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Friday Five: Reasons Why AI Can Never Replace Recruiters

Friday Five: Reasons Why AI Can Never Replace Recruiters

by | Apr 13, 2018 | Recruitment

So is the next big thing in recruitment, AI, or Artificial Intelligence? That question surely deserves an answer in the affirmative. AI and Big Data are beginning to have a pervasive impact not just in the recruitment sector, but across sectors – from helping consumers shop better online, to using algorithms for pairing individuals with the most suitable partners through myriad dating platforms. Be it the professional realm, or the personal, AI seems to be making an impact in both. Why then do we claim that AI Can Never Replace Recruiters? Here are our reasons.

  1. AI cannot relate, empathize or help candidates with subjective opinions

    Just saying the above sentence is enough to substantiate the reason, but it is a case worthy of being made. While AI can conjure clever algorithms and claim to recruit the “perfect” candidate, it lacks empathy. It cannot build a relationship based on trust and guidance to provide the candidate and the potential employer through a meaningful, and indeed, humanized process.

  2. AI does not have communication skills, a prerequisite in the field of Recruitment

    Or put another way, AI does not have the necessary communication skills to be able to really sell a job. All it can do is provide the user with answers based on algorithms, which are a hundred percent objective. The recruitment experience with AI will lack in sensitivity, and more importantly insights that experienced recruiters have. These insights coupled with excellent communication skills help recruiters help the candidates. At times, candidates may believe that a certain organization is not a good match for them – in which case AI will end the process right there. However, that experience would differ with a recruiter in case he/she is aware that the organization in fact is a good fit for the candidate. In that scenario, the recruiter will then go on to initiate a dialogue with the candidate to give him his perspective, and insights. This depth in connection ensures that the candidate is equipped to make a thoroughly informed choice.

  3. AI cannot understand a client’s needs like a Recruiter can

    Without the communication skills of a recruiter, AI can never engage with clients the way recruiters do. Recruiters get down to the basics of understanding the culture, background and environment of an organization, and match candidates not just based on skills but also based on values and principles. AI can simplify an elaborate search process in a span of minutes, however, with a lack of engagement with clients, it can never quite attain that “perfect” fit for the client.

  4. AI is not as motivated as Recruiters are

    It would be a little more than slightly incorrect to say that AI loves what it does. But not for actual recruiters (for most of them at least). And people who love what they do are exceptionally good at what they do. This isn’t just a “quote” from hundreds of successful people all around the world, it is a fact. Being motivated helps recruiters go that extra mile, be flexible, and make that extra effort to help anchor a holistic recruitment process. But can we say the same for AI?

  5.  AI is not Human

    While this is like saying a potato is not an apple, it is at times necessary to stress on the obvious to make a point. This last reason perhaps sums up the four other reasons on why AI can never replace recruiters. AI helps enormously with data and predictions, but at the same time, it is important to understand that the recruitment sector is composed of human beings, and for human beings. How then can machines and AI replace the crucial role of recruiters?

The process of recruitment extends far beyond a “matching” process. It is an enduring process built on the basis of mutual trust, respect and experience. By hoping or attempting to delegate such a delicately nuanced process to AI, there is no doubt that we will lose out on some of the best that the talent pool has to offer recruiters. For recruiters, unlike AI, recruitment is not a black and white process, and not a process of simply ticking off the required skills. It is a deeply humane process, as it should be.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you imagine the job industry would be more efficient with AI instead of human recruiters? Let us know your thoughts!https://www.sincera.in/contact-us/

Making Your Remote Employees Feel Valued

Making Your Remote Employees Feel Valued

by | Apr 10, 2018 | working from home, World of Work

Work from home is becoming an increasingly viable option – for both employees as well as employers. With this development, there is a need for employers to pay more attention to making the “virtual work space” more conducive, and employee friendly. One of the most important aspects which has a direct impact on the productivity levels of your employees is how valued they feel. This can be an especially difficult task to achieve, and to measure when your connection with your employees is through remote access. But is it really?

