New-age companies invest in tech to enable smarter virtual hiring
Amazon’s Virtual Recruiter helps candidates access all relevant information about the company
The covid-led tectonic shift to all things digital, from education and healthcare to shopping and other lifestyle needs, has prompted businesses globally to adopt technology in all spheres of operations. Human resources processes, too, have witnessed a never-before seen shift to digital during the pandemic. From hiring the right talent to skilling, companies launched digital interventions to adopt to the changing times.
E-commerce major Amazon, for instance, launched its Virtual Recruiter, an Android-only, Alexa-enabled initiative, to help candidates access all relevant information about the company to prepare for the selection process and access training resources. “Virtual Recruiter is a step in the direction of making the candidate experience smoother and seamless,” said Raj Kaza, direc-tor, talent acquisition, consumer, Asia-Pacific, Amazon.
“We are excited to launch this Alexa skill that will act as an on-demand hiring assistant and help candidates with authentic information about Amazon and help prepare for their desired roles,” he added.
At data science and artificial intelligence engineering firm Tredence, technology played a vital role in the hiring process to triple its headcount to 1,200 employees since the covid outbreak. It plans to hire another 1,000 by 2022-end.
“To modernize our people management ecosystem, we have been investing actively in platforms such as SAP SuccessFactors, a ‘hire-to-retire’ human capital management platform, where every stage of our HR process is seamlessly integrated. The platforms enable us to hire, engage and on-board candidates faster,” said Saurabh Upadhyay, chief people officer, Tredence.
Amazon and Tredence are not alone. Most new-age companies are investing in technology-enabled virtual hiring tools to streamline the process and make it more sustainable, smarter and efficient.
Software-as-a-service startup Zoho has enhanced its cloud-based HRMS solution, Zoho People, with special features to identify and recruit talent. “The KRAs, goals and objectives can be tagged easily so that new hires know what to expect from their work and job demands…HRs can track the progress of on-boarding easily through intuitive reports, without having to send emails back and forth,” said Rajendran Dandapani, director, technology, Zoho.
Likewise, Fractal Analytics that has hired close to 2,400 employees since the pandemic, began issuing QR code-enabled access to their offer letters and relevant messages.
“A unique proposition that Fractal has designed for all its incoming employees is a dedicated pre-boarding engagement platform called Pathfinder. Through this, incoming employees get a first-hand look into Fractal’s culture, the work we do, as well as snippets around policies, 360-degree virtual office tours, case studies on real-world problems and a host of other features,” said Rohini Singh, chief people officer, Fractal Analytics.
However, HirePro, an AI-based recruitment solutions provider, said many candidates have faced obstacles during the recruitment process due to inadequate back-end infrastructure for virtual interviews and assessments, as organizations relied on makeshift solutions following the covid outbreak. The study revealed that only four out of 10 employers had virtual hiring tools to detect impersonation.
To address the challenges, many companies have now invested in technologies to enable smart virtual hiring.
Unilever, for instance, has deployed US-based HireVue’s AI-driven assessment tools to save £1 million annually, and reduce recruitment time by 75%, besides achieving hiring diversity. HireVue has a proprietary algorithm to gauge suitable candidates for a specific job by analysing their vocabulary, speech patterns, body language, tone and facial expressions.
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Business NewsIndustryHuman ResourceNew-age companies invest in tech to enable smarter virtual hiring
First Published:9 Nov 2021, 01:51 AM IST
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