How do you balance the human touch vs automation in recruiting?

With all the cool tech tools popping up for talent acquisition, recruiters have plenty of shiny gadgets to make their jobs easier. There’s so much out there to make life easier and faster. But no matter how advanced the technology gets, hiring is all about connecting with real people. It’s about conversations, relationships, and culture that you instill within the people in your organization. And that begins during the hiring process.

So, how do we use these shiny new tools without turning into robots? How do we keep the handshake, the laughter, and the genuine “tell me about yourself” moments?

It’s a tricky balance, like trying to text with one hand while holding a coffee in the other. We turned to some recruiting pros to get their two cents on this juggling act.

Luisiana Cruz, Talent Acquisition Consultant

The key to the right balance is to prioritize human touch wherever in the process there’s an opportunity to impact the candidate experience. Automate the administrative side of recruiting, automate pipeline reports to stakeholders, etc. to open up your time to serve top-quality human service to candidates interested in your company.

John Lee, Talent Acquisition Director at Montauk Labs

There’s this idea that automation in the recruitment process operates in contrast to an authentic, human candidate experience. Sadly, in some cases that can be the case especially when automation is not carefully woven into the fabric of the hiring experience.

In my opinion, the role automation should play is that which enhances the hiring experience for everyone involved. I imagine a world where automation can take on the role of scheduling meetings, transcribing feedback, and shouldering administrative tasks. In doing so, one would hope we let humans be humans and make meaningful connections throughout the hiring process.

In my experience, hiring teams LOVE meeting candidates 99% of the time. What many folks don’t love is the administrative work that comes with the responsibility of interviewing.

Danielle Beaulieu, Human Resources Director at Accredited Home Elevator Company

We are hyper-focused on the human experience. We use automation in recruiting to enhance the human experience. We don’t have to think about the mundane or repetitive, so we can make the unique human the center of our attention.

Amanda Gruwell, Sr. Sales Director at Coit Group, a Hudson RPO Company

Balancing the human touch and automation in recruiting is pivotal. While automation streamlines and boosts processes + efficiencies, the human connection at the outset is vital for colleague retention. Building relationships from the start fosters trust, aligns values, and creates a positive recruitment and employee journey, yielding long-term commitment and satisfaction. At Hudson-Coit RPO we choose to integrate technology strategically AND thoughtfully, to enhance our recruitment efforts while still maintaining the essential human elements that have made us so successful in building relationships with our candidates.

Paul Mazzagatti, Sr. Manager – Client Delivery at Hudson RPO

Human touch is the most important aspect of employee retention, especially in our current environment. Most of the workforce is still remote. Keep your people engaged, allow them to share their insights, and focus on their well-being. Leave the automation to the ATS….

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Find The Balance

Finding the sweet spot between using tech tools and keeping things personal in recruiting is a bit like finding the perfect recipe. You’ve got to mix the right ingredients in just the right way.

The key takeaway from our chat with the experts? Tech can help speed things up, but it’s the human touch that makes all the difference. After all, hiring is about more than just filling a spot – it’s about building a connection. As we dive deeper into the digital age, let’s remember to use tech to boost our human side, not hide it.