Our 2021 industry report, Spotlight on Recruitment: Mind the Trust Gap, highlighted some concerning realities about the state of trust between recruitment, managers and employees, as well as the lack of trust in many internal recruitment processes.
This has inevitably led to unsuccessful placements and hires. If recruitment practices continue to erode trust and yield so many failed hires, the expected boom in the recruitment industry that we’ve been predicting will struggle to keep pace with demand and productivity will suffer.
This is why increasing numbers of ambitious businesses are responding to the issues in recruitment by exploring technological solutions that can improve hire quality, accelerate processes and reduce the effects of bias.
What did our research uncover?
Most of our survey respondents view recruitment software and tools as useful assets to understand candidates in a deeper, more intelligent way than before, as well as to predict performance and success during the recruitment process, rather than waiting to see how things pan out after a hire has been made.
We asked 500 HR and Talent Acquisition leaders how useful they think recruitment software and tech tools will be in certain areas, and here’s what they said:
Similarly, many think that tech will be key to hitting business goals:
- 24% believe it will help with improving the quality of hires
- 22% say it will speed up the whole recruitment process
- 19% think it will offer candidates an improved experience
This points to an increased role for technology in recruitment, to the extent that our research finds that technology and humans expect to split tasks 50/50 in the future. This amounts to a significant change in the role of a recruiter, the amount of tasks they’ll be able to automate, and the subsequent focus this will give them on the most valuable elements of their job.
What do we mean by recruitment software?
It’s a bit of an umbrella term, but we’re specifically referring to tools such as:
- ATS systems for smoother recruitment and onboarding
- People Management systems which support payroll, holiday and other internal process
- Psychometric assessments which use science to add objectivity to recruiting
- Software including machine learning and AI algorithms to process information from CVs
- Background screening systems for faster candidate selection
Where’s all this tech taking the recruitment sector?
With trust in recruitment practices wobbling, we dug down into what precise role recruitment software and science will play and how recruitment will close its trust gap.
We asked which needs most required a technical solution. According to the professionals we surveyed, nurturing diverse talent pools is the largest emerging trend, as well as finding talent that can work alongside HR tech itself. Also mentioned were things like data-driven recruitment, identifying future suitability, and predictive hiring. All things that will help HR departments be more confident in the skills, abilities and cultural fit of the people they’re inviting into their businesses.
But it doesn’t stop there. We also see increased reliance on psychometric testing during the process to ensure the cultural and role fit that’s essential to hire quality and a trustworthy, efficient recruitment process. The most forward-thinking HR leaders are reaching the conclusion that relying on a CV, two interviews and a firm handshake is no way to recruit today.
We asked our respondents to tell us which method, if they could only use one, they would trust the most for predicting future job success. We’re delighted to report that 46% would trust psychometrics assessments over CV screening and interviewing – and that pleases us because we know this majority is right to rely on science over gut!
Furthermore, Thomas research shows that just 19% say that experience or a CV is a good indicator of performance, against 34% for Personality assessments and 32% for Emotional Intelligence assessments.
But don’t just take our word for it, what do our customers say?
[Thomas assessments] help in using my own self-awareness and using the profiles of people around me so we can all get the best out of each other. We have a great opportunity to make a positive impact on the business with these tools, for example, the Personality assessment helped shape our plan around managing our remote workers, allowing us to understand and support each individual during these unusual times.
Alan Reilly, Organisation Learning & Development Manager
Key takeaways:
- Psychometric testing will play a greater role in hiring, as the most trusted method for future performance by 46% of our respondents
- Humans will increasingly work alongside AI technology going forward, revealing a greater role for automation within recruitment
- Recruitment software is seen as a vital tool in various areas of the process, from candidate evaluation to predicting performance
Using technology to strengthen HR processes helps to speed up recruiting, decrease bias and build trust between managers, recruiters and candidates.
Here at Thomas, we know how to enhance recruitment with a blend of software and people science. Our recruitment solutions help hiring teams find the best possible candidates who will fit the company culture, enjoy their roles and deliver results.
We do this by helping people measure what actually matters: the behaviours, aptitudes and personality traits of their candidates. Insight into these areas allows us to identify the candidates with the best possible chance of succeeding in a role and in your culture.
Want to know more? Download the full report, Spotlight on Recruitment 2021: Mind the Trust Gap to understand more about fixing broken recruitment.
