Looking to stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices in global hiring? Look no further than our virtual Global Hiring summit.
Co-hosted by HR startups Ashby and Deel, this event brings together industry experts and thought leaders from a variety of companies, including Pave, SignalFire, Hired, Hofy, Lilt, Render, and Metaview.
Topics covered include sourcing candidates, global payroll and compliance, and more. With globalization, technological advances, and the rise of the gig economy impacting the talent market, staying informed and adaptable is more important than ever.
Watch the recording now, or check out this detailed recap to listen in on the dynamic discussions and valuable insights that can help you rethink your talent strategies and hiring processes.
Speakers
Watch the on-demand webinar recording below or read on for the full recap
Global hiring landscape overview
Raman Deol, Director of Brand Communications at Deel, kicked off the first-ever Global Hiring Summit with great enthusiasm, introducing the topic by discussing the findings from Deel’s Global Hiring Report. The report was co-authored with Deel Lab and is based on data from over 500,000 working contracts hired by more than 30,000 global organizations.
“2022 was less rosy than some of our other reports. Our talent pool (like many industries we work with) faced a lot of global turbulence. Terminations got as high as 42% of all terminated contracts by the end of 2022, a steep increase from the 20% we saw in January. It was also the first time we had seen salary dips, even for highly competitive roles like software engineers. By the year’s end, we saw a roughly 4-7% decrease for new contracts and other key roles like account executives and accountants,” Raman explained.
However, amidst these challenges, the report indicates that global hiring is a sustained trend that is not going anywhere.
“[global hiring] continued its momentum; about 82% of our contracts were for remote roles. So, our talent pool was probably not dealing with as much of the RTO back and forth as many domestic counterparts were dealing with," Raman added.
In 2002, Deel’s largest worker pool was in the US. However, talent pools also spanned the Philippines, Bangalore, and India. All of which overtook San Francisco as a top city for remote workers in 2022.
“The diversity of roles being hired and where they’re being hired from has now shown that [global hiring is] proliferating. Some lucky roles (content, ops, and finance) saw salary gains, especially in a competitively priced market,” explained Raman.
Deel’s report also saw some bright signals regarding talent retention in 2023.
“In September of 2023, terminations flatlined in a key market in the US. We saw a 0% increase in terminations and contracts, which is welcome news to many of us.”
A final area that Raman is excited about is the trends she’s seeing in AI hiring.
“In the last two years, we’ve seen an 803% increase in contracts created for AI and AI adjacent roles that have rapidly accelerated since the launch of chat GPT. We are excited to see how that trend encourages global hiring, where people are hiring from, and what roles,” Raman concluded.
Hire anywhere without worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll.
Cracking the code to better global compensation
Next up, Dr. Stefanie Tignor, Head of Data at Pave, discussed the topic of global compensation, the challenges that come with designing a successful global compensation strategy, and some intriguing data on the latest trends in global compensation, which Pave has accumulated from over 6,000 companies, which includes almost a million employee records across 46 countries.
As part of her role at PAVE, Stefanie is frequently asked to assist in designing global compensation strategies and provide information on global hiring trends. Through this experience, she has identified three common pitfalls that organizations encounter when designing a global compensation strategy. These include paying one rate globally, using the cost of living to localize compensation, and not accounting for currency fluctuations.
Pitfall # 1: Paying one rate globally
Paying one rate globally may seem like an easy and straightforward approach, but it can result in overpaying employees in some locations and underpaying in others, which can lead to the loss of key talent. It is crucial to understand the geo-differentials and avoid oversimplifying the compensation strategy.
“…paying one rate globally is a common pitfall and ideally use not only different pay for different locations but also make sure that you’re stratifying that by role to get the most competitive salary,” Stefanie explained.
Pitfall # 2: Using the cost of living
The second pitfall is using the cost of living to localize compensation, which can be misleading as the correlation between the cost of living and the cost of labor is not always one-to-one. Therefore, it is essential to use the cost of labor instead of the cost of living to set the global compensation strategy.
Stefanie added, “The cost of living is not always one-to-one with the cost of labor. It’s much more important to use the cost of labor so that you can pay competitively in a given international market.”
