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    How Generative AI Can Transform Workplace Diversity

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    The intersection of technology and workplace diversity has reached a pivotal moment with the release of a new report, “Leverage GAI to Diversify Talent” from talent services firm Seramount. This research sheds light on how generative AI (GAI) shows the potential to revolutionize recruiting and hiring practices for historically excluded talent.
    The report highlights GAI’s capabilities in reducing biases, broadening talent pools and ensuring fairer applicant screening processes—a trifecta that could redefine modern hiring practices.
    Unlock the Potential of GAI in Hiring
    Meredith McNeill, a senior director of research at Seramount, underscores the opportunity GAI presents. “Our interviews with chief diversity officers, DEI teams, chief human resource officers, and technology experts show that GAI holds enormous potential to help in-house experts promote DEI best practices and have more influence on hiring outcomes for historically excluded talent,” McNeill states.
    Through dozens of interviews and secondary research, McNeill identifies three key areas where GAI can significantly impact diversity efforts.
    Reduce Bias in Job Descriptions
    One persistent challenge in hiring is subtle bias in job descriptions. Often, DEI teams are tasked with the labor-intensive process of reviewing hundreds of job postings to identify and remove exclusionary language. GAI can automate this process, editing job descriptions at scale to eliminate biased or gendered language. This ensures that companies retain potential candidates from diverse backgrounds.
    By streamlining this task, GAI not only saves time but also ensures that job descriptions align with inclusive best practices. The proactive approach helps attract a broader range of candidates, setting the stage for more equitable hiring outcomes.
    Expand Candidate Sourcing
    Traditional candidate sourcing methods often fail to engage underrepresented groups effectively. GAI addresses this issue by generating personalized messages tailored to specific audiences. These messages can incorporate nuanced cultural tones and styles, making them more appealing to diverse candidates.
    Moreover, GAI’s ability to create multiple personalized messages at scale enhances its effectiveness in reaching and engaging individuals from various backgrounds. This innovative approach empowers companies to connect with a broader array of potential employees, fostering a more representative talent pipeline.
    Ensure Equitable Applicant Screening
    The screening process is another critical stage where biases can unintentionally influence outcomes. GAI’s use of skills-based assessments offers a solution. By standardizing questions, formats, and evaluation criteria, GAI ensures a consistent and fair experience for all applicants.
    Unlike traditional methods, which may rely on subjective judgments or cultural similarities between hiring managers and candidates, skills-based assessments objectively measure a candidate’s qualifications, reducing the likelihood of bias and helping level the playing field for historically excluded talent.
    The Business Case for Inclusion
    The push for more inclusive workplaces is not only a moral imperative but also a business advantage. Previous research from Seramount reveals that 78% of employees prioritize working in an environment that provides equal opportunities regardless of demographic characteristics. Companies that cultivate such inclusive cultures benefit from higher employee retention, improved productivity and greater engagement.
    “A diverse workforce is proven to improve business outcomes, and it is what most employees want, but it is difficult to make positive changes at scale,” McNeill explains. “GAI can enable companies to increase representation, leveling the playing field for all without placing the onus on time-crunched talent teams.”
    Look Ahead
    As companies navigate an increasingly dynamic business environment, tools like GAI will play an essential role in reshaping hiring practices. GAI provides a powerful mechanism to drive meaningful change in workforce diversity by addressing bias, enhancing outreach efforts and standardizing evaluations.
    Seramount helps foster inclusive workplaces through efforts to equip organizations with the tools and knowledge needed to embrace innovation while staying true to DEI principles. Generative AI represents a powerful tool for change, and its thoughtful implementation could signal a new era of equitable employment opportunities.
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      in Talent Acquisition

      10 Ways to Mitigate the Risks of AI-assisted CVs

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      In the rapidly evolving landscape of job recruitment, a groundbreaking study by Oriel Partners, a London-based PA and administrative recruitment agency, has shed light on a significant shift: the rising influence of AI in enhancing CVs.
      Our agency embarked on a research project to delve into the capabilities of ChatGPT, an AI tool increasingly used in CV creation. By modifying 100 real CVs for a specific job listing and comparing them with their original versions, we aimed to uncover the extent of AI’s role in this domain.
      The results were eye-opening. ChatGPT made an average of 14 embellishments per CV, with changes ranging from slight rewordings to substantial additions in skills and experiences. This finding raises critical questions about the authenticity of AI-assisted CVs.
      We categorised these modifications into three main areas:

      Embellishments to CVs
      Avg. Number of Embellishments

      “Embellishments” to Profile section
      7

      “Embellishments” to Key Skills & Attributes
      4

      “Embellishments” to Professional Experience
      3

      Total
      14

      This led to a noticeable discrepancy in scoring between the AI-enhanced and original CVs when using an AI-powered screening tool. The embellished versions scored an average of 9.4 out of 10, contrasting 8.3 for the unaltered ones, suggesting a potentially unfair advantage for candidates using AI tools to “improve” their CVs.

