virtual assistants

HR virtual assistants are still in a stage of early adoption. However, the expectation is that there will be a “unique front end” for every imaginable HR process. This could, for instance, encompass answering queries by employees, delivering insights on talent metrics, or conducting process workflow steps.

When developing investment in HR virtual assistants, HR leaders should start small, Gartner advises. “Kick off with a simple automated FAQ on help-desk-related questions and give the organisation a few years to develop an effective assistant,” added Poitevin.

Commenting on the findings, Rialto Consultancy director, Richard Chiumento, was pleased to note that not only are HR leaders starting to embrace these tools but some are leading the way.

“For those who have not yet recognised the part these technologies can play in HR and recruiting practices, it is time to follow their lead,” he said. “And the more best practice and experience that can be shared with their peer groups, the better. No-one has all the answers at the moment when it comes to how we extract maximum value from these tools so we are all on a learning curve.”