Pitfall # 3: Not accounting for currency fluctuations
The third common pitfall is not accounting for currency fluctuations, which can significantly impact salaries and exchange rates. Using a rolling average of exchange rates over a specific period can help mitigate the impact of rapid currency fluctuations and improve the accuracy of compensation calculations. By avoiding these common pitfalls, organizations can design a successful global compensation strategy that attracts and retains top talent in different locations globally.
“These little fluctuations in currency are sometimes big and can be costly mistakes for your organization. Make sure you have a robust strategy there where you’re not just paying based on a random fluctuation in currency…” Stefanie continued.
Don’t forget global market movement
Stefanie explains that designing a global compensation strategy also requires careful consideration of the global market movement and how markets are expected to change over time.
She notes that emerging markets have a higher growth rate of about 7 to 10%, whereas mature markets grow at a rate of 2 to 4%. This is crucial in shaping the compensation strategy, particularly when hiring in emerging markets.
The growth rate must be monitored regularly to ensure the organization pays competitive rates and retains its talent. It is not a one-time task but rather a continuous process that requires keeping track of currency exchange rates and global market movement, she explains. Failure to do so may result in losing talent to competitors or being unable to hire for new roles.
Therefore, staying up-to-date with and using the latest information effectively is crucial in designing and revising an effective global compensation strategy.
Stefanie shared an example: “...say we’re a 400-person organization with about $32 million in global payroll. If we’re just 1% over in our global compensation, that’s an additional $320,000 in additional cost per year. And that’s just for a 400-person organization. Imagine if your organization [has] 1,000 or 5,000, or 10,000 people. Those costs add up and skyrocket for being just a bit off on your global compensation.”
“…and that’s not to mention all of the unmeasurable costs of lost productivity because we’re trying to hire, doing interviews, but we can’t get anyone to fill our roles because our pay is not competitive or the costs of attrition and how devastating that can be to an organization, particularly losing key talent,” Stefanie continued.
Compensation trends
Stefanie also shares Pave’s latest findings on global compensation trends, which can help inform your organization’s global compensation strategies and avoid costly mistakes in the future.
One of the trends Pave has observed is the best markets for highly qualified, cost-effective talent.
“We have identified locations within the US, such as Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Pittsburgh, and internationally, such as India, China, Poland, and Bulgaria, where technical talent is abundant but salaries are relatively lower. These locations could be a cost-effective option for organizations looking to hire technical talent,” she informed.
On the other hand, Pave has also identified markets where salaries are increasing too rapidly to stay competitive.
“The rise of remote work and large tech companies expanding into new cities has led to certain locations having rapidly rising salaries, such as Atlanta and Austin, Texas in the US, as well as Belgium and Ireland internationally. It’s important to keep up to date with these trends and trajectories when designing your organization’s global compensation hiring strategy.”
Finally, Stefanie highlights the importance of considering geo-differentials and differences in affordability across different roles when designing a global compensation strategy.
“Paying one salary globally is not ideal, and it’s important to consider factors such as the most expensive regions for different roles, as well as the least affordable international markets by role. By taking these factors into account, organizations can make more informed decisions and avoid costly mistakes in their global compensation strategies,” she concluded.
Global employment: Where we are today
Samuel Dahan, Chief of Policy and Chair of Deel Lab at Deel, took to the stage to provide valuable insights into the current state of global employment and compliance, as well as important considerations for the future.
“Deel has hired more than 200,000 workers in just four years, and global hiring has sustained its momentum in 2022, with 89% of the contracts being for remote workers. However, there have also been a lot of terminations due to the market slowdown,” explained Samuel.
Interestingly, hiring across borders has continued to outpace any downsizing trend, indicating that the market is still growing. Samuel notes that the US is one of the hottest labor markets for global workers, with the US labor market overtaking fast-growing economies like the Philippines.
Remote work and productivity
Samuel also discusses the question of whether global remote work is here to stay. While many employers are implementing return-to-office policies, Samuel explains that working from home has not been found to damage productivity. In fact, there are studies showing a significant increase in productivity, including the famous Stanford study from 2010 that found a 13% increase in productivity well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Samuel shares a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, suggesting that US labor productivity has actually increased since the pandemic began.