      Type of CV
      Agv. Scores

      Embellished CVs Avg. Score
      9.4

      Normal CVs Avg. Score
      8.3

      The implications are profound, especially considering a recent Kaspersky survey that found 42% of workers would consider using AI like ChatGPT for their job applications. This trend marks a significant shift in recruitment dynamics and highlights the need for new strategies to maintain fairness and authenticity in the hiring process.
      As Co-Founder of a recruitment agency, I find these developments concerning. The ability of AI to fabricate details on CVs challenges the traditional methods of screening candidates. This necessitates more rigorous measures in the interview process to distinguish genuine applicants.
      Therefore, we advocate for a balanced approach to using AI in recruitment. Employers should develop methods to detect AI-enhanced CVs, potentially integrating more thorough interviews and skill assessments. For job seekers, this serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of authenticity in their applications.
      Our study marks a crucial step in understanding and managing AI’s role in recruitment. We call for responsible and ethical AI practices that safeguard the interests of both employers and job seekers.
      Here’s how to mitigate the risks of AI-assisted CVs:
      1. Enhancing Awareness Among Employers
      Employers need to be educated about the capabilities and limitations of AI-assisted CVs. Understanding how AI can embellish or alter CV information is crucial in developing a discerning eye when reviewing applications. Workshops, webinars, and training sessions can be instrumental in raising awareness.
      2. Implementing Advanced Screening Technologies
      As AI evolves, so must the technologies used to screen CVs. Employers can invest in advanced software differentiating between human-generated and AI-assisted content. These tools could look for patterns typical of AI, such as overly polished language or skills that seem incongruent with the applicant’s experience level.
      3. Encouraging Transparency from Job Seekers
      Organisations can encourage applicants to disclose if they have used AI tools in their CV preparation. This transparency allows employers to view the CV in the proper context and appreciate the candidate’s honesty. A statement or a checkbox during the application process could facilitate this transparency.
      4. Incorporating In-depth Interviews and Assessments
      To counterbalance the potential inaccuracies in AI-enhanced CVs, employers should place greater emphasis on interviews and practical assessments. Behavioural interviews, case studies, and skill-based tasks can provide more accurate insights into a candidate’s true capabilities and fit for the role.
      5. Building AI-Proof Job Descriptions
      Refining job descriptions to be more specific and detailed can help in attracting the right candidates. By clearly outlining the required skills, experiences, and qualifications, employers can reduce the effectiveness of AI in overfitting CVs to job descriptions.
      6. Fostering an Ethical AI Culture
      Companies should advocate for ethical AI use in job applications. This involves setting industry standards and best practices for AI tools in CV preparation, ensuring they enhance rather than fabricate an applicant’s qualifications.
      7. Regularly Updating Recruitment Policies
      As AI technology evolves, so should recruitment policies. Regularly reviewing and updating these policies will help employers stay ahead of the curve in managing AI-assisted applications effectively.
      8. Collaborating with AI Developers
      Engaging in dialogue with AI developers can provide insights into how these tools operate. This collaboration can lead to the development of AI that supports the recruitment process more transparently and ethically.
      9. Promoting a Culture of Authenticity
      Organisations should promote a culture where authenticity and genuine skills are valued over polished, potentially misleading resumes. This cultural shift can discourage candidates from overly relying on AI for CV enhancement.
      10. Legal and Ethical Compliance
      Finally, ensuring compliance with legal and ethical standards is paramount. Organisations should be aware of the legal implications of AI in recruitment, including potential biases and discrimination, and take steps to ensure their recruitment processes are fair and compliant.
      Bottom Line
      In conclusion, integrating AI into the recruitment process, particularly in CV creation, is a trend that cannot be ignored. The challenges it presents, such as potential inaccuracies and fairness issues, require a multifaceted response. Employers need to become more adept at identifying AI-assisted CVs, ensuring their hiring processes remain grounded in authenticity and fairness.
      Simultaneously, job seekers must be aware of the importance of maintaining integrity in their applications. This balanced approach, commitment to ethical practices, and ongoing adaptation to technological advancements are key to successfully navigating this new era of AI-assisted recruitment. By taking these proactive steps, we can harness the benefits of AI while mitigating its risks, ensuring a recruitment landscape that is equitable, efficient, and true to the values of both employers and job seekers.
      By Olivia Coughtrie, Co-Founder, Oriel Partners.
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      in Workplace

      Leveraging AI for Employee Mental Wellbeing

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      As organizations strive to attract and retain top talent, it’s crucial to recognize the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting employee mental wellbeing.
      Going beyond its role as a productivity tool, there’s untapped potential in AI to support employee mental health in the workplace. But how safe is it to hand over such responsibility to AI? And when should human intervention take place?
      In the modern workplace, mental health has gained significant recognition for its importance. Employers now understand that the wellbeing of their employees extends beyond physical health. Mental health plays a crucial role in overall productivity, engagement, and success. For the newest generation entering the workforce today, mental health support is a must, not a nice to have.
      Prioritizing mental health in the workplace is essential because it directly impacts employee wellbeing and happiness. A positive and supportive work environment that promotes mental wellbeing fosters a sense of belonging, reduces stress levels, and improves job satisfaction.
      The role of AI in workplace mental wellbeing
      AI-powered solutions, such as virtual assistants, have the potential to revolutionize mental wellbeing support in the workplace. However, there are currently no tools dedicated to mental health support. While there are anecdotal instances of people using the likes of ChatGPT for support, the tool isn’t designed for such use cases. As such, there is a need for generative AI capabilities to be utilized in a considered way to ensure appropriate measures are in place to enhance the user experience.
      The challenge in creating an AI-enabled assistant for mental health support lies in ensuring that it is designed by individuals who possess a deep understanding of the intricacies of therapy and coaching practices. Developing an AI-powered assistant that can effectively provide support, guidance, and empathy requires a comprehensive knowledge of psychological principles and therapeutic techniques.
      To create an AI-enabled assistant that can engage in meaningful and effective conversations, developers must work closely with clinicians who have a profound understanding of various therapeutic techniques. This includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is widely recognized as an effective treatment for a range of mental health concerns.
      This understanding enables the AI-powered assistant to follow evidence-based practices and techniques that promote positive change and empower users to overcome challenges.
      Building an AI assistant dedicated to mental wellbeing
      With these challenges in mind, I could see an opportunity to develop an AI-assisted tool specifically designed for mental wellbeing. Not only this, but a mental health support tool that could be deployed in the workplace, bringing the benefits of AI that leverages therapeutic best practices to employees and employers alike.
      As part of this process, I set the following requirements for such an AI-enabled assistant:

