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Countdown to HR Technology Conference: High-Volume Recruiting

Only six weeks until the HR Technology Conference, and one trend that we have focused on over the past two years is high-volume hiring. We found that 65% of companies have high-volume recruitment needs today. And this percentage continues to increase. Unfortunately, high volume is one area most traditional ATS systems fail to address. Instead, they focus on professional hiring and ignore the experience, capabilities, and solutions needed to attract, recruit, and hire this forgotten workforce. For example, in our high-volume research this year, only 27% of companies know if their hourly workers have transportation to an interview. Only 33% know if candidates have access to a laptop. Yet, most solutions do not consider the unique needs of these candidates.  

High-volume companies must find quality talent while managing hundreds, or even thousands, of applicants. Unlike traditional corporate hiring, high-volume needs are extremely time-sensitive with speed-defining success. Over the past year, high-volume hiring intensified as many companies were forced to reduce time to fill from several weeks to several days. The experience needs to be simple, frictionless, and mobile-first.

Fortunately, some technology providers are focused on improving high-volume recruiting – this is where we see most of the disruption in talent acquisition. Paradox is one provider that offers a completely reimagined experience for high-volume candidates. Through conversational AI, it provides an alternative to an ATS. It allows companies to advertise jobs, engage with talent, offers a simple apply process, screen candidates, schedule interviews, assess candidates, and initiate onboarding all through a single, mobile-first experience. Paradox is also hosting a career site for companies, including McDonald’s.

AMS Hourly, Fountain, and TalentReef also offer a better alternative for high-volume hiring needs and include end-to-end capabilities from recruitment marketing to onboarding.

Text recruiting is another way that companies are improving high volume hiring. Candidate behavior has changed since the pandemic and 62% of candidates are using their mobile device more this year than last. Hourly candidates want to be able to use one device to communicate with company, and text meets the needs of the mobile-only mindset by providing faster response and personalized engagement in real-time. Providers like Emissary offer simple end-to-end text recruiting solutions that integrate with ATS providers.

Programmatic job advertising is another TA technology category that improves high-volume recruiting. It streamlines and automates advertising of jobs and provides visibility into how companies should spend their advertising dollars- a huge expense for high-volume industries. It saves hiring teams time, reduces costs, and helps to target the right talent. Some of the leading providers include Appcast, Joveo, and Pandologic.

And, there is even a HRMS focused on high-volume that will be at HR Tech...Harri.

These are just a few of the providers improving high-volume hiring. Here are a few trends impacting high-volume recruiting:

“High Volume” Is a Broad Category: The greatest confusion around high-volume recruitment is the definition. Companies often consider a narrow definition of high-volume recruitment limited to hourly or gig workers. For example, one in three companies defines “high volume” as hourly recruitment. The reality is that high-volume hiring is broader and impacts 65% of companies. It includes any company filling over 1,000 positions in a short period of time. As hiring ramps up this year, this study found that companies in various industries (including aerospace and defense, financial services, technology, and healthcare) identified high-volume needs.

A Traditional ATS Is Not Enough: Sixty-five percent (65%) of companies with high-volume recruitment needs are not satisfied with their current ATS. Most traditional ATS systems are designed for corporate hiring and lack capabilities to support high-volume recruitment such as programmatic advertising, scheduling, or communication. High-volume recruitment technology must be simple, intuitive, and mobile responsive. Eighty-two percent (82%) of companies with high-volume hiring needs are increasing their investment in technology this year.

Quality Is as Important as Efficiency: Companies face pressure to fill high-volume positions as quickly as possible. As a result, efficiency becomes the priority for many organizations with high-volume needs. They want to improve and streamline the talent acquisition process to reduce time to fill. Despite this focus on efficiency, 61% of companies stated that quality of hire is the most critical metric for success. Companies must ensure they are engaging and hiring the right talent as they focus on improving the time it takes to fill positions.

High volume is a critical topic in talent acquisition, especially as companies prepare for more change next year. I look forward to learning more about how companies tackle their challenges and new technology providers in this space.

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Countdown to the HR Technology Conference: Interviewing and Assessments

Yello and WayUp Merger: A New Look at Early Talent
Yello and WayUp Merger: A New Look at Early Talent

Only seven more weeks until the HR Technology Conference, I am finalizing my presentation and thinking through the constant change in our industry. Over the past year, one trend that has emerged is the increased investment in hiring experience platforms (interviewing and assessment). This category has exploded over the past few years- partly because of the push for remote work and the need to reduce bias and improve decision-making. Companies spend millions of dollars on recruitment marketing and EVP strategies and often neglect interviews. Our latest interview study found that 1 in 2 companies lost quality talent due to poor interview processes.

