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Today, we are experiencing unexpected and surprising rise in Artificial Intelligence. At this point, AI and automation are slowly taking over every industry we have, shaking all our departments, and automating almost everything.

Machines have replaced humans in so many tasks, but simultaneously created various new job opportunities.

The changes happen so fast, it’s really hard to keep track of them. However, by following the progress of AI and using it to our advantage, we can do masterful things with its help, even in the HR department.

Artificial intelligence today

Just think of how far we’ve progressed in this area by now. Automation has taken over the lengthiest administrative assignments that took HR managers hours of every day. AI helps us manage and recruit people, and the myriad of modern automation resources grows by the minute.

“We can only expect new great things in the field, things that will completely transform the HR processes, over and over again. And while we can’t anticipate what will happen in the far, far future, we can surely take a peek into the near future.” – Peter Hope, an IT expert at EssayHave.

Currently, the biggest players in the HR industry are robotics, AI and of course, automation. No one can say for sure which one is the most beneficial and significant in terms of HR, but with the combination of these three, we can only expect more changes in the near future.

According to a survey by PwC, 72% of HR executives trust that artificial intelligence will be highly advantageous for the business world in the following years. Many seem to share this opinion and experiment with the great things it currently offers.

For example, Uber just did its first cargo shipment with an AI-controlled truck two years ago.

People are still testing the AI waters. Once we get full idea and control over it, we can do masterful things with its help.

Automation and AI in the HR process of the future

Now that we’ve established where we stand, it is time to look at the future. How will automation and AI influence the world of human resources? Here are the 6 ways:

1. Fair recruitment process

How can human bias damage the recruitment process, really?

Well, humans have the unintentional or intentional habit of making uninformed choices based on stereotypes. Human bias has been one of the biggest problems in the world of recruitment. The HR process is at fault here; specifically HR managers and recruiters seem to fall victim to confirmation bias, often subconsciously and make uninformed and often discriminatory decisions as a result. In many cases, they pass on an excellent candidate just to hire someone else based on ethnicity, gender, age, etc.

With the help of artificial intelligence, we are already moving forward and passing this problem to the past. Artificial intelligence is already being programmed to ignore these details about the candidates. The focus is put on candidates’ credentials and qualifications instead of on their background, skin color, age, or any other human bias factors.

Just four years ago, Google started using the qDroid, a recruitment tool that provided recruiters with better interview questions that completely disregard the candidate’s background. Such approach isn’t as widespread as it should be at the moment, but the fact is, Google remains one of the companies that hire the very best candidates, human bias-free.

We can only expect this to progress and take over every HR department on a worldwide level.

Some other popular companies have done this, too, such as the writing service assignment geek and the hiring service GapJumpers. GapJumpers is among the first ones who started to use AI to help beat the human bias. It does so by creating bling auditions to help recruiters hire the very best without any discrimination or bias.

Organizations such as this one have been using artificial intelligence and automation to make the recruiting tasks more effective and less discriminatory. Based on this, one of the biggest impacts of automation in the future will be the emergence of more fair screening and hiring practices within the HR process, allowing for equal rights among the candidates for a given job position.

Artificial intelligence can be programmed to learn the needed skills and qualifications, remember what role demands what type of candidate, and apply the obtained knowledge to grade and screen, as well as rank the candidates that are a right fit for the position. And since AI is not a human, this will go without the damaging human bias.

The results are amazing. Companies that have used this approach have seen tremendous results in terms of cost per hire, re-hires and recruiter efficiency. According to TechRepublic, we are currently witnessing a 71% decrease in cost per hire, as well as a tripled increase numbers in terms of recruiter efficiency.

AI will also help automate the outreach. When it comes to recruiting and managing employees, automation can be used in a variety of ways.

As previously mentioned, some companies already use it to create fair and bias-free interview question. And since automated processes take the burden off the hands of recruiters and HR experts, they have more time to tackle the remaining challenges that come with the job.

2. Better assessment of candidates during the HR process

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How do you choose a single candidate out of a pile of candidates’ applications? This is one of the biggest burdens and challenges of every HR department – how to choose the right person for the job. Human bias aside, the process still demands a lot of assessment and deep thinking.

Thankfully, AI can help in this process, too. With its help, the recruitment can be almost fully automated. AI can gather the data sent by each candidate, assess it, and compare it to other’s applications.

Companies that have moved forward with this approach include the ITS recruitment agency that checks the candidates for specific job listings to help its clients, Glider that uses some of the best algorithms available to check the skill set of the candidates, as well as the recruitment platform called Ideal that leverages the powers of AI to boost the efficiency of the process.

We are only expecting progress in this area in the future based on the success AI has had in selecting the best people for the job, especially in cases where HR departments have to go through a pool of candidates to pick one or two people. This will not only beat the human bias, but also cut down the time necessary to go through all the applications to nothing, leaving recruiters with the best selected choices for the next step – an interview.

During the manual application checking process, recruiters are overwhelmed with the task of overseeing many candidates. In fact, some of the bigger and most popular companies have to look through hundreds of application. This demands days and weeks of their time, not to mention that it is often done in a rush, with a significantly decreased focus – all of which can lead to a poor choice and evaluation of the candidates.