      Ethical guidelines: Align AI systems with internationally recognised ethical guidelines for psychological practice to ensure user privacy, data protection, and confidentiality.
      Compliance: Follow relevant data protection and privacy laws to safeguard user data and maintain transparency in data collection and usage.
      Robust algorithm design: Develop AI algorithms that prioritise user wellbeing and avoid biases that could perpetuate harm or discrimination.
      Human oversight: Establish clear protocols for when AI should hand over to human professionals, such as during critical or complex mental health situations.

      Following months of work, the result was EMMA, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant for mental health and personal growth support.
      Harnessing the power of Azure Cognitive Services and generative AI, combined with our own advanced sentiment analysis, EMMA provides immediate always-on support, encouragement, and guidance for a range of mental health concerns and personal development goals, through text-based conversations.
      Attracting and retaining talent with AI-powered mental wellbeing
      This development is great news for employees, but how can it help with the recruitment process? Well, I believe organisations that prioritise employee wellbeing and leverage innovative solutions like AI can differentiate themselves in the talent market.
      Prospective employees are increasingly seeking employers that genuinely care about their mental health. So, highlighting the availability of AI-powered mental wellbeing support during the recruitment process can showcase an organisation’s commitment to employee wellness, attracting top talent who value a supportive work environment.
      AI-enabled tools can also play a pivotal role in fostering a positive work culture that promotes employee wellbeing. By offering constant support, guidance, and resources, AI-powered assistants create an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and understood. This can contribute to increased job satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty, ultimately reducing turnover and enhancing the overall work experience.
      Of course, addressing mental wellbeing concerns through AI-enabled support can significantly impact employee performance and productivity. When employees feel supported and access resources that enhance their mental wellbeing, they are better equipped to manage stress, maintain focus, and bring their best selves to work. This, in turn, helps to improve individual and team productivity, leading to better overall organizational performance.
      AI-enabled tools truly offer significant potential for supporting employee mental wellbeing in the workplace, making it valuable for talent attraction and retention. By embracing the role of AI as a tool for human enhancement, organizations can create workplaces where individuals thrive and reach their full potential.
      By Asim Amin, Founder and CEO of Plumm.
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      in Employer

      Early Career Hiring, Using AI in Recruitment, & More: Talk Talent to Me June ’23 Recap

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      Catch up on the June 2023 episodes of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast featuring recruiting and talent acquisition leadership who share strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry. Plus, tune in to a few special episodes recorded live to share insights and tips on leveraging AI for recruitment. 

      Software engineering to talent acquisition with Tony Kochar, Director of Talent Acquisition at Hearst
      Early career hiring with Ben Siegel, CEO and Co-Founder of Abode 
      Using ChatGPT and generative AI with Jenny Cotie Kangas, Director of Employer Branding and Awareness at PandoLogic and Dave Walters, Chief Technology Officer at Hired
      The advancement and impact of AI with Justin Ghio, Director of Talent Sourcing at Activision Blizzard and José Cong, VP of Talent and Culture at Humane 
      Staying innovative with Daniel Benavides, Director of Talent at Recursion

      1. Tony Kochar, Director of Talent Acquisition at Hearst
      Tony leverages a background in software engineering to bring technical expertise to talent acquisition. Find out what motivated this pivot and what he considers the best use of ChatGPT.  Tony also shares his take on when it’s necessary to insist on working on-site, drawing on data around remote work and productivity. 
      “You have to believe in the companies and you have to believe in the people you are representing and recruiting, your candidates.”
      Listen to the full episode.

