The last few decades have been defined largely by the robust technological infestation that it has sported. Moreover, the advent of the global pandemic in recent times has only worked to further the necessity and pace of a digital transition. The quick adoption and integration of all things digital can be majorly attributed to the abundance of perks that they provide. Some perks as offered include increased efficiency and ease within reduced costs. These benefits, as provided by tech inclusion, also combine to enhance the ROI of the overall recruitment process.
In this scenario, all industries have made a quick switch to digitization, including the human resource and recruitment industry. Since the processes involved in the recruitment procedures are lengthy and tedious, the infusion of technology has worked to bring precision and swiftness to them. A magnified overview of how technology has assisted the process of recruitment is provided in this article.
Technology and Recruitment
As established, technology has been a recent addition in the workings of several industries, and recruitment is one of them. Some prime changes as observed in recruitment processes before and after they became digitized have been discussed below-
Accuracy and pace- Recruitment includes managing a large amount of candidate data and its evaluation. This data recording, consolidation, and analysis are done by a boarding staff by hand, on paper. Thus, before technology was the norm, the entire process of recruitment was manual, dull, and long. Every step of the process was manpower-centric, and thus, the accuracy of the processes was subject to human error and omission.
The introduction of technology into these processes has enabled them to become more precise and unerring alongside increasing their pace. The internet is packed with handy tools that reduce the time involved in carrying out a process drastically. The use of these tools in recruitment has made the procedures involved inherently efficient. This has reduced the Turn around time of recruitment cycles substantially and has made the length of recruitment cycles shorter. Further, the recording and analysis tools available online organize the data in a manner that is easier to evaluate. Software as such also provides insights in a user-friendly manner which helps the overall decision-making process. Additionally, it has also facilitated better governance by doing away with the possibility of disputes over manual reconciliation.
Cost-cutting- Naturally, any technical infusion is bound to bring the benefit of reduced costs in an operation. By doing away with the need for onboarding and maintaining a special human staff to carry out the recruitment process, technology helps companies save substantial costs. Now they only need one or two people to utilize the technically stored information and make the final call with respect to the recruitment decision instead of having comprehensive teams in place to carry out the entire process.
Further, hard copy collection and archive have been a long-standing challenge in the recruitment arena. As all of the candidate’s data was earlier recorded offline, a lot of costs went into not only the supplies like pen and paper necessary for data keep but also in storing and maintaining these huge files that occupied a lot of space. Also, with the passage of time, these costs only increased as the number of files increased. Technology, by shifting everything into an unending virtual space has solved this problem of storage and its consequent costs. It also allows a central storage system which makes it easier for everyone to refer to the data at any given point from any place. Further, it helps to increase the degree of transparency as prevalent in the recruitment processes and thus make them fairer.
With the help of tech, every piece of relevant information can be gathered and placed in one place within a matter of minutes. Sometimes it so happens that a good candidate is unable to provide a hard copy of relevant documents for some reason. In this circumstance, thanks to technology, now, one can rely on soft copies. If a person forgets to carry along an important document, they can have someone send it to them virtually within a matter of seconds too. This makes the entire process much easier and less stressful for all.
Enhanced reach- An increased width and depth in terms of reach is yet another one of technology’s most cherished perks. Due to technology, it is now possible for firms to utilize the talents that pour in from all four directions. Technology enables candidates to appear for interviews from far-off locations and does away with the need for travel, the fatigue from which may hamper a candidate’s performance. It also happens that sometimes candidates refrain from even applying due to geographical barriers, technology assists in that situation too. By enlarging the pool of talent available, tech makes sure that companies recruit only the best of the best resources for their operations.
Further, virtual recruitment stretches to include Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and towns as well by allowing their residents to apply and submit documentation from their deployment location. This lets people from these areas be eligible to apply in big conglomerates as well, which in turn, helps in elevating their lifestyles.
Summing Up
Technology has proven to be a boon in all industries alike, and the recruitment industry is no different. As tech is progressively becoming a part of the processes carried on within the recruitment function, their efficiency and speed have increased substantially. By contributing to both cost-cutting and increasing the effectiveness of the processes, the inclusion of tech in recruitment processes has notably increased the overall ROI. A rundown on how technology has facilitated the hiring processes of new-age businesses was imparted in the scope of this article.
