OpenAI celebrated its first anniversary in December, and in just 12 months, the availability of Generative AI has transformed the modern workforce. Research by the ChatGPT creators indicates that Generative AI can be integrated into up to 80% of jobs, and one of our recent LinkedIn polls found that 55% of our network members use the technology in their day to day work. 

So, how can recruiters and talent teams make the most of this technology to enhance their talent attraction and retention strategies? 

AI Investment on the Rise Globally 

According to Atomico's 2023 State of European Tech Report, AI investment has seen a global surge, with Europe playing a big role. In 2023, 10 European AI start-ups secured over $85 million in funding, and AI and Machine Learning companies represented 11% of total investments.  

The challenging funding landscape in 2023 resulted in the UK creating only 4 new unicorns in 2023 - down from 15 in 2022. Two of these new unicorns are AI startup Synthesia and AI-powered financial crime company Quantexa, who both bagged $1bn valuations this year.

Enhancing Talent Teams with Generative AI

The rapid pace of technological advancement can be overwhelming, but encouraging your talent team to embrace new technology and explore its potential early doors helps to create a culture of innovation and discovery. But - it's important to strike the right balance between exploring new tech possibilities and making wise time and money investments. Blindly jumping onto the latest trend can be counterproductive... Instead, focus on specific challenges your team faces and explore whether integrating Generative AI could offer time-saving solutions or better outcomes.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of hiring professionals believe that integrating generative AI into recruitment processes can automate routine tasks (data from Jobylon). Freeing up time for more strategic, high-value work and resulting in more efficient talent teams. It’s a win win. 👍

During our recent roundtable discussion, we brought together Talent & People leaders responsible for growing some of the most innovative tech teams in the UK. AI was a prominent topic on the agenda, and here are some examples of how recruiters and talent teams are using generative AI to discover tech talent.

How Talent Teams are using Generative AI in Recruitment 

Copywriting: AI can transform job specs, blogs, and LinkedIn posts to align with your brand's tone of voice – this can be particularly useful for teams without in-house marketing or copywriting support.

Interview Training: Tools like Screenloop monitor interviewers' speaking time, ensuring balanced interactions and flagging instances of interviewers dominating conversations.

Transcription: Automate the transcription of meeting and interview notes to you’re your team valuable hours. We love Otter.ai as a transcription tool.

Proofreading and Grammar Checking: Use AI to check for spelling and grammar errors or help condense copy when needed.

Writing Interview Questions: When hiring for technical roles and senior candidates, AI is excellent for crafting challenging technical interview questions that excite candidates, helping non-technical recruiters with language and complexity and ultimately enhancing the interview experience for superstar candidates.

Building L&D Programmes: Identify relevant courses and refreshers based on feedback from your team.

Kickstarting Niche Searches: For very specific, niche searches – input requirements from roles, job specs and hiring manager briefings to narrow down sectors and organisations and get a starting point for where to first look.

Constructing Career Frameworks: Utilise AI to brainstorm and build progression frameworks, incorporating job specs, values, behaviours, and role hierarchies to provide a foundation for development.

Enhancing Candidate Engagement & Experience: In today’s talent-rich market, recruiters face the challenge of handling hundreds of applications, many of which may not align with the job requirements. But it's crucial to maintain a personal connection with applicants.

AI can help to create personalised rejection emails that not only convey respect and empathy but also provide constructive, anonymised feedback. Streamlining and speeding up the communication process enables recruiters to respond to a larger volume of applicants efficiently - which will do wonders for your candidate experience.

The Risks of Using Generative AI

Mindful Adoption and Addressing Biases

It’s no secret that AI has issues with the level of bias present in these tools. Generative AI learns from historical data, which can prolong certain biases. And given the tech industry's ongoing struggles with gender and ethnic diversity, it's crucial to ensure the teams building this technology also reflect the wider society that are using it.

Data Privacy

Training and procedures are needed internally to make sure your term isn’t sharing sensitive or personal data to the platform.

Quality Control

AI-generated content might not always meet quality standards, so there’s still a need for human quality checking to ensure accuracy and relevance. AI should be considered as you support act rather than a replacement.

Dependence on Technology

We need to strike a balance of using technology for efficiency without becoming over-reliant on AI to complete work tasks. The technology risks stunting creativity and setting back the development of human skills, especially for the next generation entering the workforce who have extensive access to this technology without the opportunity to develop essential skills on the job.

Trust & Credibility

Avoid generating predictable and repetitive content by adding your unique personality and insights to AI-generated drafts. AI-generated content can be very easy to spot when not used effectively, which can cause your customers to become sceptical of your brand, so make sure you keep your content authentic.

Losing the Human Touch

AI is a powerful tool for introducing automation and workflows to maximise your time. But Recruiters should be cautious not to overly depend on the technology at the expense of humanisation and the personalised touch. The most successful recruiters will leverage AI as a tool to optimise processes, allowing them more time to forge meaningful human connections with their candidates.

 

Addressing these challenges requires a thoughtful approach across the business, with personalised training, ethical guidelines, internal guides and policies, and ongoing monitoring to maximise the benefits of generative AI while preventing the potential drawbacks.

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Generative AI is ushering in a new era of tech hiring, empowering talent teams to work smarter, not harder. By understanding its potential, embracing innovation, and mitigating biases, talent teams can unlock a world of opportunities to transform the way they attract and retain top tech talent. 🚀

 

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Written by Becca Rose