You know the common definition of insanity? The one where the same thing gets done over and over again, but the end result doesn’t change? It might not be a big deal when talking about your daily commute, but taking the same old approach to hire key personnel could be an expensive mistake.

Industry studies estimate bad hires cost up to 2.5 times the dollar amount of that person’s salary – and the damage doesn’t end there. Mismatched employees disrupt workplace chemistry, productivity, and profitability.

In response to poor hiring decisions, a growing number of companies now employ predictive screening and hiring models. Engaging predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) – or algorithms that ‘think’ like humans – to help with the legwork historically performed by recruiters.

AI and predictive analytics look at historical data and then apply the learnings to new data to predict future outcomes. So, predictive hiring models can predict who will make it through the interview process, outperform their peers and still be around a few years down the road.

Progressive HR professionals have realised the potential of predictive and data-driven hiring, and hiring managers seem to agree.

“Today, HR has a seat at the table, and in order to maintain that business partnership, you need to have an analytics framework.”
Andy Kaslow, CHRO, Cerberus

A 2016 survey revealed a strong desire to drive talent acquisition through data and analytics. Two hundred executives at large U.S. firms want technology to play a bigger part in the hiring process. And the clamour for analytics isn’t confined to a younger crowd. Two-thirds of decision-makers who desire data-driven solutions fell between the ages of 45-64.

So, why isn’t everyone doing it?

Although there is a general consensus that data-driven and predictive hiring will make hiring decisions more accurate, many HR professionals still view it as cumbersome and costly to implement.

And it can be true.

Understanding the data needed to make an impact, and figuring out the best techniques and algorithms to use is difficult.

And it can be expensive to hire data scientists, and other key technical personnel needed to implement a full scale HR analytics system.

But, there’s no need to go it alone or to do it all at once.

Rather than setting up in-house HR analytics teams, most companies opt to engage a vendor who specialises in custom predictive screening and hiring models. Finding a vendor that works with you to solve your hiring challenges will significantly cut cost and time to implement.

So, if you are considering implementing predictive hiring, we have put together a few tips to ensure you get off to a great start.

1. Define what you want to improve

The crucial first step of any successful project is to define what that success looks like. And implementing predictive hiring isn’t any different.

Have a think about the biggest issue your organisation is facing at the moment that better hiring decisions will solve.

For example, you might have the issue that a lot of new hires are leaving your organisation after a few months. Or you might have a company culture in need of strengthening, and need to hire people who fit with your ideal culture.

When you have honed in on the issue you want to solve, you also need to start thinking about the data that will be required to solve your challenge.

To give you an indication of the type of data you might need, consider these examples;

• If you have an issue with turnover, the data needed would be employees’ start and end date.
• Or, if you were looking to improve your customer service level at a call centre, you would need some sort of customer service KPI data – for example NPS.

(These indications are based on the data required if you were working with us at PredictiveHire)

2. Find a shortlist of vendors

After defining the issue you want to address with predictive hiring, it is time to find a shortlist of vendors that can help you achieve your goal.

Make sure you look for vendors who are able to build predictive hiring models focused on your specific issues, whilst making sure the candidate experience isn’t compromised.

3. Perform your due diligence

When you have your shortlist of vendors narrowed down, make sure you perform your due diligence. Some vendors will be a better fit for the challenge you wish to solve with your predictive hiring model.

Make sure your shortlisted vendors address these key questions;

• What are they basing their predictions on? Predictive hiring experts should be able to tell you the scientific basis of their predictions.
• How do they address the potential of existing biases being incorporated into the algorithms?
• How do they fit in with your current hiring process? Can they fit in without causing too much disruption/change?
• What is the user experience of their product like? How about the candidate experience? For a predictive hiring solution to be useful it should be easier to use than not to use.
• How do they support you during implementation, on-boarding and roll-out of the tool?
• What is required from you in order to maximise the project outcome?

Ai for Hiring – Buyers Guide: The 8 Questions You Must Ask

All of these questions are important to address to ensure the project’s success.

Implementing new software and processes will always require some level of change management, for example; following the ADKAR or Kotter change management approaches. Make sure you are comfortable with the level of support the vendor will offer you during the roll-out.

Following these three steps will ensure you are off to a good start with your predictive hiring project – and can start reaping the rewards quickly.

Predictive HR analytics is here to stay.

Resisting this change may put your company at a distinct disadvantage in the marketplace.

A recent MGI study found that AI can significantly improve the bottom line for businesses willing to incorporate them into their core functions. And the time really is now. Early adopters will enjoy a significant data-advantage in only a few years.

“[Leading businesses] use multiple AI technologies across multiple functions. As these firms expand AI adoption and acquire more data, laggards will find it harder to catch up.”
McKinsey Global Institute, June 2017

In the words of Gartner Research’s senior vice president Peter Sondergaard, “Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.”

You can try out Sapia’s Chat Interview right now, or leave us your details to book a demo

To find out how to interpret bias in recruitment, we also have a great eBook on inclusive hiring.