Providers such as Modern Hire, HireVue, and Outmatch helped to define this category by offering a suite of solutions (through some acquisitions) that include everything from first interview to assessment to offer. Some of these providers are even expanding into onboarding. But, over the past few years, this category has been growing as companies recognize hiring decisions will not come from an ATS. Providers such as Sapia, Humanly, Wedge, CodeSignal, Talview, and Vervoe provide companies with interviewing and assessment solutions that improve experience, quality, and efficiency. Paradox (through the acquisition of Traitify) offers capabilities to schedule interviews and provide a validated, candidate-friendly assessment all through conversational AI.

Although every provider seems to call the interview to assessment offering something different, hiring experience is a category to watch.

Here are a few trends I will cover:

One in four candidates drops off at the interview stage. Companies that improve candidate engagement and the application process will still see candidates drop off if hiring is a negative experience. Companies must provide consistency, transparency, and fairness throughout the hiring process to ensure that candidates are not dropping off at this stage. Delays and poor communication can result in companies losing quality talent. Aptitude Research found that 52% of companies have an interview process that lasts four to six weeks.

Companies do not trust the data to inform hiring. Companies are dissatisfied with their data’s quality, accuracy, and integrity. One reason is that companies are not starting with the right data and rely solely on resumes or candidate profiles to inform decisions. Fifty-seven percent (57%) do not have the data they need to decide on talent. They need a consistent process and quality data to gain deeper insights into candidates and make smarter, confident, and bias-free talent decisions. Data to drive hiring decisions will come from interviewing and assessment providers.

Companies use too many systems: Most companies leverage multiple solutions to support hiring activities, and 62% use two or more assessment providers. These systems provide different experiences and data management. Companies cannot make decisions on talent when they do not have consistent data to support those decisions.

The ATS is not enough. Companies are looking outside of their ATS for hiring support. Traditional recruitment technology focuses on compliance and applicant workflow. It does not always support hiring activities. As a result, companies invest in several solutions to support hiring or rely on a manual process to make hiring and selection decisions. Companies identified lack of integration, issues with data quality, and lack of candidate insights as the top frustrations with technology that supports hiring.

Companies are relying on interview and assessment data more this year. Companies are using interview and assessment data to inform decisions more in 2022 than in 2020. Unfortunately, this data is often inconsistent or only available for some candidates. Companies rely less on the resume as the primary data source but must continue to draw deeper insights and more consistent data.

AI is changing hiring. AI is fundamentally changing every aspect of HR, and there is growing curiosity and appetite to understand it. According to Aptitude Research, 63% of companies are investing or planning to invest in AI solutions this year, compared to 42% in 2020.AI can play a critical role in helping companies use data to inform decision-making and even humanize the process. Recruiters and candidates are becoming more comfortable using AI in talent acquisition and the impact on hiring.

As companies look at their TA tech stack, hiring experience platforms are becoming a core investment area along with an ATS and CRM. I look forward to meeting with some of these providers at the HR Technology Conference.

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Countdown to the HR Technology Conference: Skills-Based Hiring

It is hard to believe that the HR Technology Conference is only 8 weeks away. I love this conference and the opportunity to reconnect with friends and learn about new (and old) technology providers. I am thrilled to be presenting new research at the event and I will be posting a series of blogs leading up to September on TA tech trends.

This first post will focus on a topic that is gaining momentum in talent acquisition… skills-based hiring. Every provider seems to be using skills in their marketing messaging, but few providers have invested in a robust skills ontology and capabilities to improve both the employer and candidate experiences.

Skills are quickly becoming the currency for the future of work. A skills-based approach can help connect talent to the right opportunities, personalize the experience, and provide more visibility into the capabilities of the workforce. Employers benefit from improved efficiency and stronger talent pools, while individuals benefit from greater opportunities to control their career paths. Skills provide a roadmap for the future and a bridge between talent acquisition and talent management.

We published a study (in partnership with Beamery) and found that companies that invest in skills development are:

  • Twice as likely to improve retention
  • Thirty-four percent (34%) more likely to improve quality of hire
  • Twenty-eight percent (28%) more likely to improve DEI initiatives

Skills level the playing field for both internal and external talent. Evaluating skills means looking      beyond what is found on a resume or employee profile to get deeper insights about the individual. But, many companies are not always clear where to start with skills development. Lack of ownership and confusion around how technology fits in have added to this uncertainty. Talent marketplaces are gaining momentum as the vehicle to deliver a skills-based approach, yet not every company understands the impact of these solutions. For companies to compete for talent and provide fair and equitable experiences, skills must be part of the equation.

