To find out how to use Recruitment Automation to ‘hire with heart’, we also have a great eBook on recruitment automation with humanity.

New insights from Aptitude Research suggests Ai can play a much greater role in talent acquisition than just improving efficiency for hiring managers,  it can also make the interview process more human for candidates, something Sapia has long advocated

Aptitude Research has published a new paper showing that when you shift the focus in automated Talent Acquisition from an employer-driven view to a candidate-first then it is possible to reduce bias in hiring,  and improve the overall human element of recruitment.

The research, sponsored by Sapia , an Australian technology company that has pioneered transparent Ai-assisted hiring solutions, shows that humanistic automation creates a personal connection at scale, and works to reduce bias, something no other technology or even human-centred solution can deliver.

Madeline Laurano, CEO of Aptitude comments “The misperception that candidates do not want automation and prefer to keep the current talent acquisition is one of the most significant misperceptions in talent acquisition. Candidates want a fair recruitment process and consistency in communication. Automation can support all of these initiatives and enhance the humanity of the experience.”

There are four main ways that talent acquisition is made more human with automation when the candidate is the focus, rather than  simply moving candidates through the process:

1. Automation can understand what candidates want: Ai considers the unique expectations and experiences of candidates and adapts to them as it learns. Collecting feedback about the recruitment experience and continually improving the candidate journey can help candidates feel connected and heard.
2. The correct data can interrupt bias early in the process: By creating a consistent and fair experience for candidates early in the process, and not relying on CV data as the determinate of job suitability,  companies are more successful at reducing bias and increasing inclusivity.
3. Trust can be built through transparent data: Both employers and candidates need to trust the data and methodologies for the technology that they are using, something that can be achieved through transparency. Companies looking at automation should consider providers that will partner with them and provide transparency.
4. Provide feedback to every candidate:  Though natural language processing every candidate receives personalized feedback and messaging. Leaving unsuccessful candidates feedback they can use for future job searches is empowering and a big leap from ‘ghosting’ or a standard rejection email.

The research can be downloaded here https://sapia.ai/recruitment-automation-humanity/

About Aptitude Research
Aptitude Research Partners is a research-based analyst and advisory firm focused on HCM technology. We conduct quantitative and qualitative research on all aspects of Human Capital Management to better understand the skills, capabilities, technology, and underlying strategies required to deliver business results in today’s complex work environment. 

About Sapia

Sapia has become one of the most trusted mobile-first Ai recruitment platforms, used by companies across Australia, India, South Africa, UK and the US, with a candidate every two minutes engaging with their unique Ai chatbot Smart Interviewer.

What makes their approach unique in its a disruption of three paradigms in recruitment -candidates being ghosted, biased hiring and the false notion that automation diminishes the human experience.

The end result for companies – bias is interrupted at the top of the funnel, your hiring managers make more objective decisions empowered by Smart Interviewer their co-pilot, inclusivity is enhanced, and your hired profile starts to look more like your applicant profile.

Media contacts
Barb Hyman, CEO Sapia
barb@sapia.ai

Madeline Laurano , Researcher Aptitude Research
madeline@aptituderp.com

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990. This year, Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act turned 30. Even after all that time, bias and discrimination against candidates and employees with disabilities continues to be an important topic.

The unemployment rate for those with a disability (10.1%) in 2021 was about twice as high as the rate for those without a disability (5.1%) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Coupled with increased laws and regulations regarding the protection of disabled job applicants and employees (e.g., U.S. EEOC, 2022), it is no surprise that academics, employers, and selection vendors are keen to understand where potential disability bias exists so it can be reduced or, ideally, eliminated.

Traditional face-to-face interviews are a large entry barrier for people with disabilities

Traditional face-to-face or video interviews in particular create potential barriers for individuals with disabilities, due to the well-documented stigma and prejudice against those with disabilities (Scior, 2011; Thompson et al., 2011). One study found that fake accountant job applicants that had disclosed a disability were 26% less likely to receive employment interest from the employer than those with no disability. Worse, experienced candidates with disabilities were 34% less likely to receive interest, despite presenting equally high levels of qualifications (Ameri et al., 2015). In addition to the bias held by hiring managers or recruiters, another concern is that certain selection methods create a very poor candidate experience for individuals with disabilities, causing them stress or anxiety and therefore stopping them from putting their best foot forward. For individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in particular, in-person or video interviews can be very stressful, with less than 10% believing they are given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities in this process (Cooper & Kennady, 2021).