And then suddenly the video interview went mainstream! 

Whether it’s Google Meet, Facetime or Zoom, 2020 will always be remembered as the year that video meet-ups went mainstream. It’s how kids kept up their lessons. How their parents hooked up with their personal trainers. It’s where people met up for Friday drinks. And of course, it’s the technology that enabled millions to stay connected to colleagues and clients while working from home. 

And just as video has impacted so many parts of our lives and businesses, it also accelerated the adoption of video tools in contemporary recruiting.

It might be considered the next-best-thing to ‘being there’, but could video interviewing actually be filled with traps that are working against the best interests of recruiters, candidates and employers? 

What is a video interview?

There are two types of video interviews:

• one-way or asynchronous video interviews – where candidates record their responses to a set of job-relevant questions.
• two-way video interviews  – using one of the platforms described above or bespoke tools that connect the interviewer (or interviewing panel) in conversation with candidates.

Can video interviews really reduce unconscious bias?

Within both types of video interviews, an ability to reduce unconscious bias is promoted as a key benefit.

Unconscious bias is the sum of the inherent beliefs, opinions, cultural background and life experiences that shape how we assess, engage and interact with others.

There are several ways that video interviewing might help reduce unconscious bias:

• A consistent experience – With a structured approach to interview questions and process that provides every candidate with the same parameters. A standardised experience for every candidate can be seen to reduce bias.  When questions are set, there’s little or no room for distracting small talk (in two way interviews) that may reveal bias triggers.
• No geographic or travel barriers – By interviewing all candidates in a location of their choosing, the bias of distance and the effort and expense of travel to attend an interview in person is reduced. 
• Open the opportunity to more candidates – With the ability to automate video interviews and applications, recruiters can connect with many more candidates, helping to reduce the bias that may see a CV or application ignored or put aside.

The bias problem that’s staring you in the face.

As much as proponents of video screening or interviewing claim it removes bias from the process, by its very nature, the opposite is in fact true. 

As soon as an interviewer or hirer sees a candidate, the blindfolds of bias are removed. No matter how aware or trained in bias the reviewers may be, images and sound can trigger bias. Additionally, it can distract attention from the things that really matter. Here are just a few things that someone talking to the camera will reveal. All possible points of unconscious bias:

• gender
• age
• skin colour
• cultural background
• visible disabilities
• attractiveness or otherwise
• what people wear – headscarves, religious jewellery, or maybe you just don’t like stripes or the candidate’s personal style
• the background of the video – are you making judgements about candidates because of their home environment or choice of art on the walls 
• accents might sound ‘funny’ or strange to your ear
• candidates may have unusual voices or speech impediments that would not impact their ability to perform in the role 
• you may negatively associate candidates with other people you’ve worked with or met 
• the candidate may be highly nervous  about ‘performing’ for the camera, affecting their ability to speak normally and communicate clearly

No rule says you need to see someone to hire them

That’s just a bias (much like the bias pre-Covid) that you need to see someone at work to know that they are doing the work. 

Blind hiring means you are interviewing a candidate without seeing them or knowing them. It’s fair for the candidate and also smart for your organisation. 

If you are hanging your hat on the fact you just finished bias training- research has shown consistently unconscious bias training does not work.  

While we have all been dutifully attending it for years, the truth is the change factor is zero. 

Video interviews vs text interviews. Which delivers blind interviewing at its best?

Sapia’s Ai-enabled, text chat interview platform has been designed to deliver the ultimate in blind testing at the most important stage of the recruitment process: candidate screening. 

Unlike video interviewing, Sapia removes all the elements that can bring unconscious bias into play – video, visual content such as candidate photos or data gathered from social channels such as LinkedIn. Sapia even takes CVs out of the process.

Read: The Ultimate Guide To Interview Automation With Text-Based Assessments

An enjoyable and empowering candidate experience

While being ‘camera shy’ works against many candidates in video interviews, Sapia evaluates candidates with a few simple open, transparent questions via a text conversation.  

Candidates know text and are comfortable using it.  A text interview is non-threatening and candidates tell us they feel respected and recognised as the individual they are. They are grateful for the space and time to tell their story in their words. It’s the only conversational interview platform with 99% candidate satisfaction feedback.

Better hiring outcomes with Sapia

Beyond a more empowering candidate experience, the platform helps recruiters and employers connect with the best candidates faster and cost-effectively. The platform uses Ai, machine learning and NLP to test, assess and rank candidates according to values, traits, personality, communications skills and more. 

Recruiters can gain valuable personality insights and the confidence of a shortlist with the best matched candidates to proceed to live interviews. By removing bias from the screening process Sapia is helping employers increase workplace diversity. 

Find out more about Sapia’s Ai-powered text interview platform. Also, see how we can support your best-practice recruitment needs today. 

To keep up to date on all things “Hiring with Ai” subscribe to our blog!