Here are some of the key findings from our research…

The Demand for Skills Is Being Driven From the Top: The focus on skills development is being driven by executives and CHROs. According to this study, 65% of CHROs say that upskilling and reskilling is the most important priority for 2022. CHROs are two times more likely to be involved in technology decisions that focus on skills than other areas of TA technology and 75% are interested in talent marketplaces to deliver on a skills strategy. CHROs are setting the course but oftentimes, talent acquisition and talent management must execute the strategy. Realistic expectations and clear communication will help these leaders achieve results and provide a more successful approach to skills.

Skills Unify a Talent Strategy: With equal pressure to recruit and retain, talent acquisition and talent management often still operate in silos with competing interests. A skills-based approach helps unify talent acquisition and talent management initiatives – providing consistency in data and experiences. Companies must empower their talent teams with a focus on skills. According to this study, companies with a skills-based approach see greater collaboration between talent acquisition and talent management.

Not All Providers Are Approaching Skills the Same Way: Technology allows companies to scale their approach to skills, provide opportunities and personalization to every individual, and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to draw deeper insights. Most importantly, it provides context to skills by inferring insights about the individual and employer. Although several technology solutions are aiming to address skills today, not every solution provides value. A successful skills-based approach requires a commitment from a solution provider to build a skills ontology, invest in talent intelligence, and apply AI inference so that skills are dynamic and personalized. With companies increasing their investment in skills, they must carefully consider providers that demonstrate expertise.

A Skills-Based Approach Benefits Employers and Individuals: Skills are not just a benefit to an organization. They give employees the resources they need to manage their careers and provide more opportunities for personalization and inclusivity. To truly understand an individual, however, companies should not stop with skills. They should consider the qualities that will make someone successful and happy in the work they are doing.

Skills Can Greatly Impact Internal Mobility Efforts:  The most obvious use case for a skills-based approach is internal mobility. Companies are looking for better ways to promote and develop their workforce while supporting talent acquisition initiatives. With 70% of companies increasing their investment in internal mobility efforts, many are just promoting jobs or leveraging internal career sites. Skills offer a more substantial approach to internal mobility by providing employers with a deeper understanding of their workforce and empowering individuals with the tools they need to be successful.

Providers to watch (in alphabetical order): Beamery, Boostrs, Eightfold, HiredScore, Oracle, TaTio, TechWolf, Workday

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Blog Talent Acquisition Technology

A Week in Review: Acquisitions, Jobs Report, and Rebrands

Last week, someone asked me if the momentum and investment in TA tech and HR tech will continue in 2022. And, the answer seems to be YES. This week included acquisitions, investment announcements, and even a rebranding. It is an exciting time to be in this market for providers, buyers, and even analysts. We found that over 60% of companies are increasing their investment in TA tech this year, and buyers are looking closely at what solutions will help them attract, recruit, and hire talent.

A few of the big announcements include:

SmartRecruiters Acquires Attrax: A career site can make or break a company’s ability to attract and convert talent. And, not all career sites are designed the same. ATS providers have invested in career sites over the past few years, but most enterprise companies still need to look at third-party options to build dynamic and engaging career sites. This acquisition of Attrax, a leading career site provider, further strengthens SmartRecruiters’ recruitment marketing capabilities with personalized and engaging career sites.

Phenom Acquires Tandemploy: Phenom has expanded beyond talent acquisition and offers an experience platform for the entire employee lifecycle. Tandemploy is a Berlin-based HR tech company focused on solving key problems associated with employee experiences. This addition enhances the capabilities of Phenom’s AI-powered Talent Experience Management (TXM) platform and grows the company’s presence in Europe.

Hiretual Rebrands to HireEZ: This week, Hiretual rebranded to HireEZ and hosted an analyst day to announce this news and $26M of investment. HireEZ’s vision is to create a new category around Outbound Recruiting. Some of my brilliant analyst friends (George LaRocque, Trish McFarlane and Steve Boese, Tim Sackett) did great covering this announcement.

January Jobs Report: The January Jobs Report came out today, and Andrew Flowers, Chief Economist of Appcast, did a great job covering this news and its implications on the labor market. With 467,000 jobs added and unemployment holding steady at 4%, the job growth trajectory is looking up. Despite 15 million people with COVID, the labor market is not slowing down. According to the report:

Retail accelerating thru January

Restaurants & bars not as affected by Omicron as they were by Delta

 Healthcare, transportation & warehousing are steady

Manufacturing slowing

2022 is off to a busy start, and looking forward to what this year brings. We are about to publish two new studies on humanity in the workforce and data-driven hiring. Stay tuned!

