In part one of this two-part series, we looked at the importance of the competitive edge as it relates to changing technological landscapes of the 21st century staffing firm. While it’s important to understand what those landscapes are and what adapting actually means, key questions remain: How do smaller firms leverage these new technologies to their advantage and how do more established firms avoid the shortcomings of becoming the next Blockbuster?
Note: If you missed our earlier post, click HERE for Part One: The 21st Century Competitive Edge
How We learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Machines
The truth is that the biggest fear organizations and individuals should have moving forward is not disruptive technology itself, but complacency and stagnation. As new disruptive technologies emerge, organizations typically fall into 1 of 3 categories:
- They aren’t aware and don’t pursue implementation.
- They are aware but choose not to pursue implementation.
- They are aware and pursue implementation.
Given the accelerated rate of technological growth, organizations that succeed will be the ones that make it a priority to stay informed, adaptive, and responsive. The processes and structures that made them successful in the 20th century will not be the same ones that maintain that growth and success into the 21st. Those that approach each new tool as a pragmatic solution and strategic advantage that can address specific business needs in specific situations rather than a one-size-fits-all solution will find themselves with an arsenal of advantageous knowledge available to leverage in any given situation.
The same can be said about individual recruiters or sourcers who view AI and automation as a direct threat rather than a solution. It’s a natural response to be fearful of drastic and inevitable change, but it’s important to stay level headed and understand some of the limitations of what these technologies can and can’t do.
AI can:
- Automate many tasks like resume screening and online assessments.
- Chat with candidates in real-time, answer questions about specific openings.
- Analyze big data and rank candidates accordingly based on fit.
- Perform keyword sourcing and Boolean string creation.
AI can’t:
- Build rapport, trust, or a relationship.
- Create a great candidate experience.
- Understand the specific nuance of each individual role, individual, or client.
- Show empathy or connect with people emotionally.
AI can help recruiters become more efficient by automating many of their administrative tasks, but it can’t replace that personal human touch. Recruiters that spend their time wondering if technology will replace them will find themselves being replaced not by AI, but by more tech savvy and open-minded recruiters who took the time to hone their unique personal skills while remaining pragmatic and informed about the tools available to them and their contextual applications.
247: The Best of Both Worlds
Given the sheer wealth of emerging tools and technologies, having a strategic partner like 247Hire can be invaluable. We are constantly looking into and implementing new technologies to make our support staff faster, more efficient and more responsive to our clients’ needs. By having the ability to fully integrate with our clients’ systems, we are able to consult with them on their internal processes while offering full transparency into our own, allowing us to collectively identify, share and implement process efficiencies on both ends. Coupling experienced professionals with the latest technological advancements means 247Hire can offer the best of both worlds to our clients.
The bottom line is that if you haven’t or aren’t exploring a solution, your competitors are. Whether it’s providing 24/7 coverage on the job boards via overnight sourcing, or full life-cycle recruiting, database management, lead generation, app development, efficient VMS / MSP support, whether your biggest pain point is candidate flow or internal manpower; 247Hire can help.