“Productivity has risen from 1.2% to 1.5% over the past five years. While it’s difficult to determine exactly what’s causing this increase, remote work is certainly a contributing factor. With billions of commuting hours saved and other benefits, it’s clear that remote work has had a positive impact on productivity.”
While it’s important to focus on productivity, it’s also worth considering the impact of remote work on profits and revenue.
“Even if remote work does lead to a slight decrease in productivity, if it doesn’t negatively impact revenue, then it may not be a significant concern. Ultimately, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of remote work and determine what’s best for each individual company,” Samuel divulged.
Compliant hiring
While multinational corporations have been hiring globally for some time, small and medium-sized companies are also increasingly hiring abroad. However, the lack of regulation and different legal systems in different countries make global hiring complex.
The traditional approach to global hiring is hiring employees through your own foreign entities, but this can be costly and time-intensive, particularly for companies with limited resources. An increasingly popular solution that addresses these challenges is using an employer of record (EOR) service. Deel is one such EOR service that has gained popularity due to its success in the field.
"For those who may not be familiar with the concept, an EOR is a third-party HR intermediary that allows businesses to hire workers in other countries without the need to establish a legal entity, at least temporarily. EORs take on some of the employer’s responsibilities, including compliance, taxes, and, in some cases, visa and immigration support,” Samuel explained.
Another global hiring option is to engage international contractors. Samuel highlights that one of the major challenges with hiring foreign contractors is the risk of worker misclassification. While worker classification is usually straightforward within a domestic context, it becomes increasingly complex when hiring workers based in other countries. Different laws and regulations surrounding worker classification could expose you to misclassification risk, which could prove problematic for both your company and the contractor.
“At the Deal Lab, we are working on an AI system for worker classification that is 95% accurate. The system can predict whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee anywhere in the world. However, the law is constantly changing, making these predictions more complicated. To account for this, we are training the algorithm to pick up on the complexity of each case,” Samuel enthused.
New regulations, such as the EU directive, are also being introduced to reduce the gray zone between employees and self-employment status.
“At Deel Lab, we have just published the prototype of our AI platform. It is based on research conducted at the university about five years ago and has now been publicly available. While the current system only works for Canada, we are constantly updating and expanding it to include more countries and legal systems,” Samuel concluded.
How to leverage data to demonstrate the value of TA to the greater organization
Kicking off the lightning round was Jim Miller, VP of People and Talent at Ashby, discussing the importance of educating your audience on the nuances of talent data and utilizing a structured framework to guide your strategy to effectively communicate the value of your team’s work and achieve your hiring goals more efficiently.
“I want to talk about demonstrating the value of TA through data by first helping your potential audience understand talent data methodologies better,” Jim began.
“It might sound like a simple thing, but it’s very easy for your audience to misinterpret talent data and tell their own story, especially if they’re conditioned to looking at other similar business data like sales waterfall metrics, for example.”
In today’s competitive talent landscape, it is not uncommon for organizations to face a deluge of applications. However, Jim explains that focusing solely on the number of applications received can be misleading, especially if your audience has been conditioned to sales data where more pipeline is seen as a positive indicator.
“In the case of recruitment, having too much pipeline can be wasteful and costly, and reducing the number of applications can often lead to a higher quality pipeline. By using an analytics tool like Ashby Analytics, you can gain insights into the quality of your pipeline and see how it has improved with fewer applications and more activity at later recruitment stages,” Jim explained.
To communicate the value of your work to your audience, Jim believes that it is crucial to focus their attention on the critical parts of your pipeline. This means isolating the later stages of your recruitment process in a separate chart and highlighting the impact of your work in reducing waste and cost while driving quality.
Jim gave an example: “This approach has been successfully implemented in the past, as demonstrated by Google’s decision to restrict candidates to three applications per month in 2017. Despite reducing the number of applications by over one-third, the company was able to double the number of hires from the applicant pool by encouraging candidates to apply only for roles that truly aligned with their experience. By doing so, they were able to reduce costs, increase hiring efficiency, and have a more diverse pool of candidates.”