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Blog Talent Acquisition Technology

2022 Talent Trends: Care and Humanity

If 2021 was the year of rethinking the approach to talent, 2022 is the year for rebuilding it. Companies are facing intense pressure to both recruit and retain talent today. The pandemic has changed the relationship between employer and employee, and many companies are looking for ways to engage their workforce better.

Over the past two years, the focus on care has helped to improve this relationship by providing more empathy and understanding to the employee and candidate experiences. But, unfortunately, care and humanity are not priorities for every company. According to Aptitude Research, only 22% of companies stated that humanity is part of their company culture, and only 10% of companies have a clear idea of what they need to do to bring more humanity and care into their work environment.

Companies in the process of evaluating their talent processes and technology must lead with care.

I am excited to discuss the future of care and humanity on a webinar with Misha Chakrabarti, Product Marketing Specialist at Avature, on January 20 at 11 am EST.

Below are a few themes that we will discuss:

  • Skills, AI and Automation: Many companies embrace AI to improve efficiency and save recruiters’ and managers’ time. But, AI and a skills-based approach to talent can also provide greater humanity. It allows companies to understand candidates and employees better, connect them with the right opportunities, and provide a fair and inclusive process. AI can lift the administrative burden placed on recruiters and managers and allow them to focus on relationship building.
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Over the past year, companies increased their investment in services and technology to support DEI initiatives. While technology can help to reduce bias in the talent acquisition and talent development processes, it is not a fix-all. Companies need to consider what changes they need to make to their culture and talent practices to provide a safe and inclusive work environment. Companies committed to care will start by looking internally before investing in technology.
  • Communication: Care is only possible through strong communication. Companies must consider the tone of their communication with candidates and employees and the communication methods. Communication must be frequent and meaningful, but companies must reach talent where they live and spend their time, including text, messaging, chat, and video.
  • Agility: Every company proved to be flexible and agile during the pandemic. Companies had to adapt in a short period of time. Agility helps companies respond to immediate needs but also prepare for the future.
  • Hybrid Work Model: Not every company is clear on their future workforce model, and 2022 will likely bring more change and uncertainty. Companies that listen to their employees, adjust to the unknown, and provide transparency will build better relationships with talent.

2022 is a year where these ideas and concepts of care will be tested. For companies committed to recruiting and retaining talent, a focus on care and humanity is the only way. I am excited to share some of our research on these topics. I hope you can join us!

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Blog Talent Analytics

The Future of Talent Analytics: New Research

Talent acquisition and HR leaders are reevaluating processes, technology, and analytics to prepare for the next year. And, companies must build a deeper understanding of what drives success and what candidates want in an employer. But, unfortunately, most companies are looking at analytics through one lens and collecting operational data without driving insights or action. I am excited to present new research on the future of talent analytics next week on a webinar with Jason Moreau, CEO of Survale.

As companies look to the future of talent analytics, they can no longer rely on reactionary decision-making. They need a more robust approach that harnesses the power of both experiential data (subjective) and operational data (objective) data. We need to include the experiences of candidates and employees in decision-making.

A few things we will talk about during this webinar.

  • The Issue with Data. A lack of data is not the problem for most TA functions. Companies have data, but they are not always using data to drive action. And over half of the companies still rely on resume data to make decisions. Companies must think differently about data and include insights from every aspect of talent acquisition, from recruitment marketing to offer and onboarding.
  • A Broader Look at Data. Companies must look at both operational and experiential data to create a better way to recruit candidates and develop employees. They must make use of positive experiences and collect feedback from individuals throughout the process.
  • The Impact of Experiences. Companies that measure experiences and invest in experiences see improvements in brand, NPS scores, and employee retention. We will discuss why experiences need to be a critical component of analytics for the future.
  • A New Framework. We will be sharing a new framework that looks at how companies can set goals, define metrics, gather insights, and take action. We will apply this framework to the candidate experience, employee experience, quality of hire, internal mobility, and candidate apply process.

I hope you can join us next Tuesday, 10/19, at 2 pm EST.

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Blog Talent Acquisition Technology

HR Technology Conference: Key Trends and Providers to Watch

The HR Technology market is not slowing down. Companies are increasing their budgets, providers are launching new products, and investors are looking for their next opportunity. But, the landscape has changed overnight, and keeping up with the latest trends is not easy. Last week’s HR Technology Conference brought this community back together to bring clarity on the key trends, celebrate a year of resilience, and plan for what’s next.