You would be surprised the small ways in which you can make your Remote Employees feel valued. In this blog post, we speak about some elementary ways which should define the norms of every work place which encourages Work from home/ remote spaces options.

  1. Clarity in Communication

    This aspect is a crucial unit for developing a healthy relationship with your employee, and for ensuring that they are at all times aware of their deliverables. One of the main concerns remote working raises is the fact that responsibilities, goals and outcomes are not streamlined meticulously – unlike in physical work environments. When this happens there is the danger of your employee under performing for no fault of his/her, which means you lose out on the valuable skill set of someone you have   invested time in to select and recruit. Being clear in communicating goals, outcomes and responsibilities helps employees feel more engaged, and in sync with their work, which in turn has a direct impact on the quality of work they churn out.

  2. Checking in

    Really one of the easiest and most basic way of showing your employees that you care. That you value your relationship with them beyond the contract of employment. Once again, since we are speaking about work in a remote environment, checking takes just a bit more effort than it would if it were a physical office. That, however cannot be an excuse for not keeping in touch with your employees. Establishing a system for this is a great way of making sure that you check in regularly. For example, every month schedule one day for a team call (if your team is spread out), and one day for individual calls. There are so many ways you can do this, and with just a little bit of thought, you can truly help your employees be enthusiastic about the work they do. And if you have a team of enthusiastic employees who feel valued, you’re a winner.

  3. Be there for them

    A good manager has an open door policy, and his team is aware of this. This applies even to teams which work remotely. In the context of the blog post, one could safely argue that this aspect is especially important to have your remote employees feel valued. Operate with a degree of decentralization, especially when it comes to your team having access to you when they need you. If your team comprises of employees who work remotely, because of an absence of a traditional physical work space they might need to reach out to you more often than other ‘regular’ employees. In which case, take care to stress on the fact that you are available when your team needs you. No better way to set precedence about this other than by leading through example.

If we summarize all the three things we’ve said above, there is one main takeaway – communication. The quality of communication between colleagues is something that determines the overall work environment – even when the work environment is virtual. And we’d say, especially when the work environment is virtual. While these small efforts wouldn’t cost you anything, bypassing them surely would. The quality of work you expect, is directly proportional to how motivated your team feels to deliver the expected quality. And feeling motivated is a direct by-product of feeling valued.

Do you have a remote team and are you proud of your team management techniques? Share your story with us and we will share it with the world!

 

Social Media and Screen Addiction: The Death of Productivity (Part II)

Social Media and Screen Addiction: The Death of Productivity (Part II)

by | Mar 28, 2018 | Mindfulness and Health, Productivity

In our previous post on Social Media and Screen Addiction, we spoke about just how big the problem of screen addiction is, and how it is related to “propinquity” (the fact that the things that are closest to us in physical space have the biggest effect on our psychological experience of the world). We also discussed the adverse impacts this has on our productivity and left you with the good news  that this addiction can be dealt with. In today’s blog post we discuss how to do that, but before that, we spend a little more time understanding what it is about screens that make them so irresistible.

Why are Screens So Hard to Resist?

  1. The Elimination of Stopping Cues

    The lack of “stopping cues” make it very difficult to stop our consumption of information on social media. The “feed” we scroll is never-ending. Unlike, say a newspaper, or a book. When you get to the end, you know that is the end and you move on to other things. This is not true for screens. For example, the concept of “binge watching” is a fairly new concept. Earlier after the end of one episode, you knew you had to wait another day, or another week for the next episode to air. Today, “next” is the new default, and without us having to do anything. The auto-play on Netflix, or YouTube does it for us. Stopping cues no longer exist. This inevitably makes us spend more time than we used to spend before, engaging with screens.

  1. The Promise of Instant Gratification

    Social Media brought along with it the promise of instant gratification, and also the need for an instant validation. Every time you post something, you keep coming back to check how many “likes” your post has. And the thought of no one responding feels terrifying, almost invalidating. And so you go back again and again, to post and to seek and experience feedback and gratification.