To achieve similar results, Jim strongly advises businesses to adopt a framework that can guide their talent strategy and help them excel in the four core talent competencies:
- Strategy and planning
- Candidate attraction
- Candidate evaluation
- Stakeholder engagement
“By combining this framework with the three cultural pillars of continuous improvement, operational efficiency, and organizational agility, you can use data to drive excellence across all competencies and demonstrate the value of your team’s work,” Jim concluded.
How to build an effective and inclusive global talent strategy
Next up, Josh Brenner, CEO at Hired.com took to the stage to discuss the impact global hiring has had on building an inclusive and diverse workforce.
Josh explained, “Research has proven time and time again that having a more diverse team produces better results in the end. Hired leverages all the platform activity data, post-success data of people that they placed, and survey data of employers and candidates to learn about the impact of DEI.”
Hired’s vision is a world where all hiring is equitable, transparent, and efficient. The company’s mission is to empower connections between ambitious people and teams.
“To build an inclusive workplace, companies should start from within. Talent acquisition teams should not be the sole owners of the DEI strategy. Most teams already have diverse teams in some aspects, so make sure there are channels and ways for people to engage in the diversification efforts that are going on across the company. Diverse teams produce better creativity, innovation, and problem-solving,” he highlighted.
Josh goes on to explain that internal bias training is an effective way to change behavior and educate people on inclusivity. Hiring teams tend to be outside of the recruiting function, and hiring is not their main job or skillset. Consistency with the hiring process, interview questions, and language used in job descriptions is essential to avoid biases, he explains.
Hired provides first-party data on the underrepresented or statuses of candidates, bias features filters, salary bias alerts, time zone filters, and remote filters to help companies avoid biases in their hiring process.
How hiring and onboarding can make or break the employee experience
Mario Espindola, Senior Director of Talent at SignalFire, explains the importance of a strong hiring and onboarding process, how it can significantly impact the employee experience, and how you can make the most of your hiring investment by building a more structured and effective onboarding process.
“Onboarding plays a significant role in starting an employee off on the right foot. When new employees have an organized and engaging onboarding experience, they feel 18 times more committed to their new employer,” according to statistics from a recent study by Bamboo HR.
Mario continues, “We have all had a great or not-so-great onboarding experience, and it is evident that thorough, inclusive, and welcoming onboarding experiences set us off on the right foot, allowing us to hit our stride quickly. This experience adds to the sense of belonging, clarity, consistency, and understanding of what new employees expect in the short and long term, which is incredibly important.”
Mario explains that aligning the onboarding experience with the interviewing experience is also important for the hiring manager and new employee. Failure to do this can lead to a bad employee experience and poor tenure.
“According to SHRM, 33% of employees with poor onboarding experiences were looking for new roles within the first six months of their time at the company, and 23% of those folks left within the year or so before their one year anniversary.”
Mario goes on to emphasize the negative impacts of poor onboarding on the brand and business.
“The efforts of hiring managers and other stakeholders involved in bringing new hires on board go down the drain due to poor onboarding experience. Therefore, people and business leaders must invest in a strong onboarding program, which pays off.”
Harvard Business Review reported that new hires with a great onboarding experience were 62% more productive on average. Understanding their short-term and long-term goals and how they add up to the business’s and their team’s effectiveness aids in boosting productivity rates.
Additionally, 50% of folks had greater retention on average of staying at the company with a strong onboarding experience, which helps cement their place within the organization.
Mario reiterates that investing in an onboarding program is important, regardless of the organization’s size, and should not be over-engineered.
“I encourage everyone to focus on implementing a lightweight onboarding experience, which is an important first step towards building an effective onboarding program,” Mario concludes.
Benefits of a global talent strategy
Grady Gardner, VP of Sales at Braintrust, was next to share his insights on building a healthy talent ecosystem.
“Everybody knows the benefits, for the most part, of global talent hiring,” Grady began.
“You need to open up your search if you’re confined to a single geography. If you don’t, you’ll be in a world of hurt when it comes to finding the right talent and competing with local groups.”
Grady explains that opening up the geo search will lead to faster hiring. If you can figure out how to work effectively, it can enable you to operate a full cycle by having people offshore off domestic time zones and be able to get work done for a full 24 hours a day.