      2. Ben Siegel, CEO and Co-Founder of Abode
      Ben’s company, Abode, began as a corporation hiring students to mow lawns for $25 an hour. It has since evolved into a thriving company helping other organizations attract and retain early career talent. This talent group is largely comprised of Gen-Zers. Ben, a Gen-Zer himself, explains what this generation of jobseekers wants and debunks common misconceptions older generations have about them.
      “You can boil everything [Gen-Z jobseekers] want down into four main things; transparency, connections, respect, and expectations.”
      Listen to the full episode.
      3. Jenny Cotie Kangas, Director of Employer Branding and Awareness at PandoLogic and Dave Walters, Chief Technology Officer at Hired
      Live from NYC, this episode delves into generative AI and its role in the world of talent acquisition. Jenny shares how she is conceptualizing AI and leveraging it best, why you don’t have to be afraid of generative AI, and some examples of how to use ChatGPT as a talent professional. Dave shares his thoughts as a tech leader on implementing workplace AI policies and why it’ll be important. 
      “One of the things to remember is, [with] any sort of generative AI, you have to ask the right sharp question to get the answer.” 
      Listen to the full episode.
      4. Justin Ghio, Director of Talent Sourcing at Activision Blizzard and José Cong, VP of Talent and Culture at Humane
      In the next installment of AI in recruitment (live from San Francisco), guests discuss why we should embrace AI. Justin demonstrates how to maximize the potential AI in recruiting. José reiterates why AI is the future and how he and his team use it responsibly. 
      “I hate the terminology ‘artificial intelligence’; it’s augmented intelligence. If we think about it from that perspective, we’re going to be less intimidated by it and we’re going to be more open-minded.”
      Listen to the full episode.
      5. Daniel Benavides, Director of Talent at Recursion
      In this episode, Daniel reminds talent professionals to stay innovative throughout their careers. He says, “You are never too busy to be innovative!” Daniel offers the inside scoop into Recursion’s inclusion model and strategy. He also discusses the company’s employee resource groups and why they are a real community. 
      “I can only speak to my lived experience – I can’t speak to the experience that our [Latinx or Black employees] have – so being able to have an ERG that is focused on that pillar or that marginalized group is key so we can ensure our policies are more inclusive.”
      Listen to the full episode.
      Want more insights into recruiting tips and trends?
      Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves. More

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      in Employer

      How to Use AI in Recruitment: Insights from Activision Blizzard’s Talent Sourcing Director

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      Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is taking every industry by storm and tech recruiting is no exception. In a new episode of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast, Activision Blizzard Director of Talent Sourcing Justin Ghio encourages talent professionals to view AI as a tool to enhance productivity and hiring processes. 

      Any recruiter or TA professional knows how precious time is… and how time-consuming the talent search can be. AI helps free up recruiters and TA teams to focus on what they do best: relationship-building and delivering exceptional candidate experiences.

      With Justin’s insights, let’s explore how AI empowers recruiters and TA professionals.

      AI meets Talent Acquisition & Human Resources

      While AI can feel overwhelming and even a bit scary in such people-centered roles, Justin assures talent professionals it’s not something to fear. 

      He says, “I feel the perception is ‘It’s going to take my job. It’s going to replace everything I’m doing.’ But currently, it’s more about how you can make it work for yourself and understanding its limitation. I think that’s something we’ve realized: it can’t do everything from start to finish for me.”

      Justin encourages TA professionals to focus on “how to use it to speed up processes and ideation without replacing what we do best.”

      Reflecting on AI in HR tech, Justin explains it’s being “sold as something so much broader and bigger in our industry versus the incremental steps. AI is never going to close a candidate… or talk to an international candidate about types of credit cards to open while they’re abroad to build credit in the US. Those are human conversations. Those are things we still have to broker. We use the technology to get us to those conversations, but not impede them.”

      So, how exactly can AI help you? 

      Justin shares a few ways AI supports talent activities: 

      Enhance candidate sourcing

      Uplevel candidate communications

      Let’s review some examples of how talent professionals and AI might join forces. 

      1. Enhance candidate sourcing with AI

      Justin finds the underlying AI’s natural language processing technology to be quite useful. Gone are the days of having to write developer and programmer and engineer. AI knows those are the same. 

      Simply write “software developer” and anyone with the title “programmer” or “engineer” will surface too. “You’re saving time that scales out infinitely across your user base and second to second for recruiters.” 

      Related: Hired Releases 2023 State of Software Engineers Report

      The same goes for sending a message, then clicking “Contact Attempt One.” You probably don’t need to do both of those actions so rely on a machine that knows If the user sends an email, it moves the candidate to “Contact Attempt One” If they reply, it moves it to “Bonded.” Ditch the notepad and tally list on your desk. Justin encourages you to “lean on the AI to manage a lot of that minutia.”

      Activision leans largely on AI for skill adjacency to target mid and entry-level candidates. “We’re able to see a match score based on someone’s skill rating. AI is looking at peers of individuals at organizations and based on skills they have, helps me understand the questions I need to ask. 

      AI will verify the individual has a particular skill or that we need to confirm it because someone who worked there has this skill, but they don’t have it on their resume. The days of someone forgetting something on their resume will hopefully be forgotten as we move and the technology matures.”

      While Justin believes Boolean search will still be a differentiating skill set, he does think: 

      “Those who don’t use AI technology to speed up the iteration process will be left behind. I think the people who will continue to be the best Boolean searchers are the ones who can use AI to get 60-80% of the way there. 

      Add the special sauce

      Then, they put their special sauce on top and allow it to become uniquely their version of that boolean. This will continue to allow people to be great at those sub-skills in the world of sourcing.”

      And by “special sauce,” Justin is referring to the human touch. 

      After all, he says “Nobody’s excited about being the best phone screen scheduler. People are excited about being really memorable on the phone. They’re excited about being really punctual with getting things on the books with candidates and having meaningful conversations where candidates feel like they’re being respected, heard, and being given opportunities in the organization.”

