Article: Technology Implementation barriers in the space of recruitment

Talent Acquisition

Technology Implementation barriers in the space of recruitment

What are the challenges that TA team faces while trying to leverage technology in hiring?
Technology Implementation barriers in the space of recruitment

The Talent Acquisition industry has always been ahead when it is about embracing anything new for bringing in the best talent. With the augment of technologies (Artificial Intelligence and machine learning) and developments in data analytics; the TA industry is trying to reap the benefits from a hugely diverse ecosystem of technology. Alongside, new branding strategies like social media, online job boards, and other emerging trends are constantly trying to bridge the gap for attracting the right resource.

As per a recent Mercer Mettl report which had captured insights from around nine hundred talent recruiting decision makers across India to understand where the industry is heading and how one can chart the course for success in 2019, there is an expected increase in average hiring volume from 25% in 2018 to 31% in 2019. There’s also a predicted jump in average hiring budgets from 20% in 2018 to 34% in 2019.  And in order to meet the rise in hiring number, organizations are leveraging technology in various steps of talent acquisition to improve their TA metrics. Such adoption in new technologies definitely has a bright future to meet the growing changes in the workforce while managing the human capital in a much more effective way.

However, there’s another side of the story too. Though technology is helping to enhance the recruitment process where recruiters are finding it far more effective, efficient and less mundane to find the right talent; yet organizations are shying away when it comes to technology adoption in the TA process. What can be the probable barriers? Let’s understand the key reasons behind them.

Budget – a prominent constraint!

Lack of budget is the biggest obstacle faced while implementing technology in TA processes. The report highlights that 33% of organizations surveyed stated high costs to be the prominent concern. The investment pocket is generally not big when it comes to HR and hence it puts these new tech tools beyond immediate reach. Even if tech adoption rate is better in the sourcing phase (88%), it’s still quite low when it comes to on-boarding process (49%).

Low know-how of technology and metrics based process

The transition zone from a traditional mindset to a data driven tech based way of working is taking its own time when it comes to tech adoption in TA. Moreover, there is a scarcity of talent in HR function for those who have hands on experience in working on multiple tech tools owing to its nascent stage in the Indian market.  Another angle to it is the low data and analytics driven approach in recruiting and hiring process. Software and apps can help unclog all of that information, but once you have the data in hand, you still have to convert it into real-world results for actual benefit.

Leadership buy-in for ROI

As Peter Drucker rightly says, “you can't manage what you can't measure.” Research data also suggest that more than 23% organizations do not invest in HR technology owing to lack of clarity on ROIs. For using any simple technology that enhances the hiring capabilities, an organization expects the need to map the potential impact of the program in terms of ROI. Most of the time, defining the measurement strategy for showcasing the new process and tech effectiveness becomes obligatory to get the buy in from the top management. Calculating and quantifying business impact via appropriate measurement model can be a real challenge for HR which comes in the way of tech adoption in TA. HR team needs to focus energy on the metrics and information that organizations actually need. Some of the common KPIs and metrics on recruitment are: time-to-hire Vs cost-per-hire ratio, candidate engagement scores Vs rejection ratio, employer branding and ratings, and process effectiveness index. All these factors need to be mapped with the new tech tool to highlight the ROI for getting an immediate go ahead.

Bandwidth and time management woes

One of the major challenges stopping organizations from implementation of TA technology is related to the bandwidth issue of the internal HR team vis-à-vis the long implementation cycle of the technology tool. The lack of time and training required to implement new systems acts as a deterrent from HR team’s perspective who keeps juggling between many other tasks and interchangeable roles. Also, any kind of tech implementation requires due diligence in the entire process beginning from need analysis, requirement gathering, creating a project charter, vendor identification cum selection, implementation, user adoption till change management. Such long cycle becomes unmanageable with limited resources and shakes the confidence level of the HR team for successful implementation of the tech tool.

In short, the management must support and adequately train their HR team for propelling positive impact based on their performance expectancy. Encourage and define the success of HR tech implementation and measure it at regular intervals. Align it with business objective and hone skills of people to make the HR tech adoption successful.

Know more about what's next in TA at the People Matters Talent Acquisition Conference 2019 on 29th May at Mumbai. Click here to register.

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Topics: Talent Acquisition, #PMTAC

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