“Speed to hire is going to be critical for most companies, especially in the startup front, where you’re trying to bring the right people in for the first time and usually pretty quickly because there are some burning tasks,” he added.
Braintrust works with many very large banks, insurance firms, and healthcare companies, which are highly regulated and move very slowly. Grady explains that these companies often operate in-office, are returning to office, or hybrid. This has been shown to slow down the hiring process and attract mid-level talent.
“... they’re not opening up the doors for what most skilled talent is looking for, remote work...They overpay, and they’re slow to innovate. Everybody’s been on a banking app lately, and they’re not the best experience.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Grady explains that innovative companies, mostly startups, are all going global and reaping the rewards.
“...everybody’s starting to go global in every direction they can bring in the best talent for their particular thing. We’re seeing them innovate faster. We see all the blockchain, crypto, and AI companies. All these guys are looking globally for talent. They’re moving much faster, and we’re seeing typical hire times in 12-13 days, whereas the other guys are like a couple of months.”
Grady also touches on the cost benefits of global hiring.
“Everybody’s a little bit cost-conscious, right? You want to get the best talent at the best rates. We’re seeing probably 10% to 60% in reality regarding cost savings for equally skilled talent, depending on where you go.”
To conclude, Grady shares his hiring do’s and don’ts for global hiring success.
Do’s
- Consider starting with contractors (try before you buy)
- Increase your level of communication ans specificity
- Research countries that are best fit (cost + skills)
- Find ways to make them feel connected (daily huddles, virtual happy hours, personal Slack channels)
Don’ts
- Hire someone expecting them to work off hours for the first time
- Be smart, not cheap (Don’t underpay because they’re in another country, pay well, and you’ll still likely get a discount)
- Be biased towards things that don’t matter (If their English isn’t perfect but they can still perform well, get them onboard.)
- Skip vetting and compliance
Leveraging logistics to enhance your candidate experience
Michael Ginzo, Co-founder, and CPO at Hofy, wrapped up the lightning round by discussing how Hofy provides remote workers around the world with devices and IT services to help them be successful.
He began, “Ensuring a top-notch onboarding experience and ensuring that the security of tools and devices provided to team members is up to scratch benefits talent attraction and retention.”
Michael shared studies that show a strong correlation between onboarding quality and long-term retention of employees.
“Employees are likely to stay with a company for three or more years if they have a great onboarding experience. Additionally, slow tech is a significant factor in employees wanting to quit. This includes issues with devices, software, and internet connections.”
Data security is another significant factor when considering remote work, onboarding, and equipment logistics.
Michael explained, “Studies show that a typical data breach costs a US business about $4.45 million, including losses due to the data breach, fines, and legal fees. This is a significant cost that businesses must be aware of when employing remote workers globally.”
Hoffy equips remote workers globally in hundreds of countries. The company supports global logistics, particularly delivery, to ensure new hires receive their products on time ahead of their start dates. The company also maximizes employee uptime by quickly resolving issues with devices. And crucially, ensuring the data on the devices is secure.
“When equipping a global remote team, businesses should not cut corners. The potential for employee experience issues, uptime loss, and data breaches outweighs any small savings from using a lower-cost courier or finding cheaper products,” Michael concluded.
The future of AI in hiring
Next, our powerhouse panel comprising Gwenevere Crary, Founder and CEO at Guide to HR & VP of Global People Ops at Lilt, Tianna Johnson, Head of Talent Acquisition at Render, Siadhal Magos, Co-founder and CEO at Metaview, and Jason Gingrinch, Talent Acquisition Lead at Intrinsic, an Alphabet company took to the stage to share their thoughts on the future of AI in hiring.
After a brief round of introductions, the panel host, Kate Moerel, kicked off the discussion with the following question:
How has global hiring been impacted by AI? What are the opportunities?
Siadhal (Metaview): “In the realm of recruiting, AI has made a significant impact on the day-to-day tasks of recruiters. Certain tasks that were seen as tedious and time-consuming are being automated, freeing up recruiters to focus on more critical activities like connecting with candidates and hiring managers. This shift has allowed recruiters to become more strategic and efficient in their roles. One of the areas of focus is improving the interactions between recruiters and candidates.”