      2. Uplevel candidate communications 

      Those human moments are what make working in recruiting or talent acquisition special.  “At Activision, we look at how to leverage technology to help us do more of what we’re best at…You’re better at a lot more dynamic parts. You work with candidates very well.” 

      Related: Find your next opportunity in TA with Hired’s Tech Recruitment Collective

      When it comes to making the case for this technology internally, Justin says the key is “understanding where that point of finality is – where that stopping point of what the technology is or isn’t.”

      You want to capture how to leverage it to a certain point. “Our philosophy isn’t to use it to send all emails. It’s used to write ten rough copies. Then, take two or three of them and customize them.” Use AI to deliver something in five minutes which typically takes an hour.

      When evaluating AI tools, how can talent professionals ensure they are being fair and equitable to candidates?

      Justin advises you to consider these three questions: 

      How does this work? 

      Why does it work this way? 

      What happens if I want to change it?

      It’s essential to grasp the underpinnings and leverage them in a use case applicable to your environment. “There should be an underlying human element. Being able to author rules over top of the machine is really what I would have people ask vendors about,” Justin says.

      Embrace collaborative intelligence

      Justin views AI as “an invaluable tool to help us accelerate the ideation already happening in TA.” Recognize that AI is not a replacement for human expertise but a powerful tool to augment and accelerate recruitment processes. Think of AI as your strategic ally. It works best in collaboration with human expertise. 

      Unlock its potential to drive efficiency, increase productivity, and attract top talent quickly. With the right approach, it can revolutionize recruitment while preserving the invaluable human touch that defines successful hiring. 

      Start plugging in those prompts and questions keeping in mind you now “have a jumping-off point. It’s really for that starting block, not the ending.” 

      Interested in unlocking the power of AI in recruitment?

      Learn to use game-changing sourcing and recruiting practices with AI. Join the Talk Talent to Me workshop on Wednesday, May 24 at 6 pm PT at the Minna Gallery in SoMa. Top talent leaders in San Francisco will explore what AI means for the talent world and how you can use it to create powerful candidate experiences. More

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      in Workplace

      6 Wellbeing Trends that will Shape Work in 2023 and Beyond

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      Nuffield Health’s 2022 Healthier Nation Index study revealed one in three adults claims their mental health has got worse in the last year. The same statistic is also true of physical health, with a third of UK adults reporting a decline over the last 12 months.
      Employers have a responsibility to help individuals manage their wellbeing. However, it’s clear targeted support isn’t commonly available to modern workers increasingly adopting flexible working approaches.
      With this in mind, Nuffield Health suggests six workplace wellbeing trends we can expect to see as employers look to create relevant and effective wellbeing offerings…
      Managing MSK
      The recent rise in remote working has delivered many benefits for employees, including a greater work-life balance and a reduction in stressful commutes.
      But it isn’t without its challenges – namely overworking and the physical impact of unergonomic home offices – with 72,000 individuals recently reporting a musculoskeletal (MSK) disorder directly caused or exacerbated by the pandemic.
      Despite employers’ responsibilities to provide comfortable home working set-ups, many aren’t meeting their obligations. However, they are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
      While financial support should continue to be made available to employees for furniture and equipment – and employers should signpost to how to access these funds – we are now entering the age of the corporate physiotherapist.
      Businesses can invite musculoskeletal health experts to review the current office environment as well as offer general advice on posture, exercise, and nutrition to avoid injury at home.
      Employers may also choose to contribute financial support for private sessions, too, to avoid the greater financial burden of the £3.5 billion paid by employers each year to deal with workplace injuries. Plus, research suggests businesses can achieve an ROI of nearly £100 per £1 spent on physiotherapy for musculoskeletal health.
      The new work-life balance
      Our idea of ‘work-life balance’ traditionally involves unwinding from work stress at home after leaving the office. But what happens when home life itself becomes increasingly stressful?
      Research suggests the current cost of living crisis has been linked to a direct increase in stress. And with financial stresses showing no signs of letting up, employers have a responsibility to help individuals avoid burnout.
      This may include inviting a financial specialist to host a webinar for all employees on managing money, as well as offering relevant workplace benefits – such as grocery vouchers – that directly address some key drivers of financial anxiety.
      Self-help support
      Despite efforts to challenge the stigma around ill health, Nuffield Health research suggests a third of employees still wouldn’t feel comfortable disclosing a mental or physical health issue to their employer.
      So, businesses have a responsibility to offer tailored support to those who may feel uncomfortable asking for it.
      This may include making remote support offerings and self-help platforms available to those who would prefer to work through advice and specialist help at their own pace, away from the office.
      For example, telephone CBT services and online self-help management programs – such as the Silvercloud platform – allow employees to access remote support and guidance on understanding symptoms of distress and learning relevant coping mechanisms.
      A focus on prevention
      There is no one-size-fits-all intervention for the unique physical and mental challenges facing employees. However, businesses can embrace technology to access instead of data-led, personalized interventions that make a difference for the individual.
      Digital platforms featuring AI technology can analyze behavioral data provided by the workforce to predict future challenges, allowing businesses to action interventions before symptoms become unmanageable.
      For example, Nuffield Health’s PATH tool gathers data from both a comprehensive physical health exam, alongside behavioral data from questionnaires to understand employees’ unique risk factors and suggests relevant interventions.
      Employers able to take a proactive approach to employee health not only nurture a healthy and engaged workforce but avoid the impact of presenteeism, which can cost businesses up to £4,000 per employee per year in lost productivity.
      Employee power
      Recent workplace trends, including ‘the great resignation’ and ‘quiet quitting’ suggest power is shifting away from the employer, with employees no longer willing to go above and beyond for their employers.
      So, businesses – especially those guilty of encouraging unhealthy workplace cultures in which employees are expected to be ‘always on’ – must rethink their relationships with employees to retain their brightest talent.
      Managers have a responsibility to lead by example when it comes to widescale cultural change. This means clearly outlining employee expectations, like working hours and contactable obligations, as well as being seen to leave the office on time each day.
      Similarly, employers should welcome and seek regular feedback to understand better the challenges facing staff and how the business can tailor its support. This can be done through regular one-to-ones with individuals as well as anonymous feedback surveys for those who may not feel comfortable communicating in person.
      Family focus
      A shift towards flexible and remote working has somewhat blurred the lines between work and home life, with mixed results. Some of the negative consequences include employees working longer hours to compensate for not commuting, while others have enjoyed the benefits of spending more time at home with family.
      These lifestyle changes must now be a key consideration for businesses. As employees continue to mold their work lives around personal habits – often familial responsibilities such as childcare – these challenges must be reflected in the support offered by businesses.
      The workplace must remain flexible in terms of shift patterns and remote opportunities to meet the needs of those with busy family lives. However, we will also start to see businesses extending benefits to the family, for example, private healthcare and medical benefits for partners and children and familial mental health support.
      This may include parental mental health advice hubs or CBT platforms that provide advice and resources for parents on managing children’s emotional wellbeing.
      By Marc Holl, Head of Primary Care at Nuffield Health.
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      in Talent Acquisition