New providers, new categories, and new opportunities were all represented at this year’s event. It was enough to get even the most traditional of HR buyers excited about innovation.

I was fortunate to meet with many providers, and a few themes stood out this year:

AI Matching and Talent Intelligence

It’s hard to find a conversation in TA tech that does not include AI matching. Every TA startup seems to be looking at this space, investors are interested, and companies want a better way to match candidates to jobs and jobs to candidates. Matching is the space to watch right now. ATS providers are enhancing their capabilities, but the two providers to watch are HiredScore and Eightfold. We found that 34% of companies stated that they are using some matching, and they are two times more likely to improve diverse sources and three times more likely to improve quality of hire.

HiredScore: One of the most impressive products and teams in talent acquisition today. HiredScore is committed to using ethical AI standards to help companies find and manage talent. In addition, it provides recruiters with a more efficient way to identify talent (both internal and external) and candidates with a fair and equitable hiring process.

Eightfold: Eightfold is a talent intelligence platform that includes talent acquisition, talent management, and talent flex (contingent workforce) solutions. It has grown significantly over the past year with 400 employees, 3 patents, and FedRAMP ready status.

Jobvite: Jobvite won an HR Top Product of the Year Award for its Zero Click Intelligent Sourcing. It automates sourcing efforts when a job requisition is first opened. The solution saves recruiters time while surfacing and activating qualified candidates from their CRM, Talemetry. Talemetry by Jobvite leverages AI-powered candidate matching to identify a list of top prospects found in a client’s CRM based on the requirements in the job description and reviewing previous hires from similar positions.

Assessments and Talent Intelligence

The assessment market is heating up again, and companies have better options today. Employee and candidate-friendly assessments that are still backed by science are the future of this market. It was exciting to see all of the assessment innovations at this year’s event. One provider that presented with Whirlpool was Plum. Plum empowers people to use their full potential at work. By looking at human potential data, they provide value to both recruitment and retention strategies. Its universal assessment is 25 minutes and supports the full talent lifecycle. As a result, Whirlpool experienced a 78% increase in the hiring of unrepresented minorities.

High-Volume Recruitment

Traditional recruitment technology and applicant tracking systems (ATS) are not designed for high-volume candidates. So, it is no surprise that 65% of high-volume recruitment needs are not satisfied with their current ATS. Most traditional ATS systems are designed for traditional corporate hiring and lack capabilities to support high-volume recruitment such as programmatic advertising, scheduling, or communication. High-volume recruitment technology must be simple, intuitive, and mobile-responsive. The fewer systems that companies need to manage, the better. Eighty-two percent (82%) of companies with high-volume hiring needs are increasing their investment in technology this year. Two providers to check out in high-volume are AMS Hourly and Fountain.

Hiring (Interview to Offer)

Hiring is one of the most critical and most neglected areas of talent acquisition. Companies invest significantly in recruitment marketing, sourcing, and ATS solutions but often ignore the experience and decision-making that begins during the interview and hiring process. Several companies are dedicated to creating a new category of hiring solutions. These providers offer innovative solutions in areas such as interviewing, assessments, measurement, and offer.

Wedge: Wedge provides on-demand video interviewing solutions to organizations in the SMB and mid-market. It offers seamless ATS integration, a simple experience, and a great team. It has invested in the product significantly over the past year with 12 new features.

HireVue: With its roots in digital interviewing, HireVue has evolved into a hiring experience platform with products and capabilities that include interviewing, assessments, conversational AI and communication (throughout the candidate lifecycle), and insights. It launched Builder this year, a product to support structured interviews and allow companies the flexibility to add their interview questions in this model. In addition, its Hiring Assistant (through the acquisition of AllyO) includes a recruiter assistant, scheduling assistant, and job search assistant. HireVue has also launched a text-to-apply feature and text-based assessments.

Compa: Compa was a favorite at this year’s event. A strong contender in the Pitchfest, Compa is transforming offer management by giving candidates more transparency around their offers and pay decisions. For any company struggling to find talent or hire talent because of pay, Compa is worth a look. It empowers HR and talent acquisition teams, to get smarter about the offer management process and connect with candidates in a more authentic way. Recruiters can use Compa at any stage in the talent acquisition process.

