Mention AI used in hiring at any HR conference and the discussion goes immediately to reducing bias. That’s understandable given that bias in hiring is a top concern for HR professionals, and AI hiring tools have enormous power to help solve this ongoing challenge. Still, there’s more to AI’s ROI in hiring than supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals. Hiring teams should expect their AI to deliver more efficient, effective and engaging hiring, too.
The AI-Bias Link
AI hiring tools are so often linked with bias for several reasons. Framing use of AI in terms of fair hiring puts context around a complex, often not well understood technology. Organizations may be driving hiring with AI, but they aren’t looking under the hood: According to a 2022 Aptitude Research study just 20% of companies say they have a clear understanding of when they are using AI in talent acquisition. Linking AI to reducing bias in hiring is a good way to articulate its value. For more on this, read our 2023 Hiring Trends report.
Second, at this juncture, there is ample evidence that AI can indeed reduce bias in hiring. For instance, Modern Hire’s AI in Automated Interview Scoring analyzes candidate responses to on-demand interviews and recommends scores based on job-relevant data and competencies linked to job success. Automated Interview Scoring is proven to reduce interview bias by more than three times, increasing the likelihood that the best candidates are chosen.
Start with a Better Understanding of Your AI
The first step toward improving hiring performance with AI is understanding where the tools came from. Were they developed based on science? How have they been validated? What is the technology company’s approach to ethical AI in hiring? What is the AI tool’s value proposition, and how can its ROI be measured? How does the tech company ensure its AI tools support compliance?
Yes, there are highly-technical answers to all of these questions, but the vendor should also be able to give answers in plain language. The goal is transparency, so HR professionals can understand when and how the AI is being used, and be able to confidently discuss the use of AI in the context of their own hiring process. AI tools are complex; the communication about their use to support business goals doesn’t have to be.
The next step is understanding where AI can deliver better hiring performance and better experiences more holistically. Here are a few examples within the broad range that improve hiring for both hiring teams and their candidates:
- Predicting candidates’ future job performance, which increases hiring effectiveness and elevates the likelihood of new hires staying with their new job.
- Scoring candidates’ unstructured interview responses, which increases hiring efficiency and the opportunities candidates get to tell their story in their own words.
- Use of text-based interview assessment tools, which make it easier and more pleasing for candidates to engage with the hiring process, and which enable hiring teams to engage faster and be more responsive to all candidates in talent pools of any size.
These are just some of the ways science-based AI is helping to evolve best practices in hiring.
Have More for Hiring
The fact is, as AI for talent acquisition continues to be developed with advanced selection science, AI will continue to improve hiring as an entire function for companies, and as an end-to-end process for candidates. HR professionals can have more for hiring beyond reduction of bias.
To learn how Modern Hire’s intelligent hiring platform delivers all four E’s to make hiring efficient, effective, ethical, and engaging, request a personal demo today.