      5 Automation Habits of Highly Effective Recruiting Teams 

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      In a talent-short market, having a consistently engaged talent pool sets recruitment firms apart from their competitors. Thankfully, cutting-edge automation tools are helping recruiters to engage, nurture, and, ultimately, place top-level talent into new roles at the pace and scale demanded by their clients. In fact, according to Bullhorn’s aggregated data, agencies that use automation have a 64% higher fill rate and submit 33% more candidates per recruiter than those completing tasks manually. How are firms making the most of automation to see these incredible results?
      Here are five habits of Bullhorn customers who leverage automation to create an engaged talent community that is excited to work with them in the short and long term.
      1. Engage regularly with talent
      According to our recent survey of 2,000 candidates, the number one reason talent becomes frustrated with recruiters is poor communication. Automation enables recruiters to manage communications more effectively and to keep candidates informed at every stage of the process.
      Many firms already use automated emails, surveys, and text messaging in the recruitment process. However, recruiters need a tightly integrated tech stack to guarantee that they’re able to gather handy information across every channel, as this is essential for personalization and for generating reliable talent insights.
      Recruiters can send occasional feedback requests through automated messages to new hires, those nearing the end of their contracts, or people that have been in a job for a while. These timely interactions will ensure recruiters stay top of mind and will pay dividends once candidates start looking for new jobs – without the burden of conducting manual ‘busywork’.
      Furthermore, AI-based automation can significantly improve the matching process by intelligently recommending candidates for jobs and jobs for candidates. This is particularly useful for temp or contingent workers, whom recruiters can quickly redeploy into newly available positions as soon as their contracts end.
      It’s also important to note that most recruitment firms have numerous candidates in their databases with whom they don’t engage regularly. Using AI, you can stay in touch with them over time and give them content by suggesting jobs, articles, and tips. It’s also a way to notify them that you want to keep their personal data in your database. However, under GDPR, you need to delete their data if they request it since candidates have the “right to be forgotten”.
      2. Improve data health
      Recruitment teams will always have to collect, store, and analyze data in order to succeed – and it’s something to avoid doing manually, especially on a large scale, as siloed, error-filled data can create just as many problems as unified, clean data can solve.
      With the right automation, recruiters can streamline data management and compliance tasks. These include anonymizing candidate records and updating job, company, and contract status for all the records within the applicant tracking system (ATS).
      Declutter your ATS by using automation to identify outdated records, people with no contact information, or records without activity to speed up searches. To make sure you are GDPR-compliant, your ATS must have all its processing activities governed by a contract under EU legislation.
      Don’t forget that internal reminders are an integral part of data collection – remind recruitment teams to send an early message to new contract starters to get feedback on their well-being and work conditions. Unlike traditional recruitment methods, automation simplifies mass communication with candidates.
      3. Stay organized
      Automating simple tasks within the ATS like notes and alerts gives recruiters back valuable time to spend on building candidate and client relationships. With so many candidates competing for so many vacancies, this solution is invaluable for staying organized.
      It also helps recruiters to set interview reminders and let applicants know whether they’ve been accepted or rejected. Importantly, if a candidate has been offered a position and it falls through for whatever reason, you can contact other suitable job seekers and fill the job quickly if your database is up to date.
      4. Streamline onboarding
      The ability to automate paperwork eases the process of onboarding talent. This is especially relevant for recruitment firms working across different locations and industries, where there might be different laws on taxes and compliance. Companies also have different policies on harassment, pay, benefits, company culture, and other aspects they want extra documentation on.
      A well-defined, automated onboarding system tailors processes to different types of hires and mitigates hiring risks. Back-office mistakes not only distract from an employee’s productivity, but mistakes like worker misclassification also carry the potential risk of fines and penalties.
      5. Scale up marketing
      Automating marketing campaigns to candidates and clients across channels like web, mobile, email, and social media is extremely helpful. Equally helpful is the ability to automatically personalize your content to better communicate with specific groups and ensure everyone receives relevant and interesting offers.
      Determine the segmentations you want to use in your marketing workflows and create lists. This will help to target specific contacts with relevant content. The workflow doesn’t just engage prospects initially but is critical to establishing a sustained interaction with them. As a result, you can expect better engagement scores (and closing ratios) from clients or candidates who are actively being nurtured, instead of those who aren’t.
      Nurturing sales prospects with valuable content enables a recruitment agency’s sales team to focus on engaged leads while automatically engaging with not-ready-to-buy prospects. Some of the metrics to track include engagement score (points are added to prospective candidates’ profiles on the database each time they engage with content), pipeline revenue (income generated through lead conversions), and new lead close rate (the percentage of leads that turn into conversions).
      By Jason Heilman, Senior Vice President, Automation, AI, and Talent Experience, Bullhorn.
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      in Workplace

