In this age of specialists, the demand for professionals with specific skillsets has grown across companies and sectors. Why is there a need for such talent possessing specific skillsets? To meet the requirements of certain roles or projects or just to fulfil a business demand because of the life stage the company is in.
Whatever the reason may be, the important thing is to fill the skill gap at the earliest.
An organisation following the traditional approach would probably place an ad or hire a consultant to help identify a person with the requisite skillsets. However, this approach is not only a time-consuming one, but fails to guarantee accurate selection. In other words, the talent may not possess exactly the right set of skills. While some candidates may possess the right skills, they may not have enough experience or the required level of competency. On the other hand, some candidates may score high in terms of experience but very low in terms of competence.
In short, finding the right talent or the most suitable candidate for a role is far from easy. This is where technology comes to the rescue. While it cannot guarantee 100 per cent success, it can certainly help identify and shortlist the closest match.
“Companies can now tell their story, give the candidates a taste of the experience they can expect at the new workplace and also learn more about the culture of the organisation.”
Unmesh Pawar, CPO – South Asia, Denstu International
While skill matching has always been a challenge, the task has never been as easy as it is now. For organisations that believe in skill-first hiring or skill-based hiring, the focus is more on the candidates’ hard skills, experience and competency.
Efficiency: Unmesh Pawar, CPO – South Asia, Denstu International, observes how “Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has saved a lot of time and eased out the whole recruitment process”. He points out that “RPA can screen resumes, create letters and execute rudimentary assessments based on some pre-set specifications. This way, it helps streamline the hiring process, even while increasing efficiency and candidate involvement.”
Results: Anil Mohanty, head of people and culture, Medikabazaar, opines that such technology not only ensures that the process is smooth and efficient, but also gives the right result.
Experience: Once the right candidate or closest fit for the role is identified, it is up to the company to ensure a rich experience for the candidate. In a talent-first market, companies have to lure the candidates using various means.
Here again, technology has a significant role to play.
With metaverse and virtual reality (VR), it’s now easy to create ‘a day in the life’ experience for any potential candidate.
“Companies can now tell their story, give the candidates a taste of the experience they can expect at the new workplace and also learn more about the culture of the organisation. At the same time, the organisations themselves are able to assess the candidates’ ability to respond to the culture or a particular situation,” explains Pawar.
“With the data of right skills and experience, it also eliminates any possibility of bias during hiring.”
Anil Mohanty, head of people and culture, Medikabazaar
Assessment: Remote interviews and integration of interviews through artificial intelligence (AI) have also opened up innumerable possibilities for the talent-acquisition process.
For instance, interviewers can now check the success rate of their interviews. They can check how well the candidates have performed and how much time they’ve spent within the organisation after their onboarding.
Tracking: Cloud computing and data analytics have also enhanced the talent-acquisition process.
“With cloud and data analytics, it has become so much easier to keep track of the candidates’ information and data,” observes Mohanty.
Data access: Employers no longer need to preserve candidates’ data locally, since cloud computing makes it possible to access information online. It is one of the most convenient recruitment tools and technologies, since it eliminates any repetitiveness and makes the talent search more streamlined and effective.
“With the data of right skills and experience, it also eliminates any possibility of bias during hiring,” adds Mohanty.
According to Pawar, “Analytics is one of the best ways to make better and smart choices.”
“This not only helps check the data easily, but also helps redirect the search for talent,” concludes Mohanty.
Internal mobility: Technology and data analytics allow talent mapping within the organisation and aid internal mobility.
“Internal mobility is the best hiring strategy that a company can adopt. The best companies know how to create a talent marketplace that connects or links people internally,” says Pawar.
Technology also allows companies to set the right context and create a gender-neutral job description (JD). This, in turn, helps companies lure the potentials.
“A gender-friendly JD allows companies to attract more diverse talent. When people associate with the JD, they feel the urge to apply for specific roles,” says Pawar.
“Social media is one of the finest and substantially growing trends in the talent-acquisition process.”
Deepti Mehta, head HR – Home Electrical Business, RR Kabel
Social media: Technology-aided social media has also helped recruiters or talent-acquisition specialists in a major way.
“Social media is one of the finest and substantially growing trends in the talent-acquisition process,” says Deepti Mehta, AVP-HR, Luminous. “It not only simplifies the recruitment process, but also saves both the recruiter and the candidate lots of time.”
Brand visibility: Companies can leverage media features such as posts, images and videos, and even push their current employees to share their accomplishments and experiences on social-media platforms. This is how technology helps provide brand visibility, points out Mehta.
She goes on to comment, “A lot of money is saved, which would otherwise have to be invested in publishing ads on online job portals and in newspapers”.
Technology is a great enabler, and simplifies the recruitment process making life easier for the talent-acquisition specialist. However, while tools can screen people, the final decision still lies in the hands of the people. Technology simply allows teams to be more proactive.