For companies, the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the fact that face-to-face is not always the best way to have meetings. Technological devices have made it possible to hold virtual meetings and to have it be the first option for many recruiters who are unaware of the candidate's health risks and prefer to conduct the interview virtually. The use of tools to conduct video interviews and online assessments, assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) in decision-making, has increased exponentially.
Digital interviews enable companies as well as candidates to have more opportunities. Candidates who would not have been interviewed without this tool can now be considered, and processes that were previously out of reach for many stakeholders can now be applied. On the other hand, AI lacks the keen eye and intuition of the human mind, and the wealth of information that it can provide. However, it also avoids possible biases and replaces them with a quantified objectivity with a scientific basis.
As we will see later, with the help of technology it is possible to analyse tone of voice, word choice, content, eye contact, face configuration, information from multiple sources in their raw state, such as digital footprints on social media or, in the case of internal processes - and with the candidate's permission - from internal communications such as emails.
Real jobs may be more or less affected by digitisation processes, but what we know for sure and in general is that there are management systems based on AI that cover all areas of Human Resources, from recruitment and selection to employee departures and dismissals. In a 2017 survey, it was already found that 15 per cent of Human Resources leaders surveyed in 40 countries said that AI and automation are already having an impact on their departments, and 40 per cent said they expected both to impact their plans in 2-5 years (Harvey Nash Survey, 2017). Three years later, automation has accelerated, along with other trends such as online purchasing of services and goods, remote working, the storage and analysis of large amounts of data, and redundancy in the management of tasks and the value chain (Candelon et al., 2020). AI is the next logical step in the evolution of companies, as it is useful for adapting to these changes.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HUMAN RESOURCES IS UNSTOPPABLE
The classic areas of Human Resources are recruitment and selection, benefits and compensation, performance evaluation and estimation of potential, structure, career and job position design, labour relations, compliance, employee training and development, internal and external communication, analytics and metrics, and departures and dismissals.
Although all of them have significant potential to be automated, many professionals with extensive experience have reservations when it comes to fully adopting new technologies. They put forth reasons such as the fact that some algorithms cannot be replaced by human empathy and intuition. Some have doubts about whether the data can really add anything new to what is already known about workforce dynamics, and they warn of biases due to the quality of the data, and even the quantity necessary to make it meaningful, without considering the legitimacy of its use. On the other side of the divide, there are those who are in favour of applying it for reasons such as the ability to automate repetitive tasks that have little added value, better talent acquisition, faster and more personalised employee onboarding, more efficient and effective training of employees, greater connectivity and technical support in decision-making.
The main hiring phases are: design of the job description, opening of the application period, candidates applying, evaluation, and, where appropriate, interviewing of the candidate by the recruiter. All of these phases can be replaced by machines such as chatbots, automated screening tools, or other candidate interaction systems.
The ability to automate repetitive, low-value tasks.
Examples of such tasks might be compensation and benefits administration, employee questions about procedures and policies, or resume review. To take the last of these, if a previously programmed algorithm is applied, a larger number of resumes can be analysed much more quickly and reliably, significantly reducing human error. The Human Resources team will have more time to provide a series of
