4 Ways AI And Automation Are Transforming How Sourcing Is Done

The next year or two will be an ongoing challenge for employers

Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics and automation already have combined to offer a potent, tech-driven strategy within the talent sourcing world – speeding up the hiring process, offloading unnecessary tasks from recruiters, predicting the job success of candidates and helping companies realize their Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) goals. 

Yet, while industry chatter about how talent sourcing may evolve due to the increased innovative use of AI and automation, the conversation to date has for the most part covered the same typical use cases. 
 

Outside of the established strategies already in play, there are cutting-edge approaches around the corner where AI and automation can be implemented to refine the talent sourcing challenges employers face. Below are four emerging trends that will drive sourcing technology innovation in the next decade, as talent acquisition leaders looking for a leg up in landing the best possible talent in a stiffly competitive market.

1. Mining for Lookalike “Diamonds in the Rough”

How many recruiters wish they could clone a superstar employee or someone they know outside of a company, who would be simply perfect for the position they’re trying to fill? Advances in AI and deep data analytics are poised to turn this aspiration into a reality. With next-generation tools, it will be possible for recruiters to easily unearth “copycat” candidates who possess the same attributes that they’re seeking for a specific role, whether that’s someone who’s proven effective at remote work, has an entrepreneurial spirit or has experience working for a top-funded startup. 

Using a reverse engineering approach, recruiters will be able to pinpoint a current or ex-employee, peer, former colleague or anyone else, who they sense would be optimal for the sourced position. Next, people analytics – supported by AI – can then map that person’s attributes and automatically scan publicly available information to find prospective candidates, who mimic their precise skillset. This technology will be extensible to both active and passive candidates and will take sourcing to new levels. 

2. Automation: Solving the Interview Scheduling Conundrum 

Unfortunately, when recruiters do find talent that may solve their clients’ needs, they often spend upward of 20% of their time scheduling interviews. The result? A less-than-positive experience both for them (in terms of efficiency and effectiveness) and the candidate, at a critical time when recruiters need to be nurturing that new relationship. A poor experience can have candidates dropping out of the hiring process, and often doing so with an unfavorable impression of your company’s brand.

Looking at the near-term, AI-powered recruitment technology will enable scheduling’s “next-gen” solution by taking availability into account and automatically finding open interview spots. It will also deliver on another much-desired capability – triggering alternative scheduling methods based on the type of interview, the requirements and every possible stakeholder who needs to be involved in the recruiting and hiring process. With this technology in their hands, teams can hire faster, work more strategically and impress candidates who they’ve worked hard to source. 

3. Strong, Clear Messaging that Makes Things Happen

When it comes to clarity in communications, AI and other tools will help drive success. For talent sourcing, that translates into an unambiguous, timely process of sending messages with an incredibly high degree of personalization to potential candidates via email, text and/or LinkedIn Inmails. The obvious goal is to nurture talented recruits by keeping them fully engaged from the first contact through the duration of the sourcing process, while not beleaguering recruiters with constant outreach.

With automation, candidates can be engaged through personalized, multi-stage and re-messaging campaigns – tasks that previously required an HR specialist to manually write, send at the appropriate time and remember to follow up. Traditional approaches just can’t measure up to what technology can, and will be able to, accomplish in this process.

Going even further, correspondence can seemingly come from anyone within the enterprise. It also can be strategically sent at any time of day (for instance, when people are most likely “off the clock,” and not distracted from reading messaging about how you covet their skills and experience). The right communication is important; the goal is to move candidates through some form of journey, while nudging them closer to a decision.

Another AI and automation factor driving communication success will include qualified candidates being directed to the specific recruiter’s inbox. Also, analytics can deliver the ability to discern what’s working (or not), so messaging can be refined or adapted. This type of precise, on-the-money communication is the holy grail for candidate relations in the sourcing process.

It’s important to note here that automated, multi-phased messaging is an especially effective approach for engaging with passive candidates who may need to be impressed with the first contact to even consider jumping to a new employer.

4. DE&I Is Gaining Importance; Recruiting Must Meet that Demand

Looking ahead, we’ll see advances in DE&I analytics that enable employers to get a clear breakdown of the diversity of their talent pipeline, as well as to analyze their job postings and amend them in ways where they’re not -- intentionally or otherwise -- targeting specific types of candidates. Diversity is a top priority in sourcing because it’s the gateway for building a more inclusive workforce. 

AI and analytics will play a particularly pivotal role at the top of the recruiting funnel where there’s a risk for bias to be first introduced or for diverse talent to otherwise fall through the cracks. For example, it can reveal diversity data on new-hires by recruiter or hiring manager, showing if they have a subconscious tendency to hire certain types of employees. Going further, it can scan for active and passive candidates based on millions of attributes, and surface those who possess the ones that can help companies fill their identified diversity gaps. 

The next year or two will be an ongoing challenge for recruiters and the employers they represent. As the world begins to emerge from the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, AI will provide the data and, with that, the guidance employers and recruiters require to attract and hire the types of candidates who will help an organization succeed.

Hari Kolam is Co-Founder and CEO at Findem. A serial entrepreneur and accomplished technologist, Hari counts nearly two decades of experience building companies and creating trailblazing technology solutions.   Connect Hari Kolam