“AI is being used to automate note-taking and formatting, streamlining the process and making it less cumbersome. The second step is to use AI to identify problems or areas for improvement within the recruitment process that were previously imperceptible due to lack of data and time. This is a game-changer for recruiters, and with the help of AI, they can become more efficient and effective in their roles.”
Tiana (Render): “I believe that AI has revolutionized the future landscape of talent management. Those who are open to embracing AI and exploring its capabilities to facilitate talent operations are more likely to succeed. Talent managers have long been pondering over how to optimize their operations and save valuable time. By leveraging AI, they can achieve these goals and scale their operations more efficiently. The individuals who are already embracing AI will be the ones leading the way in the future as recruiters and talent leaders. This shift in mindset towards AI will undoubtedly transform the landscape of talent management.”
Jason (Intrinsic): “I would like to address how AI is impacting the work of recruiters from a different angle, building on a point made by Jim earlier. Having a larger pipeline of candidates often leads to more waste and higher costs for businesses.”
“Let’s imagine a hypothetical world where every candidate uses a gen AI tool to match their resume to a job description, resulting in every inbound applicant appearing to match the job or role profile. In this world, the job of a recruiter and talent acquisition becomes even more important than it is today.”
“AI tools can help in saving time in the interview process and can provide lift to recruiting and talent acquisition professionals in talent intelligence and interview augmentation. Interview augmentation tools can improve note-taking, screening, and increase the quality of candidates as well as better pass rates,” Jason continues.
“Talent intelligence tools will be more than just aggregating data sets and sourcing candidates from different companies. They will provide information about companies, such as their stage of growth, awards won, and the timing of when candidates joined them. This will give us more data than we have had in the past and help the industry progress towards more comprehensive candidate sourcing and hiring processes,” he concludes.
How are you maintaining the human element while implementing AI in your hiring processes?
Guinevere (Lilt): “One of the most concerning issues in the recruitment process today is ghosting, where companies or candidates disappear without any communication.”
“To ensure a positive candidate experience, I make it a priority to keep my candidates in the loop, even if it’s just an automated message letting them know they’re no longer being considered for the role,” Guinevere continues.
“Additionally, it’s important to find ways to engage with candidates throughout the sourcing and pipeline process, even if it’s just to acknowledge and thank them for their consideration. While larger companies may not be able to speak with every single candidate, there are tools available to set up touchpoints and ensure that applicants feel recognized and appreciated,” she adds.
“Lastly, I understand the frustration of candidates who go through multiple rounds of interviews with a human only to be ghosted. This is why it’s crucial to use tools that allow for consistent communication throughout the entire recruitment process, from initial application to the final decision,” Guinevere concludes.
What are the risks, and how can you mitigate them?
Siadhal (Metaview): “I believe there are two main categories of risks associated with AI adoption. The first one is within our control and involves how we use and view these tools. The second one is outside our control and pertains to the large companies building these models. Although we cannot control the latter, it is essential to focus on what we can control, which is our attitude towards these tools.”
Accountability
“We need to be mindful of the potential risks and not blindly accept the output of these generative AI tools, but instead, put them through a filter to ensure they produce useful content. Accountability has not changed, it is still crucial to ensure that we are accountable for bringing great people into the company and providing candidates with an excellent experience,” Siadhal adds.
“As we move towards leveraging AI more in the future, we need to understand that even the parts we outsource to AI, we are still accountable for. We need to be aware of this accountability because the adoption of these tools is going to bring about a productivity revolution. Although there might be mistakes and collateral damage along the way, we must accept our accountability for them to accelerate the adoption of these tools,” he continues.
Potential bias
Siadhal goes on to explain the second area of risk, which is around the potential bias output of some of these AI tools. He explains that we can adopt AI in three different ways: automation, detection, and decision-making.
“While automation and detection are usually great, decision-making requires more due diligence. We need to be careful about what decisions we are comfortable letting AI make for us. There have been instances where we lacked the maturity to use these models, resulting in unintended consequences like skewing towards a particular gender,” Siadhal explains.