Conversational AI

If you follow any of our research, then you know how passionate we are about conversational AI. Conversational AI is not as complex or complicated as organizations may think. It is already an integrated part of the consumer experience and personal lives through assistants like Siri, Alexa, and others. It offers the same value and assistance to talent acquisition, and HR and over 40% of enterprise companies are considering this investment this year. The future of conversational AI is not in a point solution but in a platform that improves the employer and employee/candidate experience. Two providers that are doing this well include Paradox and Socrates.

Paradox: Paradox is a leading conversational AI. It continues to be the favorite in this market with its strong product roadmap, exceptional customer support, and vision for the future of TA. While many of its competitors have been acquired this year, Paradox is expanding its use cases beyond talent acquisition and helping build awareness of this category of technology.

Socrates: Socrates is a provider helping to solve the challenges facing HR, IT, and Employees. I was genuinely impressed with this provider and its innovative approach to employee experience through a conversational methodology. It uses technologies such as text, enterprise chat solutions, intranet portals, and voice. Socrates.ai is not a bot toolkit or another point solution. Instead, it pulls all your HR and benefits information together into one simplified hub. It cleans and rewrites all content to make it more relevant for employees and integrates with every major HR and communication platform.

Employee Experience and Feedback

My friend, Tim Sackett, wrote about the number of coaching providers at this year’s event. I didn’t realize how big of a category this was becoming but considering the events of the past year, it makes sense. Companies need to be able to provide better coaching opportunities to leaders. Sounding Board is one provider I met with that has a growing network of over 200 coaches and AI-powered admin tools and centralized data insights to deliver coaching at scale.

The other big category in employee experience and candidate experience is feedback. We found that only 1 in 2 candidates receive feedback in the hiring process, and most employees only receive feedback once a year during the performance review.

Joyous: Joyous, founded by Michael Cardin (Sonar6), allows employees to own their feedback and experience. Joyous has a straightforward goal…to make life better at work. Through conversations and building a culture of psychological safety where everyone feels comfortable with getting and sharing feedback. The original vision of Joyous was to support Agile organizations, but every company can benefit from this type of collaboration and communication.

Programmatic Job Advertising

Programmatic buying has changed the face of job advertising. It has helped companies save costs, streamline job advertising, target the right candidates and maximize ROI. While traditional job advertising increases spend, programmatic reduces it. Once companies move to a programmatic model, they are unlikely to go back to a manual one. Programmatic was a HUGE topic of conversation last week, and it is exciting to see more awareness for this growing category of HR Tech. Providers like Appcast, Pandologic, and Vonq are leaders in the space and all had a presence at the event.

Internal Mobility

Companies can provide a fairer hiring process and make smarter hiring decisions to enrich upskilling and internal mobility. Companies can also identify skills gaps across the organization to plan and prepare for the future. As companies look closely at their hiring strategies for 2021 and beyond, skills-based hiring and internal mobility is a priority. Unfortunately, many providers offer basic capabilities in this area that include dedicated career sites and personalized communication to internal hires. Few providers go deeper with skills frameworks and career development. This webinar will include new research on skills-based hiring and internal mobility. It will address the challenges that companies face, the strategies they should consider, and the technology that enables success. Worqdrive was another Pitchfest favorite that is tackling internal mobility and retention.

One other provider taking an innovative approach to HR Tech is GraceBlocks. GraceBlocks is designed for talent operations professionals. It makes it easy to build and deploy systems that work for users including simple HRMS extensions and fully designed tracking systems.

It is an exciting time to be in HR Technology and I am looking forward to 2022!

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Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Conversational AI: Transforming Talent Acquisition

Conversational AI: Transforming Talent Acquisition
Conversational AI: Transforming Talent Acquisition

On Global TA Day, we want to highlight one of our favorite areas of TA tech today…conversational AI.

In 2020, Aptitude Research published a comprehensive study on conversational AI to understand key drivers, highlight differentiators, and outline the business impact of these solutions. One year later, the talent acquisition landscape has significantly changed. Companies are feeling intense pressure to improve efficiencies, identify quality hires, reduce bias, and humanize the overall experience for both recruiters and candidates. As companies look closely at talent acquisition technology to help lift the administrative burden of recruiting teams and engage with candidates in a more meaningful way, conversational AI checks every box.

Here are the top findings from our report.

Conversational AI Is Not a Point Solution: Companies are still learning the value that conversational AI brings to talent acquisition. Companies that have leveraged these solutions to improve the application or screening processes are already recognizing the impact it can have on areas such as interviewing, onboarding, and internal mobility. Conversational AI is shifting from a quick-fix, point solution to a critical component in an end-to-end talent acquisition strategy. Conversational AI, unlike chatbots, is not a point solution. The more companies adopt these solutions, the more they recognize the potential throughout talent acquisition, and see advancements in use cases.

