Got Naukri or not? Got an Employee or not?

Okay…so writing after ten days…and these ten days have been really hectic. I was evaluating end semester exam answer-sheets of my HR students. Most of the students hail from non-technical background. It is very interesting to teach them role of technology in human resource management. They come with a closed mind-set and a very reserved approach towards use of technology. It doesn’t mean that they are not tech-savvy. All of them use smartphones, have social media accounts and know how to use latest gadgets. But either they don’t know the application or are not very comfortable with use of technology in HR processes. Similarly, organizations have manpower, access to latest technology as well as pools of data but they don’t know how to use them efficiently.

This is one of the posts in a series of posts which will clear the dilemma about use of technology in HR processes. And the process for today is ‘Recruitment and Selection’.

According to a digital business study conducted by MIT Sloan Review and Deloitte LLP in 2016, ability to attract and retain talent was one of the most serious and overlooked threats faced by an organization. Some of the opportunities and challenges faced by the organizations are as follows:

Opportunities
1. ICT and internet have made it possible for companies to reach millions of prospective individuals via online platforms such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Naukri.com etc.
2. Constructing a talent pool is not very difficult. Organizations or recruitment consultants can post the job online and receive hundreds of resumes quickly and efficiently.
3. A centralized database of resumes can be built which can be helpful to the company for any future openings. (E.g. TCS has a separate portal called TCS nextstep which handles prospective employees)
4. Instead of HR executives going through each and every resume, the resumes can be screened and filtered with the help of relevant softwares (generally called ATS or Applicant Tracking System. E.g. BambooHR, Newton Applicant Tracking, Kronos Workforce Ready etc.)
5. Psychometric, behavioural and aptitude tests can be administered and evaluated online, making the process more accurate, efficient and cost-effective (E.g. P&G conducts Psychometric and aptitude tests for some of its managerial positions online)

Challenges with technology

1. Online platforms and portals have increased the competition by manifolds.
2. The candidates not only see the job postings but also review of company, its performance, employee experiences, pay packages etc. It has become all the more important for organizations to be transparent and carefully develop its employer brand (More about it in future posts).
3. Availability of eclectic softwares, job platforms and online recruitment partners has also made the task difficult for organizations. Whom to choose? What should be the criteria of selecting a recruitment agency? What software should we buy for streamlining our recruitment process? Is Taleo sufficient? These are a few of thousands of questions that an organization faces while going digital for recruitment and selection.

Challenges with candidates

Some of the challenges involved with online recruitment platforms are as follows:
1. Application to jobs on most of the platforms includes just an easy click on ‘Apply’. Thus, many of the uninterested as well as less serious candidates also apply. Separating interested lot from the other is extremely difficult
2. It is very difficult to ensure that the applicant is actually capable of doing work until he/she actually starts working
3. Most of the organizations want easy way out i.e. they do not take effort of finding the right recruitment agency/software

In a world dominated by technology nobody can remain aloof from its influence. Instead, organizations can make technology work for their own benefit and overcome all the challenges.

Hope you like this post. Next post will contain all the ways of facing and overcoming aforementioned challenges.