Stuttering is another form of disability where traditional in-person and video interviews where the candidate has to speak may lead to stress and anxiety (Manning and Beck, 2013). One study found that people who stutter find their stuttering to be a “major handicap” in their working lives and over 70% thought that they had a decreased opportunity to be hired and promoted (Klein & Hood, 2004). Other disabilities, such as dyslexia and other learning and language disabilities may cause candidates to struggle with timed online selection assessments, so it is important to identify and remove these barriers (Hyland & Rutigliano, 2013).

How do we better accommodate people with disabilities or neurodiversity in the way we interview and hire?

Cooper and Mujtaba (2022) recommend alternative approaches that allow candidates with ASD to showcase their skills without having to verbally communicate them or properly interpret nonverbal cues.

The use of an online, untimed, chat-based interview – that is, our Ai Smart Interviewer – can not only help reduce discrimination against those with disabilities but also create a more positive candidate experience for them.

This format is particularly helpful for individuals with disabilities where traditional in-person interviews, video interviews, or timed assessments may cause stress or discomfort, therefore not allowing the candidate to express themselves freely and adequately demonstrate their skills.

The power of a Smart Interviewer, supported by research

Our Sapia Labs data science team has submitted a paper on reducing bias for people with disabilities to SIOP for 2023.

In the study, the data comes directly from our Smart Interviewer, which, as we said above, is an online untimed chat-based interview platform.

Candidates can give feedback after the interview process, and some candidates include self-report disability conditions in their feedback. While a number of different disabilities were mentioned, we had sufficient sample sizes to examine candidates with autism, dyslexia, and stutter. We compared their machine learning-generated final interview scores and yes/maybe/no hiring recommendations to a randomly sampled, demographically similar group of candidates that did not disclose a disability.

Effect sizes, 4/5ths ratios, and Z-tests revealed no adverse impact against candidates with autism, stutter or dyslexia. Additionally, feedback from these groups tended to indicate the experience was positive and allowed them the opportunity to do their best.

• “It was an unusual experience but as an autistic person, I appreciated being able to interview via text rather than phone. It gave me the chance to really consider my responses in my own time.”
• “I must admit this is much more relieving than a face-to-face interview as I fear that I would stutter and accidentally say something stupid.”
• “Being dyslexic, this interview gives me a fantastic opportunity to think and re-read my responses before delivery.”

True diversity and inclusion starts with the way you hire. Our Ai Smart Interviewer allows people with disabilities and neurodiversity – real people, with real ambitions – to represent themselves fairly.

Reach out to us today to find out more.

Now is the time for HR to Level Up on Ai literacy 

2020 sucked. For everyone. We were all totally unprepared and many of us just got through it. Yes, it dispelled that long-held myth that ‘I need to see you to trust you are doing the work’ but flexibility is only fabulous when you aren’t surrounded by kids at home 24/7 or under lockdown in a global pandemic. What will 2021 bring and can we be better prepared?

With two massive workforce movements in one year – the forced move to distributed work (we prefer this term to remote work), and Black Lives Matter, HR has to get better prepared in its understanding of the human impact of technology in use, especially Ai.

The innate power of Ai is to uncover patterns in large volumes of data and the data-driven thinking that comes with the adoption of Ai in your processes can challenge human decision making. This is not a bad thing because it allows us to interrupt unconscious biases we inherit thanks to our evolutionary hard-wiring.

Whilst HR technology has evolved, there are many pseudoscientific claims around Ai – almost more than there are genuinely scientifically backed claims. Using the wrong Ai-technology creates a huge legal risk and brand risk for companies, for which HR is ultimately responsible.  Now is the time for HR to step up and educate themselves about which technology is genuinely innovative and moves humanity forward.

The bar must be held high when you are making life-changing decisions on the basis of data.

The work that HR needs to do is:

• Self-education
• Self-regulation
• Use thorough impact assessments looking at the holistic candidate experience, not just the algorithmic components overseen by a joint team comprising HR, legal and cybersecurity
• Create a guiding framework for making the right decision

The team that needs to do the work ought to be cross-functional including  HR, legal and cybersecurity.

To help HR leaders make smart decisions about these new Ai technologies, we are making available our FAIR™ Framework, a set of measures and guidelines to make sure that both candidates and hiring managers can trust the Ai tools that they use.

Understanding FAIR™ – Fair Ai for Recruitment

Go here to download >

A global standard for the responsible use of Ai in recruitment.

Ai can deliver powerful and better outcomes for recruiters and candidates, but we must ensure that all recruiting Ai is fair.

For hiring managers and organisations, this guide provides an assurance as well as a template to query fairness related metrics of Ai recruitment tools.

For candidates, FAIR™ ensures that they are using a system built with fairness as a key performance metric. This set of guidelines helps HR leaders make smart decisions so they can trust the Ai tools that they use. Here’s the FAIR Framework >