How automation can solve recruitment bias

Human hand shaking a digital hand coming out of laptop signifying automation and technology
(Image credit: Pixabay)

A 2019 survey shows that using recruitment software has helped most recruiters hire faster, with 78 percent saying that it has improved the quality of candidates. Discovering talent is no longer an in-person manual process. So, say farewell to the unpredictable and tedious phases of hiring and screening while trying to comply with various policies at the same time.

About the author

Shihab Muhammed is the Founder & CEO of Survey Sparrow.

Data-driven solutions such as a survey platform allow HR professionals to test, categorize and even report on prospective candidates at every stage. Advanced survey platforms are the latest in the feedback industry and a vital tool for recruiters to tackle biases.

This is how automated recruitment is done best by interactive survey taking and why these case management platforms are better than existing recruitment software.

Hiring at an unbiased scale

Being the latest addition to recruitment software, surveys can track everything related to the employment of all types of vacancies (open and job-specific). Inspired by e-commerce sales, survey platforms make for the same cycle of employees as customers. That’s why they represent a one-point solution, making it easy to hire at scale while minimizing subjectivity and human bias, helping the company grow accordingly.

AI reduces unconscious bias in two ways: by sourcing and screening decisions based on data points and by ignoring demographic and socioeconomic data. In short, algorithms predict and validate candidates by testing and analyzing.

Surveys make for a proper and organized shortlisting of candidates at every stage and a better (talent) segmentation. Using one single survey, you can categorize candidates based on qualifications, years of experience, age, location, specific skills, and much more. Then, you can score and rank each candidate free from any personally identifiable information. And if a candidate is elected to interview for a marketing position, the applicant is automatically directed to the head of marketing.

Although not entirely free of unconscious bias, AI-hiring diminishes the risk compared to human evaluation alone. The best assessment tools today are able to identify and remove prejudices. New recruiting methods such as survey platforms are essential when black workers are significantly underrepresented in the U.S. public, private, and the unemployed sector.

When all candidates’ qualifications come in as anonymized responses, it is easier for human resources to objectively handle the data. The features altogether allow for hiring a great deal of talent at the same time. And with automation, it’s possible to assess thousands of candidates at the same time. You will save time, and so will each candidate

A survey chain

Once an applicant is admitted to a job interview, the survey platform arranges interview question after interview question; the candidate will not receive all at once. Instead, one can apply to multiple jobs as the survey platform stores candidate data available to all open vacancies.

But modern-day surveys also represent a collaborative tool for employees. A team can send and share QR codes via SMS along with email, Slack, and Microsoft Teams and embed the code between the company’s site or a chatbot. All data from the recruitment process is sent directly to Slack, where every response can be channeled and processed. This makes for clear internal communication but also for streamlining employee feedback.

Today’s feedback software also makes it easier for you as a company manager to comply with laws and policies, as the core purpose of AI-driven hiring is to avoid discrimination and favoritism. Simply put, it represents an ideal experience management tool for assessment in times where we look for ways to guarantee diversity and equality at the workplace and fair selection processes.

Response features

Most of the functions needed for any recruitment and feedback process can be easily integrated with a survey platform. Dynamic personalization features capture the emotions and opinions of candidates as if they were walking into the HR department, which increases the response rate by 40 percent. Through conversational and effective data collection, responses and CVs are documented, making it easier to determine whether the candidate is the right fit.

Moreover, there is the possibility of rating candidates throughout the process, not only directly after each interview. The department head affiliated with the specific vacancy can now go through every response and create a ticket for reactive support. There is no need for a separate communicative tool to follow up with each candidate, whether accepted or not. Talk about a reciprocal automated differentiation of prospective candidates.

Ultimately, you can set up a workflow tailored for the specific recruitment process and integrate a chatbot on your site. Auto Generation allows HR to set the conditions and assign responses and data to the right person. For instance, an integrated solution with Google Calendar allows for scheduling interviews directly using the survey.

Customized digital recruitment

The beauty of feedback software is that it can be easily managed in-house, allowing for industry-specific features as well as customization. The perks aren’t only embodied by automation but rather by engaging, conditional, communicative, and conversational experiences for candidates – much resembling a simple WhatsApp chat conversation.

The different kinds of surveys are just as crucial for managers as applicants, helping gather onboarding feedback for long-term HR metrics – whether that’s valuable data from candidates or insights from personnel involved in the hiring process. With the Case Management feature, HR can convert the candidates as tickets that can be assigned and prioritized. You get to personally reach out to all your candidates and have a consolidated inbox to access all your interactions in one place. Although this improvement tool still depends on human decision-making, there currently isn’t a better supporting tool at hand.

Having an employee experience system that can truly kick-start your feedback collection is the greatest investment and a powerful way to welcome HR departments into the future of effective and fair HR processes for all.

Shihab Muhammed is the Founder & CEO of Survey Sparrow, an omni-channel experience management platform. Shihab is a passionate growth leader who has successfully built and scaled multi-million dollar SaaS products.