There’s an increasing body of research that shows human beings don’t use our time all that well, including this study on how judges schedule their time.
One of the key findings of this research is:
“For knowledge workers and managerial positions, there is evidence from time diaries that all sorts of workers schedule their workflow ineffectively, in the sense that they tend to jump from one task to another too frequently.
They spread themselves thin, and then they achieve less than they would if they worked on something until completion.”
If you’re reading this, you’re likely in recruiting, sourcing, or talent acquisition.
So this doesn’t apply to you, right?
Recruiters also notoriously use their time inefficiently, or phrased another way, they spend a lot of time on a surprisingly small amount of tasks, including phone calls, resume screenings, and scheduling interviews. Some estimates find 60-70% of a recruiter’s day is spent on administrative tasks of that nature.
In addition to spending time on these tasks above, many talent acquisition professionals have to spend another chunk of their day simply getting clarity around open headcount positions. This speaks to poor priority management on behalf of the hiring managers, but it impacts the recruiting function.
Add this all up and the majority of a recruiter’s week is spent on tasks of limited to moderate value.
Hiring is essential to any business. People are the greatest value a company has. You need great people. That’s the whole concept of the war for talent.
But if recruiters aren’t spending their time in a valuable way towards the acquisition of talent, what can be done?
Here’s are 3 ways to quantify and capitalize on the value of recruiting automation to free up your time.
Create new systems in your process
1. Automate sourcing
It’s very difficult to consistently and properly source candidates. High quality candidates are often overlooked. But what if you could connect with databases such as CareerBuilder to automatically source top candidates and bring them directly into your ATS?
What if you could essentially put your pipeline on auto-pilot? What if you could use these tools to help reduce time to hire from 34 days down to 9? Here’s the good news: you can. It’s called artificial intelligence for sourcing.
2. Automate screening
What if you combined your performance data with millions of past hiring decisions? In this context, every action you take, whether it’s dismissing a candidate or bringing them into an interview, that feedback will now impact future decisions.
Your system gets smarter. Your time to fill reduces. You avoid candidates falling through the cracks. Candidates are screened and shortlisted instantly, so you know exactly who to contact first. Good news, Part II: this is also possible. It’s called artificial intelligence for screening.
3. Automate top of funnel communication
One of the biggest complaints from candidates on every survey is lack of communication. Some call this “the candidate black hole,” and it happens largely for two reasons: the ATS can’t handle the amount of resumes being received or isn’t set up to communicate with every applicant, and recruiters are too busy on other tasks.
AI and automation helps here too: use a chatbot to improve candidate experience and boost communication.
Why you shouldn’t fear automation
The incorrect narrative on automation and AI is: “It will cost recruiters their jobs.”
The actual point of automation is to make recruiters better and more valuable to the company. If you’re freeing up 60-70% of your week by automating more top of funnel activities, here’s what you could be doing instead:
- Proactive recruiting and building pipelines
- Setting up and executing on broader talent strategies
- Building up your professional development at trade shows
- Creating relationships at networking events
- Contributing to publications and websites and promoting your own personal brand and the company’s employer brand
All of these activities that get recruiters more of a “seat at the table” can be accomplished relatively easily if you automate some systems to free up more of your time.
We have the technology. It can be done. Are you ready to add more value?