Conversational AI Is an Intelligent Assistant: Companies often think that candidates do not want to engage with conversational AI. The reality is that individuals are very familiar with conversational AI in their consumer and personal lives. Siri, Alexa, and other assistants help individuals get answers and guidance, and have become a part of daily life. Similar assistance plays a critical role in talent acquisition, offering candidates a “support team” as they go through various stages of their journey.

The ATS and CRM Markets Can’t Compete: Despite several acquisitions and ongoing discussions about conversational AI in the ATS or CRM solutions, only 30% of companies are looking at their existing providers for conversational AI capabilities. Many ATS and CRM providers partner with conversational AI providers even when they have their own capabilities. Conversational AI      requires deep domain expertise and a commitment to continuing to innovate and enhance the capabilities and intelligence offered.

Conversational AI Is Still More Than a Chatbot: The 2020 Aptitude Research report outlined the differences between conversational AI and chatbots. But, the confusion around the two still persists today. Companies quickly understand the difference when they implement these solutions, but do not always see it during the evaluation phase. According to Aptitude Research, 84% of companies want more than a basic chatbot to support their talent acquisition efforts.  Companies are requiring conversational AI solutions that understand the context around recruiting processes versus basic UI changes from chatbot. They are looking for an intelligent assistant to help both their teams and candidates.

Conversational AI Is Completely Transforming High-Volume Recruiting: Conversational AI is becoming the standard in high-volume recruitment. Currently, 65% of companies have some high-volume recruitment needs that include hourly, gig, volume of hires, and number of applicants. Conversational AI gives these companies a competitive advantage, helping them to compete for talent, fill positions quickly, and improve quality of hire.  Companies are automating 90-95% of process, screening and scheduling in under three minutes, and hiring in two days.

Recruiters in Professional Hiring Also See Massive Benefits: Recruiters are bogged down every day with repetitive tasks that keep them from doing the work they enjoy and the work that impacts the business the most – finding and meeting with more talented people. Companies in centralized, professional recruiting organizations state that 72% of recruiters are more likely to stay at their current job with the use of conversational AI, largely because time spent on administrative tasks is reduced by 50%.

The Audience for Conversational AI Is Expanding to Employees: Most companies are familiar with the use of conversational AI to support sourcing, apply, and interview scheduling. But, the interest in this solution for onboarding and internal mobility has increased this year. Conversational AI is not only candidate-centric, it is people-centric. Nineteen percent (19%) of companies using conversational AI are leveraging these solutions in the new hire process and 12% in internal mobility. Remote recruiting is the primary driver for the increased demand in these areas. Most companies rely on their HRMS or ATS for onboarding capabilities, and while these solutions include workflows and forms compliance, they do little to enhance the new hire experience.

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Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Global TA Day: A Love Letter to Recruiters

Global TA Day: A Love Letter to Recruiters
Global TA Day: A Love Letter to Recruiters

It is Global TA Day and we are posting a series of blogs on all things TA. This blog focuses on the recruiter experience.

Talent acquisition is an amazing profession. The fundamental work of a recruiter is personal, meaningful, and purposeful. It enables companies to grow and expand into new markets and gives candidates new opportunities. Yet, companies do not always recognize the role of the recruiter or give TA teams the resources they need. According to Aptitude Research, only one in four companies are prioritizing recruiter turnover this year.

Companies looking to provide an exceptional employer experience to their recruiters should consider the following steps:

  • Recognize Recruiters: Companies must recognize the reality of recruiting today and the challenges recruiters face when identifying and attracting talent. Recruiters must juggle multiple roles today and companies must recognize the work they do and the impact it has on organizational performance.
  • Set Realistic Expectations: Companies must set realistic expectations of recruiting teams that can including hiring goals, diversity initiatives, and cost savings. To improve the recruiter experience, goals and expectations must be achievable.
  • Invest in Technology: Recruiting and hiring teams need the right solutions to be successful. Companies that invest in the right technology will improve efficiencies and create opportunities to engage with candidates in a more meaningful way, and at scale.

Talent acquisition professionals are under pressure to balance a heavy workload without support, and they must remain flexible. Aptitude Research found the following challenges impacting recruiting teams:

Req Workload: Thirty percent (30%) increase in requisition workload since 2020.

Doing More With Less: Limited resources on TA function with layoffs and limited budgets.