  1. The Power of Goals

    Social media offers us a real driving force in terms of the power of goals. The goals of acquiring an ever-growing round number of followers, likes, shares, etc. While you may realize at some point that the addiction undermines you in the longer run, it is something you want to return to in the short-term again and again because it feels harmless, and you want to do it. This is true of a lot of screen experiences.

Tackling Social Media and Screen Addiction

The first step towards tackling social media and screen addiction is understanding the consequences of the same. Would you believe us if we said it has physical, financial, psychological and sociological consequences? Here is how –

  • Physical: With the amount of time we spend on our phones and screens, we tend to move into a sedentary lifestyle, and hence there is less mobility in our already limited mobility lifestyles. Over use of screens impacts the eyesight. It can even be dangerous for us, and other people when we use our phones without paying attention to our surroundings – especially while walking or driving.
  • Financial: Self-explanatory, if you are the kind who spend money on games/ apps.
  • Psychological: As discussed in the earlier post, screen addiction has had a big impact on how we deal with boredom. Our attitude to boredom has changed to the extent that we cannot sit with our thoughts even for a few minutes. One seems to be ever so resistant to having an ‘idle experience’, and a notification is all it takes to get distracted and plunge into the screen world.
  • Social: With an increase in dependency on screens, it is no surprise that how we experience time with people has changed. Most of our lives are spent in the virtual world – and isn’t that sad? With access to social media, we have the option to not be in the “now” and hence we are never really in this moment. We always have the option to escape the imperfect real world, to get to the perfect virtual world which is at our finger tips.

Tackling Screen Addiction

Now that we have a fairly concise idea about the hydra headed monster we are dealing with, we can look at what solutions we have to tackle it. At the outset, it must be said that it is not possible to completely abstain from social media and screens. We need technology for everything we do, and hence going cold turkey isn’t a good idea. However, here is how you can have a balanced experience and keep the addiction away.

  1. Working on your Awareness

    The foremost thing to do is being aware. Once you have taken stock of how much time you really spend on screens and social media, ask yourself what is it that makes you turn to screens and social media. For example, is this something you do to tackle boredom, or anxiety, or loneliness? Once you get to the core of the issue, and confront the reason, you will realize that your phone is probably not a solution and that these problems need to be addressed for real.

  2. Setting Limits

    It can be immensely useful to be mindful of your consumption of the virtual world. For certain times of the day, make it a point to not have your phone near you. Make it physically harder to reach your phone. Pick a time, set a basic rule, and tell yourself “between 6 PM and 8 PM I am not going to use my phone. I am going to indulge in mindful activities.” This will enable you to have richer, more real experiences. You will be creating the mind space to read, think and be creative.

  3. Practicing mindfulness

    How about swapping mindless scrolling for hours, for having a mindful experience of the real world? Once you have decided to put your phone away, think about the activities that you really wish you had time for, and immerse yourself. You can spend outdoors, or do things you have always liked, which will make you feel better about yourself.

Summing it Up

Remember that there is never an end to how much you can consume on social media – feeds are bottomless. Therefore, you have to force yourself to break away so that you can be mindful of your consumption and not let it hamper your productivity. The platforms we spend a lot of time on, are designed to encourage exactly that, i.e,  mindless experiences in the forms of clicks and likes. It is always important to remember that you have a choice. And at some point, it pays to make that choice to step away.

We hope you enjoyed the two-part series, and it has helped you to gain some amount of perspective in understanding how screen addiction, social media and a loss of productivity are related, and how you can tackle screen addiction!

P.S. This series is inspired by the Calm Masterclass on Social Media and Screen Addiction by Dr. Adam Alter. Calm is a mindfulness and meditation app which offers guided and non-guided meditations. You can get it  here.