Finally, you can try out Sapia’s Chat Interview right now HERE > 

Our friends at eArcu are passionate about empowering recruiters to drive the hiring experience. They help recruiters engage and excite candidates from the first touch, to the first day. Now you can take full advantage of eArcu ATS by using Sapia’s interview automation platform, for fairer, faster and better hiring results. Integrating is easy, and it’ll allow you to get ahead of your competitors even easier!

Simplify eArcu ATS hiring

A lot is expected from recruiters, from screening thousands of applicants to attracting candidates of diverse backgrounds and delivering a great candidate experience. But technology has advanced a lot and can now better support recruiters.  

The great news is that when you integrate Sapia artificial intelligence technology with the powerful eArcu ATS, you will have a faster, fairer and more efficient recruitment process that candidates love.

You can now: 

• Reduce your screening time by up to 90%
• Increase your candidate satisfaction to near 100%
• Achieve interview completion rates over 90%
• And reduce screening bias for good

Sapia + eArcu

Gone are the days of screening CVs, followed by phone screens to find the best talent. The number of people applying for each job has grown 5-10 times in size recently. Reading each CV is simply no longer an option. In any case, the attributes that are markers of a high performer often aren’t in CVs and the risk of increasing bias is high.

You can now streamline your eArcu process by integrating Sapia’s interview automation with eArcu.

We’ve created a quick, easy and fair hiring process that candidates love.

1. Create a vacancy in eArcu, and a Sapia interview link will be created. 
2. Include the link in your advertising. Every candidate will have an opportunity to complete a FirstInterview via chat.
3. See results as soon as candidates complete their interview. Each candidate’s scores, rank, personality assessment, role-based traits and communication skills are available as soon as they complete the interview. Every candidate will receive automated, personalised feedback.

By sending out one simple interview link, you nail speed, quality and candidate experience in one hit.

Integrate eArcu and get ahead

Sapia’s award-winning chat Ai is available to all eArcu users. You can automate interviewing, screening, ranking and more, with a minimum of effort! Save time, reduce bias and deliver an outstanding candidate experience.

Experience the Sapia Chat Interview for yourself

The interview that all candidates love

As unemployment rates rise, it’s more important than ever to show empathy for candidates and add value when we can. Using Sapia, every single candidate gets a FirstInterview through an engaging text experience on their mobile device, whenever it suits them. Every candidate receives personalised MyInsights feedback, with helpful coaching tips which candidates love.

Together, Sapia and eArcu deliver an approach that is: 

• Relevant—move beyond the CV to the attributes that matter most to you: grit, curiosity, accountability, critical thinking, agility and communication skills
• Respectful—give every single person an interview and never ghost a candidate again
• Dignified—show you value people’s time by providing every single applicant personal feedback
• Fair—avoid video in the first round interviews and take an approach that’s 100% blind to gender, age, ethnicity and other irrelevant attributes
• Familiar—text chat interviewing is not only highly efficient, but it’s also familiar to people of all ages  

There are thousands of comments just like this …

“I have never had an interview like this in my life and it was really good to be able to speak without fear of judgment and have the freedom to do so.

The feedback is also great. This is a great way to interview people as it helps an individual to be themselves.

The response back is written with a good sense of understanding and compassion.

I don’t know if it is a human or a robot answering me, but if it is a robot then technology is quite amazing.”

Take it for a 2-minute test drive here > 

Recruiters love using artificial intelligence in hiring

Recruiters love the TalentInsights Sapia surface in eArcu as soon as each candidate finishes their interview.

Together, Sapia and eArcu deliver an approach that is: 

• Fast—Ai-powered scores and rankings make shortlisting candidates quicker
• Insightful—Deep dive into the unique personality and other traits of each candidate 
• Fair—Candidates are scored and ranked on their responses. The system is blind to other attributes and regularly checked for bias.
• Streamlined—Our stand-alone LiveInterview mobile app makes arranging assessment centres easy. Automated record-keeping reduces paperwork and ensures everyone is fairly assessed.
• Time-saving—Automating the first interview screening process and second-round scheduling delivers 90% time savings against a standard recruiting process.

Don’t believe us, read the reviews! 

See Recruiter Reviews here > 

HR Directors and CHROs love reliable bias tracking

Well-intentioned organisations have been trying to shift the needle on the bias that impacts diversity and inclusion for many years, without significant results. 

Together, Sapia and eArcu deliver an approach that is: 

• Measurable—DiscoverInsights, our operations dashboard that provides clear reporting on recruitment, including pipeline shortlisting, candidate experience and bias tracking.
• Competitive—The Sapia and eArcu experience is loved by candidates, ensuring you’ll attract the best candidates, and hire faster than competitors.
• Scalable—Whether you’re hiring one hundred people, or one thousand, you can hire the best person for the job, on time, every time.
• Best-in-class—Sapia easily integrates with eArcu to provide you with a best-in-class AI-enabled HRTech stack. 

Getting started is easy

Let’s chat about getting you started – book a time here >