      How to Amplify Your DEI Initiatives in 2022

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      Talent acquisition teams are no stranger to the importance of creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) workplace for all employees. According to the newly-released 2022 Job Seeker Nation Report, 38% of workers would turn down a job offer if the company lacked diversity in its workforce or had no clear goals for improving diversity in hiring. Below are ways companies can amplify DEI initiatives in 2022.
      Take Meaningful First Steps
      Many talent teams are dedicating considerable time and resources to DEI, including increasing investing budget resources to expand their efforts. In fact, 68% of recruiters reported that they believe improving DEI in their organization will be a top priority in the next year.
      Teams can take small steps by measuring key recruiting metrics in the process and continuing to analyze areas of improvement as changes are made. Here’s how:

      Understand the current workforce: This is a crucial step to help measure diversity of representation among an existing employee base. Evaluate the demographics across the organization, and within departments.
      Create a more diverse candidate pool: You’ve got to start somewhere, and there are several free tools and resources that can help you make sure you, and your company, are putting your best foot forward. Make small improvements to be more inclusive in recruiting practices by using free tools to help write more inclusive job descriptions and attract a wider variety of candidates.
      Develop inclusive content: Use existing social media channels and the company’s career website to tell employee stories within the organization. By leveraging this original content, your team can further convey how employees of differing backgrounds, ethnicities, races, genders, and abilities feel a sense of belonging. This is also a great medium to share current efforts and commitments for improving DEI. Think like a marketer – track the data related to interactions with your posts, understand what messages perform well, and determine what messages your audience wants to hear more about.

      Align Hiring Teams on Candidate Requirements
      Hiring team members can get stuck on the notion of the “ideal candidate.” This mindset can limit the diversity of talent pools by having too many requirements listed when they may not all be necessary. In today’s competitive labor market, this will cost your organization time, which inevitably will cost you top candidates.
      Grow a Diverse Talent Pipeline
      Today’s labor market is incredibly tight, and candidates expect a culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion. Avoid limiting the talent pool by requiring specific skills and experience that are not dealbreakers. Build programs to attract, engage, and hire historically marginalized communities through strategic audience planning and develop programs to make everyone feel welcome.
      Talent teams must work hard to expand their talent networks and source diverse candidates, which can be done in the following ways:

      Interact on social media: Keep in touch with potential applicants, passive talent, and past candidates on social media. Share what’s going on in the company, tell employee stories, answer questions, post job openings, and give info on referral programs to the network.
      Attend recruiting events: Virtual and in-person recruiting events can be great places to help you build your talent network. Focus on hiring events that bring together a niche audience that is centered around diversity. These events are a great way to connect with job seekers and broadcast the message that the company is hiring.
      Work with local organizations: Find local diversity groups and work with them to source candidates for open positions. Building a relationship with these organizations can help long-term network growth.

      Leverage tools needed to enhance DEI initiatives
      Automation and AI tools can help further supplement DEI initiatives, streamline hiring  processes, and eliminate manual tasks in the following ways:

      Automated intelligent sourcing: Sourcing candidates can be the most time-consuming process in recruiting. Automated intelligent sourcing can help find candidates that fit open roles and invite them to apply. It can also reach top candidates while keeping the pool diverse.
      AI candidate skill-matching: Skill matching automatically screens applicants for role requirements, which is helpful for specialized roles that benefit from diverse candidates, such as engineers, healthcare workers, or machine operators. Integrating automated skill-matching tools with applicant tracking systems (ATS) eliminates the strain of managing multiple candidate databases in different places and helps find qualified talent more quickly. Leveraging technology to screen for skills can also help reduce bias in your hiring processes.