Acing Presentations: How to Answer Questions Like a Professional Speaker

Acing Presentations: How to Answer Questions Like a Professional Speaker

by | Feb 13, 2018 | Communication, Communication Skills

Communicate Effectively while Presenting

If you have followed our blog, you know we have always stressed on how important excellent communication skills is for a successful career. It is one skill that needs to be part of everyone’s “lifelong learning” lists as one that needs continual investment of time and efforts. In this guest post by Belle Balace, a growth specialist from Visme, we tackle a very important topic relevant to effective communication- how do you answer tough questions during a presentation. Read on to know more!
 
Giving presentations can be nerve-wracking. Even more so if you have to answer unforeseeable questions on the spot. You could be very well prepared and still encounter questions from your audience that you may not be able to answer!
 
Nervous? Well don’t be, there is no cause to panic! Thankfully, there’s a cheat sheet for this. Visme has listed in this info-graphic everything you need to know on how to deal with a potentially stressful situation on answering questions during a presentation.
 
 

About the author:

Belle Balace is a growth specialist in Visme, a one-stop visual online tool where anyone can create engaging presentations, infographics, and other types of visual content in no time.

Five Main Barriers to Effective Communication – What to Avoid to Get Heard

Five Main Barriers to Effective Communication – What to Avoid to Get Heard

by | Feb 6, 2018 | Career, Communication, Managing Yourself

A great deal of confusion and chaos can be avoided in the world of work, if ‘communication’ could be understood in all its elements, and not just as an isolated concept. Starting from writing emails, to delivering speeches, holding meetings and giving presentations, what is the one thing that they all have in common? No prizes for guessing – communication. Communication – both written and verbal is of prime essence in the world of work. It is the sole aspect which truly can make a difference – for the better, or for the worse – in any given situation. At OBOlinx, we are constantly brainstorming about how one can perceive communication in a better, more effective manner. While we have written extensively about communication skills, and also about how one can improve them, it made sense to think about the ‘elements’ of communication. Understanding the solution to any problem is effective only when we can look at the elementary aspects of the problem. Once we have broken it down, it becomes easier to address them. In this post we speak about the possible impediments (in a broad sense) to Effective Communication, and in the post which is to follow, we will address the critical aspects or elements for communication.

 The five main barriers to effective communication :

1. Language issues

This is one of the most basic hindrances to Effective Communication. While it really might seem most commonsensical to be wary of this error, it still may occur. Most commonly, this happens when you are not fluent, or comfortable in communicating (could be verbal or written), in the chosen language. This might also happen when, as a result of discomfort with the chosen language, you translate using your imagination of the language you are most comfortable with, or the language that you “think” in. In doing so, like most translations, the essence of what you are trying to communicate might be lost.

2. Lack of context/ clarity

Assuming that your audience is already familiar with what you are about to say/ write is another possible obstruction to Effective Communication. This assumption might lead to a lack of background. As a result, what you try to communicate might sound a bit out of context and there will be a visible lack of clarity. As a result, your communication will be hampered.

3. Distraction

The medium and time for communication is as important, as the purpose of the communication itself. This stands defeated if the communicator is unable to figure out whether the time and medium is appropriate and distraction free. Ensuring that the environment is distraction free will help you communicate more effectively. For example, if your audience is already engaged with a task, or if the set up chosen for the occasion is distracting in any way, it might be difficult to have the entire attention of your audience.

4. Confusion

This factor relates mostly to the ‘content’ of your communication, and is not very different from the above factor regarding clarity. How you communicate must be completely aligned with what you want to communicate. In case your communication is open to interpretation by your audience, it means that you weren’t very clear in what you wanted to communicate. This may occur in case of over-lap, lack of clarity or lack of context.

5. Being unnecessarily verbose

When wanting to communicate effectively, the purpose must be clear and the aim should be to establish the purpose as swiftly, and simply as possible. Being verbose/ using difficult jargon defeats the very aim of Effective Communication, as you cannot be sure about how much of the content is processed by your audience. Big and difficult words and sentences always confuse the audience. Keeping it sweet and simple is the best trick.

How does one tackle these five broad issues (there are many other issues which may be clubbed under these broad ones), in order to establish an effective pattern of communication? Watch out for our next post which speaks about this!