Guinevere (Lilt) adds: “When it comes to using AI tools in recruitment, we need to be mindful of job descriptions. If the job description is biased, the AI will also have biases, and we won’t get a diverse pool of candidates. Therefore, it’s essential to review and ensure that job descriptions are free of bias.”
Tiana (Render) adds an additional perspective: “Recruiting is an art of matchmaking, and it requires human involvement. It’s like a marriage; we need to make sure that there is a long-term fit. As someone from an indigenous Hawaiian background, I think of storytelling our history, and we don’t do it by merely keywords matching a job description. I demonstrate the impact I’ve made in a more creative way. As someone who comes from an underrepresented background, we must be mindful of the limitations of AI and ensure that humans are an integral part of the decision-making process."
Where do you envisage AI having a greater impact...in assisting talent teams to reduce workloads or in the selection process to aid hiring decisions?
Jason (Intrinsic): “Balance is key when it comes to using AI systems in recruitment. While AI systems excel at pattern matching, they lack the human element required to understand a company’s internal culture and ensure that candidates are a good fit. I believe that while resumes and job descriptions are important, they only reflect a slice of time and may not capture the full story or impact of a candidate.”
Jason gives a tactical example where he had to follow up with a candidate multiple times, but traditional messaging campaigns weren’t working. He found the candidate’s Pinterest page and used a quote that aligned with what he assumed was important to the individual and the company’s culture and used it in his messaging approach with the individual.
“…sounds a little creepy, I’m going to acknowledge that, but sometimes this is what we have to do... I don’t know if AI systems will be able to do that in the short term, so it’s important to have a balance of both AI and human approaches in recruitment,” Jason concludes.
What’s the value of bringing AI into your hiring process?
According to Guinevere (Lilt), AI-powered tools have significantly expanded the scope of candidate sourcing. She has been able to discover potential candidates that were previously inaccessible.
“Though LinkedIn is a useful resource, there are other tools that can source candidates based on their published work and expertise. This provides recruiters with more comprehensive content than just the information found on a candidate’s LinkedIn profile,” Guinevere explained.
Tiana (Render) also shared that AI has enabled recruiting to occur much faster as compared to traditional methods. She explains that AI has opened up new possibilities in the talent branding domain. Even if one is not a design expert, there are now various tools available that can help create compelling and creative design content. These tools empower recruiting teams to move more quickly and efficiently without relying on external resources.
Siadhal (Metaview) adds: “AI can bring significant value to businesses by taking over tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming, or not very differentiated, freeing up valuable human hours for more strategic and high-leverage work.”
“By using AI to handle tasks we do on autopilot, we can focus on more important decision-making tasks that require human interaction and cognitive skills. While humans will always be at the center of our role, AI can help us enhance our productivity and decision-making capabilities while we remain accountable for the final output,” Siadhal continued.
How can companies embrace the candidate’s use of AI in interviews (much like the debate of whether calculators should be allowed into Math exams in the past)?
Jason (Intrinsic) believes that utilizing available tools to demonstrate one’s abilities is a positive thing. Just as software engineers use Stack Overflow and Google to help them in their jobs, one should not be restricted from using tools that can help elevate their understanding. Instead of focusing on memorization, it is better to assess whether the person can actually solve the given problem. Jason believes in hiring people who can solve problems rather than those who are good at memorizing things
Jason (Intrinsic): “I’m bullish on this. Using the available tools to demonstrate your ability to move quicker or articulate what you’re trying to do is ultimately a good thing.”
Guinevere (Lilt) concurred, “We, at the AI company I work for, encourage individuals who possess the capability to work with AI to showcase their skills. As we discussed earlier on the call, individuals who are willing to embrace AI are the ones who will thrive in the face of change. To further emphasize Kate’s point about calculators, consider how street lights were lit using gas lighters before, but now oil lighters are no longer in use. It is crucial to adapt and upskill oneself to keep up with the constantly evolving world.”
Tianna (Render) agrees: “Discovering top-tier talent is all about finding individuals who possess a creative problem-solving approach. When I hire recruiters for my team, I take a keen interest in understanding the tools they use to tackle day-to-day challenges. It’s important to recognize that everyone has their unique way of problem-solving, and it’s crucial to comprehend how they approach tasks, conduct discovery, and structure their thinking process. By doing so, we can identify candidates who bring a fresh perspective and a diverse set of skills to the table.”
