Is Affinity Matching the future of recruitment?
There are several recruitment methods. The goal is always the same: to be easier, faster, less costly and more efficient.
Seems very ambitious?!
"According to a survey by Futurestep, 86% of HR believe innovation is a key factor in recruiting attractiveness!"
Recruitment is probably the most evolved human resources area in the last 40 years. The development of information and communication technologies has had an intense impact on how recruiters can contact candidates. The job offers were originally published thanks to the agencies of the "Pôle Emploi"(FR).
Currently there are tools that allow processes to be more flexible and faster to reach the largest number of people.
The digitization of human resources - recruitment typping - is indeed a revolution in this area.
However, other innovative technologies and tools continue to emerge, including the so-called Affinity Matching! How it works? What impact will this have on recruitment? This new way of finding candidates is at least very cryptic.
Robert Half, a specialist in recruitment, concluded that 52% of HR managers reveal much importance to personal skills and techniques (according to a survey).
Affinity Matching is a totally innovative way for a recruiter to find the candidates he needs. The current classic circuit (individuals wishing to join a company, apply for a job by attaching a resume and a letter of motivation etc.) is no longer attractive and seems obsolete, yet recruiters in this case have access to a huge amount of information about the person concerned, such as past experience or the academic curriculum.
Affinity Matching, on the other hand, is based primarily on the personality principle of each of the candidates, as well as their skills and even their motivations.
The principle is basic, a priori: we create an online account, then each user must answer a questionnaire assessing different skill and personality points, and this will in some way determine a standard type X, Y or Z profile, which can be composed of personality qualities, such as revealing being conscious or characterizing a person who cares about work and wants to do things with zeal and professionalism ?! At the very least, intriguing!
The tools also support the geo-location of users of the deployed system, as well as the sector in which they evolve or simply wish to evolve.
Basically the challenge is that an algorithm can bring together candidates and recruiters who have a certain degree of compatibility. This is the focal point.
We are talking about a sophisticated calculation system that will determine the fit between a candidate and a recruiter. This adequacy is not exactly based on experiences presented in a curriculum, but more on what we now call "soft skills", transversal and behavioral skills that are increasingly sought by companies. An example of this is the quality orientation of a candidate's quality or service. These are personality elements considered to be safe values and may allow a given candidate to have a greater chance of having a large number of meetings or tasks.
For example, if an applicant has a profile that matches an outgoing personality, he or she can connect with a recruiter who wants to fill a sales position. The system will be responsible for forwarding it accordingly after a series of questionnaires.
Studies revealed by the Harvard Business Review conclusively state that if we use Artificial Intelligence(AI) in a recruitment of this type, it would be more effective than intuition in the field of recruitment and a lower risk of finding an inappropriate profile!
This new recruitment method has numerous advantages as it allows individuals to get job opportunities in a completely innovative way. It is not the elements of the curriculum that allow individuals to make a difference, but their personality, motivation and skills. From this point of view, we can conclude that we will all be (at an early stage) at an equal level and that the years of experience highlighted in our curriculum are not as relevant as we think. The important thing is to be able to (or not), and how to prove it (technique).
New techniques continue to be developed, such as Machine Learning (automatic learning or statistics), which is a program that can learn on its own from the data transmitted. If this system is applied in the field of recruitment and Affinity Matching, this will allow the calculations to be more specific and and that the candidate can learn from possible mistakes. So, if companies invest in this area, it seems that success is kind of guaranteed!
Indeed, companies that invest in diversifying RH supplying tools, may increase their chances of finding rare and unique profiles. Most likely try to quickly use these new techniques to find a job, with special emphasis among the people of the Y and Z generation.
Why thinking about this is so important?
According to a 2014 Mozart Consulting study, the cost of a failed recruitment could reach about 50,000 euros, depending on the profile.
Where do you and I fit in, then?
Is it possible to imagine Affinity Matching as the future of recruitment?
Obviously it is too early to conclude that this is the solution for platforms that offer these services, because they are relatively recent. However, given the evolution of AI, it is not surprising that these techniques may be permanently installed and thus revolutionize what we call recruiting. So it is yet premature to fully trust in this tool.
We know that the future of artificial intelligence lies in the ability of computers to learn, but nowadays the algorithms behind the contact are coded by humans and the logic is usually still hidden, because these computer codes (algorithms) are not visible and are protected to avoid competition between market players. This raises the question of whether it is important to gather physically two people (candidate and recruiter) - the principle of transparency.
Does the Affinity Matching is enough by itself? The recruiter may actually meet new candidates based on his or her personality, but will not know the professional experience he or she has taken to graduate throughout life. There are still issues that can arise in this process, for example: the process can not be formalized as some recruiters may skip important steps. There is a huge tendency to avoid direct contact, which is also not good.
Of course, in my opinion, this Affinity Matching solution can never replace the interest of an interview, when the recruiter and a candidate meet and know each other, deepen professional issues, motivations or projects.
There are still many challenges to overcome in this new method of evaluation of a potential employee. The purpose of the Affinity Matching is to accelerate and improve the recruitment phase based on the personality of the individual, a supplement used by recruiters to find the perfect candidate!
With the emergence of professional social networks, the Affinity Matching technique, however, has many advantages, provided that the algorithms can ensure that the candidates match their position. It is still too early to evaluate its effectiveness. However, investing in this area can be an opportunity for companies to excel in an innovative way in the recruitment process and can combine amazing profiles.