      Start Investing in DEI Today
      The time to prioritize DEI is now. In today’s challenging labor market, those who prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion will find more qualified candidates, which can turn into new hires. Talent teams can improve the diversity of their candidate slates by taking charge and applying the right strategies throughout the hiring process, including sourcing, relationship management, workforce planning, and audience planning.
      The investment in DEI goes far beyond cash – employers can invest time in telling the organization’s story, setting expectations, and aligning teams, which often yields the highest return on investment. It’s critical to lead DEI initiatives with empathy, compassion, and dedication, and to be relentless in driving change.
      By: Corey Berkey, Senior Vice President, People & Talent, Employ Inc. 
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      in Talent Acquisition

      Why AI Recruiting is Key to Growth in 2022

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      Business priorities in 2022 have all shifted to center around talent. Primarily, finding it. The Great Resignation, or the Great Reshuffle, or the Big Quit — whatever you want to call it — continues to dominate headlines and highlight the ongoing shortage of labor. But companies need to understand that the skewed supply and demand ratio for talent is here to stay. One study even predicts a global human talent shortage of 85 million workers by 2030.
      Despite this trend seeming to look like old news at this point, many organizations’ hiring programs were still completely caught off guard over the last year. In a report by Hiretual, 61% of recruiters said sourcing talent was their biggest challenge in 2021. At the end of 2020, when asked about their biggest anticipated concern, sourcing talent didn’t even make it to the top three.
      That same report found the second and third biggest challenges for recruiters surveyed went to candidate engagement and employer competition, respectively. Again, when recruiters were asked the same question the year before, neither of these obstacles was high on the list.
      What these responses signal is a shift in priority from inbound to outbound recruiting. That is, rather than relying on workers to go out and find jobs, companies are now having to sell available jobs to workers — and doing so at scale is proving difficult. While companies and recruiters may be beginning to understand this, the amount of LinkedIn posts we’re still seeing from leaders exclaiming, “We’re Hiring!” — expecting qualified prospects to go out of their way and click through to a boring careers page — shows not many have adapted to compete.
      As organizations around the world refine strategies for the future, now is the time to commit to growth, and adapt to achieve it. Companies that do will stand to benefit from a final post-pandemic jolt to productivity, setting themselves up for a more sustainable future. But with more jobs available than there are workers to do them, those that fail to change their recruiting strategy will see their workforce — and success — atrophy.
      Getting More Human With AI
      The pressure is on for talent acquisition, but changing priorities brought on by the pandemic will require recruiters to do more than fill jobs. Going forward, recruiters must offer opportunities that meet heightened needs from talent (such as more inclusive cultures and more flexible work schedules) and align with refined company objectives (like scaling skill sets and leading product innovation).
      To do that effectively, recruiters need to be able to spend more time doing the more human aspects of the job, to provide a better experience to candidates, and better qualify talent for the needs of the business — now and for the future.
      If 2021 investment data is any indication, talent acquisition tech stacks are getting reevaluated. In fact, 62% of companies increased their investment in talent acquisition technology last year, according to Aptitude Research. Because something has to give, more companies than ever before will look to AI recruitment technologies to give themselves a competitive advantage. Here are a few ways AI will help companies address key recruiting challenges in 2022.
      Revealing Blind Spots
      Not all talent is accessible in the same places, and many recruiters are looking for candidates with too narrow of a view into the available talent pool. Usually limited by a handful of disparate job boards, with limited search functionality or candidate profile visibility, talent acquisition pros end up missing access to a large share of qualified talent.
      AI recruiting tools will broaden the scope of available talent. By pulling candidate profile data from multiple talent pools, hiring teams can access significantly more of the total talent population and search from a single source. Some platforms are approaching access to almost a billion candidates. Companies that need to scale growth will have more options, and more opportunities to hire.
      In addition, AI will help recruiting teams remove limitations to how they find talent by mitigating unconscious bias from the process to make more equitable hiring decisions. This works by automatically matching candidates based on the skills relevancy of what a recruiter is looking for, rather than focusing on any other candidate’s features. For example, blind searches can be conducted to remove attributes like gender or race, or even education, to help remove bias and lack of diversity in the hiring process.
      By managing diversity in the outbound phase of the recruiting process — as opposed to scrubbing data in ATSs or CRMs — organizations can take a more proactive approach to make equitable hiring decisions.
      Meeting the Need for Speed
      To reach goals for scale, hiring teams need to shorten the time it takes to bring the right jobs to the right people. With AI, organizations will begin to automate more of the transactional and respective aspects of the hiring process. This will give recruiters more time to focus on building relationships by engaging prospective talent in meaningful ways.
      Without the right technology, recruiters will spend less time adding value to the process. Automation will free up the time it takes for recruiters to facilitate communication by removing manual tasks like bulk outreach, scheduling, and managing candidate pipeline data, so they can spend more time consulting with talent to place them in roles that best fit their interests, ambitions, and experience.
      Teams leveraging AI will encounter fewer obstacles with potential candidates in misaligned job expectations and broken feedback loops, resulting in faster time to hire and smoother onboarding experiences.
      Establishing a Foundation for Growth
      For many candidates, contact with a recruiter is the first moment of exposure they have with an organization. That first impression has the potential to create interest by offering the candidate valuable and relevant experience. It also has the potential to diminish the brand in the eye of prospects and their peers.
      With the help of AI, organizations will set up hiring teams to showcase their brand to candidates in the best light and build a workforce that better supports company objectives for the long run. By engaging talent with a more inclusive approach, increasing the speed and ease of the hiring process, and broadening the scope of talent they see and consider, only organizations leaning on AI will overcome today’s hiring challenges to build workforces that grow.
      Shannon Pritchett is Head of Community at both Hiretual and Evry1 (which she co-founded in 2021). 
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