It’s a fact. When an organization implements new technology to improve talent acquisition, a behavioral change is required. The larger, more dynamic the organization, the more complex the change. Most often, the business case for new recruiting technology is to encourage efficiency, reduce risk, streamline the process, and of course, acquire the right hire for the right role at the right time, while simultaneously creating an exceptional candidate experience.
The implementation alone is a disruptor, but to do this while maintaining the demands of recruiting for the business is a disruptor magnified considerably. But the disruption that tech brings to the recruitment process is the whole point!
Technology is supposed to disrupt people and inspire them to achieve more.
The HR industry can sometimes be entrenched in tradition and become so comfortable with the status quo that it can be difficult for HR teams to embrace the disruption that technology represents. Sometimes language is to blame. People talk about the importance of making a seamless transition to a new way of working, but sometimes, to achieve the best results, some turbulence must be endured.
Real disruption, like the implementation of a new ATS, will create varying levels of chaos and confusion. It is through this less-than-seamless transition that an organization discovers what truly must be accomplished to operate at a vastly higher level. Technology is the biggest opportunity in the recruitment industry currently, but if people don’t embrace the necessary disruption, then they will only scratch the surface of its potential.
When organizations implement a new ATS, their focus is often on the technology – making it work and making it work with existing systems. What they often fail to consider is how the technology can be adapted to ensure that people are able to do their recruitment jobs to the very best of their ability. No technology can – or should – replace the people-driven focus of recruitment. It is simply a tool to make it easier, more functional, and more standardized. The biggest mistake that we see clients make is in purchasing an ATS before assessing their current recruiting needs, and even more importantly, taking into consideration their future needs. How can you shop for a new recruiting platform if you don’t quite know what you need and want it to do?
Embrace Change
It is exciting (and scary) to know that there is a lot more technology in the pipeline for HR. To be successful – to find and keep the best talent – HR teams will need to continue to embrace disruption. The CHRO’s approach – a willingness to embrace change, look forward, and maintain a focus on people, even as technology does the heavy –lifting – will drive the success of the business. If CHROs embrace the disruption that technology introduces, then their people will be on a continuous journey of renewal. If CHROs just want things to stay the same, with minimal disruption and seamless transitions, then the tech will just gather dust in the corner. It might as well not be there in the first place.
The essence of our consultancy at Beacon Lane Consulting is to encourage people to break down a process in order to build it anew (with the new technology as a key enabler). It isn’t easy and it is rarely smooth, but if it is done with a change mentality – a willingness to embrace disruption – it will always lead to a better place.