With the help of business process automation and AI, all data can be gathered, properly and fairly access, and all candidates are given an equal, fair chance at the specific job position. Basically, AI assesses candidates faster, more effectively, and does not at all sacrifice the quality of the hiring process.

Let’s not only speak of the resume-reviewing process. After all, artificial intelligence has also started to be used in the actual interview process, and not only in the question-making task. Preparations for interviews are now mostly automated and with the help of AI, HR managers can actually tailor the questions to the specific candidates.

But, even when the interviews start, AI can turn the videos into data points, track facial and body movements, as well as intonation to track all interviewed candidates. As strangely as it sounds, this can tell recruiters a lot, and we are probably going to see a lot of this implemented in the future hiring processes, too.

3. Increased use of analytics and metrics

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Artificial intelligence is a ‘partner in crime’ for everyone in the HR sector. When it comes to analytics and metrics, it’s a wonderful addition to any strategy. With the use of business process analysis techniques, artificial intelligence can help HR manager to find the candidates with the best probability to fit in and succeed.

This goes beyond just job applications. A combination of the internet and automation can give recruiters access to many available candidates that are perfect for the position, but haven’t really seen the job posts just yet.

After AI helps the department to find the perfect candidate, interview and evaluate him, it will continue by analyzing his qualifications and tasks with the ones of the team, supervisors, etc.

With all this information, AI can provide advice on who should be paired with who, what learning opportunities should be provided to each employee, and even tell recruiters what candidates are likely to leave the company!

4. Reduced errors

Since artificial intelligence is a master in collecting data as quickly as possible, organizing it and analyzing it – it’s bound to bring some wonderful, error-free results in the HR world. HR departments go through many documents on daily basis, risking to make an error every single day.

With the increase in automation in this industry, every professional of every level will enjoy a reduced risk of errors and a lot of help on behalf of AI.

5. Impact on employee onboarding and development

One of the biggest impacts artificial intelligence has on the progress of the HR departments is in employee onboarding; specifically, training and development. Coaching and training of employees via automated systems is a “slowly, but surely” approach that can be used to aid management in making the most of employee feedback.

Of course, people are now worried that AI will replace them in terms of training and development of the team, which is one of the biggest roles HR experts have within an organization. However, when it comes to the soft skills, AI can never copy those, so this will still remain the task of HR managers – to empower and motivate their teams.

For example, this video demonstrates how Process Street, a BPM software, can be used to streamline the employee onboarding process:

A process like this one, or pretty much any HR process built in Process Street, is designed to be run and maintained by the HR manager. As such, automation is supplementing, rather than replacing the role of the HR manager.

The faster the companies embrace automation, the faster they’ll beat the competition and make the work run smoothly within their organization. Just imagine this – a company that’s led by HR experts who motivate and empower with the help of an accurate, real-time, and fast tool that tracks the progress and needs of every individual within it.

That’s pretty much the premise behind Process Street – a tool that allows people to take ownership of the processes they’re responsible for; this includes building, maintaining, and optimizing them.

In Process Street, this comes in the form of checklist templates. With templates, processes can be clearly defined and broken down into individual tasks; detailed information can be presented and even collected with form fields, and conditional logic makes it easy to create flexible, robust processes that adapt to different situations.

This should bring more and more impressive results in the future, increase the productivity in employees, as well as boost the employee retention.

6. Improved HR support solutions

Every HR department in the world has to deal with a myriad of questions and requests, most of which can simply be answered by using automation. This should decrease the errors and boost the employee satisfaction, as well as take a big burden off the chest of everyone in the HR department.

How can this be done?

Right now, many companies around the world use instant message replies to respond to customers in a timely manner. This helps them retain the potential customers and inform them in real time. So, why not use this as part of your HR strategy?

Of course, the need of actual people to manage processes and employees is still imminent and not at all decreased, since AI will basically answer the questions that have been previously programmed in the system. However, you’d be surprised to learn how many of the questions are asked by numerous employees over and over again.

Still, departments will have to do this with great caution since automated answers need to be constantly updated and the system comes with its own set of dangers.

HR process: The bottom line

AI is rapidly and successfully transforming human resources and its value is growing every day. Research firm IDC predicts that the value of the AI market will increase from $8 billion in 2016 to $47 billion by next year.

Automate your HR process and reap the rewards

By implementing standardized procedures for repetitive HR tasks and processes, and continuously working to improve and optimize them, you’ll be rewarded by improved efficiency and reduced human error.

By using solid HR processes to hire the best fit candidates for the jobs, you can rest assured your business will function with less problems as a result.

Here at Process Street, we’re committed to providing high quality tools for you to use in your day-to-day business. Check out some of these similar articles we’ve published on HR:

• 4 Checklists to Perfect Your Client Onboarding Process
• HR Templates: The Perfect Pack for Company Success
• 6 Checklists to Perfect your New Employee Onboarding Processes
• What is HRIS? The Best Software for a Human Resources Information System
• Why HRMS is Becoming a Must-Have & How to Get Started
• How to Conduct an Interview: A Full Hiring Process With 11 Premade Interview Processes

All said and done, it’s about time to grasp the power of automation and use it to boost the efficacy and efficiency of HR departments around the world.

Are there any HR or recruitment-related tools or processes you’d find useful? Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll do our best to help you out.