Siadhal (Metaview) adds, “Assessment design plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of the evaluation process. If the assessment primarily consists of fact-based questions or if the interview process is focused on finding cookie-cutter candidates, it is unlikely that the organization will be able to identify the most suitable candidates.”
“This is why organizations need to be clear about what they truly value and what they are looking for in prospective candidates. By doing so, they can ensure that their recruitment process is designed to identify the right candidates who align with their culture and principles. This will help organizations present a more genuine and authentic image to prospective candidates, which is essential in attracting the right talent,” Siadhal concludes.
How can we encourage individuals within those talent teams to be able to adopt face-driven approaches if they are showing resistance?
Guinevere (Lilt): “My first take is understanding the root cause of why they are struggling to adopt it. What is their fear? Can we help them get past that? It’s like anything when you’re trying to promote someone to a higher level, and you’re trying to get them to start delegating down or training someone else to take over, there’s that fear of, oh, you’re trying to train this person to replace me? No, I’m trying to train you to upgrade you to get you to do more complicated and strategic things. Part of that is bringing them along, helping them understand where you’re taking them, hearing their roadblocks, and helping them get past them.”
Tianna (Render) added, “The rise of AI in recruiting seems inevitable, regardless of any resistance. Those who embrace it will be the ones who progress the quickest. While some aspects of the talent pipeline may remain unchanged, AI can assist in creating content that recruiters can share, such as reasons to join a company or key talking points. However, the human touch is still crucial in closing a candidate and selling them on the company. AI can help recruiters spend more time preparing candidates for interviews and building relationships, but ultimately, it is the human element that makes the difference.”
Siadhal (Metaview) adds: “The great thing about this wave of technology is its ability to adapt to the individual. It no longer forces people to conform to a centralized process but rather enables them to work in a way that suits them best. While there may be some resistance to adopting these new tools, they can free up recruiters from tedious tasks and allow them to focus on building connections with human beings, which is what most people in the industry enjoy. The proof of the effectiveness of these tools lies in their adoption and the realization by recruiters that they can leave their day feeling energized rather than overwhelmed. If AI is not accomplishing this, then it is not being implemented effectively.”
Jason (Intrinsic) shares his perspective: Jason shared his perspective on encouraging teams to be more data-driven. He believes that to integrate such tools into the work environment, an organization needs to have a strong foundation, starting with recruiting or talent acquisition.
“I’ve always taught recruiters I’ve worked with or talent acquisition teams that hiring is a little bit of an art, and by being data-driven, you do bring it into a science, and if you don’t know what’s happening through each stage of your funnel, each stage of your pipeline, how do you understand how to solve for the problems that you have. Do you even know what those problems are?”
According to Jason, other business areas can measure their success more tangibly than the recruitment team. However, by talking about data and what’s happening in the recruitment pipeline, recruiters can sit at the table during discussions about implementing new tools.
“I fully agree that these tools, you know, will give recruiters, managers, leaders, ICs a lift in those areas where we’re just spending cycles that could be more productive, that could be used for more conversations for capturing those things that are important to a candidate. I don’t think closing a candidate is a conversation just around compensation; it’s aligning what’s important to that person, what they care about, and what’s intangible about their career development,” Jason continues.
Jason wrapped up the epic summit by sharing his views on the global hiring landscape at large. He believes that hiring is about more than just filling roles. He explains that when we lose sight of what it’s about, the human element, we forget that we can use talent acquisition as a competitive advantage in the hiring processes where we can identify the right candidates at the right time for the right roles.
“This human element is often overlooked in the recruitment process. Hiring is not just about filling roles; it’s about using talent acquisition as a competitive advantage to identify the right candidates at the right time and build best-in-class teams across all functions. By opening up to this opportunity, organizations can transform their recruitment process from an order-taking service to a true talent partner or advisor,” Jason concludes.
Thank you to our excellent speakers, webinar hosts Kate Morel (Deel) and Lindsay Workman (Ashby), and fabulous summit attendees for your participation and support. We hope you found the event valuable and look forward to seeing you at our next summit!