Administrative Tasks: Spending 16 hours per week scheduling and 10 hours per week finding candidates in the ATS.

The role of the recruiter has become incredibly complex, and according to Aptitude Research, 30% of recruiters are feeling burned out this year. Over the past few years, talent acquisition has been a priority for business leaders. TA has been given new responsibilities that include areas such as retention initiatives, branding, internal mobility, and contingent workforce. By adding new roles, new strategies, and new technology in a short period of time, talent acquisition at many companies has become unwieldy and difficult to manage. Talent acquisition professionals need more support in balancing multiple priorities. The recruiter experience is the most critical component of the candidate experience and companies need to recognize when recruiters feel overworked and make changes.

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Marketing Automation and CRM: Understanding the Difference in Talent Acquisition

Marketing Automation and CRM: Understanding the Difference in Talent Acquisition
Marketing Automation and CRM: Understanding the Difference in Talent Acquisition

We are starting to conduct demos and interviews for our Recruitment Marketing Platform/CRM Index report publishing this fall. Last week, someone asked me if the greatest challenge is the lack of adoption from employers or the lack of capabilities from providers.

The answer is both.

Companies that invest in recruitment marketing and CRM do not always have the expertise or change management needed for these systems to be effective. Aptitude Research found that only 2% of companies use all the functionality in the CRM. Not an ideal situation when over 60% of companies spend more on their CRM than on their ATS.

But adoption is not the only frustration in recruitment marketing technology. Most providers offer CRM and career sites but lack marketing automation. CRM and marketing automation serves two distinct purposes in helping companies nurture and engage with talent before applying for a job.  In consumer marketing, companies may commonly invest in both Salesforce and Marketo (now part of Adobe). In addition, they may use Hubspot (which offers both). But, the value and difference between the two are clear. Many companies are not clear about what marketing automation does and what providers to consider in talent acquisition.

What is Marketing Automation?

Marketing automation helps companies better engage and nurture talent by automating marketing tasks and letting companies know which candidates are cold, warm, and “ready-now.” It sits at the top of the funnel and manages all interactions with talent, including when they visit a career site, open an email, open a job advertisement, etc. It solves what the ATS, LinkedIn, and CRM cannot do – informing recruiters when someone is ready to be hired and engaging that individual in a meaningful way. Integrating CRM and marketing automation software can increase a company’s recruitment marketing capabilities and improve the experience.

How Does it Help?

Marketing automation helps companies understand the talent they are attracting, manage talent pipelines more effectively, and provide a better experience to both recruiters and candidates. Some of the use cases include:

  • Lead Nurturing: As today’s companies face challenges attracting talent and managing applicant volume, they need to nurture their candidate relationships over time. Candidates are not always ready to apply for a job with their first engagement. With marketing automation, companies can check in with candidates, create more meaningful relationships, and track engagement levels to know when candidates are “ready now.”
  • Target Audience: With marketing automation, companies can better understand their target talent and track who is interested and engaged. It uses a multi-channel approach to understand what content individuals are interested in, how they want to receive that content and then serves up relevant information. In addition, it provides visibility into the marketing activities to see what activities are working and what needs to change.
  • Analytics: Once a campaign has ended, the system generates analytics showing how successful the campaign was and what may need to change for the future. Analytics provide insights into candidates that are cold, warm, and ready now.

Who are the Providers?

Companies have multiple options for marketing automation in marketing, including providers like MailChimp, Keap, and Constant Contact. And, many providers have been acquired over the past few years, including Pardot by Salesforce, Eloqua by Oracle, and Marketo by Adobe. As a result, marketing automation is a critical area of investment for the modern marketing professional. But, in talent acquisition, this category has not taken off in the same way.

Some sourcing providers like Entelo have tried to transform marketing automation and build a category but faced internal challenges. Some CRM providers have tried to improve talent pipelines and candidate nurturing but still fall short. A few providers are bringing more awareness to marketing automation and gaining traction, including Candidate.ID and Herefish by Bullhorn. Candidate.ID is one provider that stands out for its commitment to marketing automation, ease of use, and ability to help companies attract in-demand talent. Herefish by Bullhorn enables companies to automate workflows, processes, and communication to accelerate staffing firm’s growth. With these providers, recruiters receive notifications when candidates are interested, and their profiles are updated in real-time, reducing time-to-fill, improving candidate engagement, and increasing conversion rates.

As we get closer to publishing our recruitment marketing/CRM index reports, marketing automation will be a theme we cover. It provides companies with a better way to engage and nurture talent where a traditional CRM falls short.

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