What I learned in the first year of AMS Verified

This week marks the first year since the full launch of AMS Verified, a website I’ve had the privilege to help build that offers talent leaders clear insight on the complex and fast-evolving landscape of talent technology. 

I’ve spoken with dozens of talent tech experts at leading companies as well as vendors of talent technology. It’s been a fascinating journey of learning and discovering new insights. On this first milestone, I put together a few of these learnings which stand out.   

Tech transformation is becoming a constant

I have yet to meet a Talent Acquisition function that has landed on what can be termed a finalized set up (if you have, please call me!). Rather, tech transformation programs in the HR space are becoming more of a constant as innovation accelerates. Accepting this reality, talent leaders need to think beyond what tech they need now and have a vision for where they are going in the longer term and put structures in place to maintain agility to adapt such as by choosing vendors, infrastructure, and platforms with the capability to evolve alongside their company’s needs.

Instant gratification is going from delighter to expectation in the hiring process.

We are all feeling the love of technology in our daily lives that makes mundane tasks easier and getting what we want faster. This is having an impact on peoples’ attitudes towards job searching. Candidates are becoming less patient with long application forms or prolonged delays in the process without feedback.  Hiring may never get to the same level of satisfaction as, for example, on-line shopping but we can certainly get a lot closer with technology that makes the process easier, more engaging, and generally more consumer grade. As anyone can see on AMS Verified, there is no shortage of digital products with innovative solutions inspired by digital consumer products ready to help. The challenge is for talent leaders to create business cases that clearly show the economic – not just experiential – benefits of this class of technology. That is, that talent technology that improves the candidate experience is not a cost but an investment that, when used strategically, improves a company’s ability to attract and retain the talent needed to succeed. 

Technology won’t fix an inadequate process.

I’ve been on dozens of product demos this past year and have been truly impressed by many. But while I believe that hiring processes can be improved with the thoughtful use of technology, I’m even more certain that no amount of technology will compensate for poor practices, ill-defined strategies, or misconfigured systems. Without a proper change program to support the implementation of new tech, there’s bound to be disappointed expectations. And worse, deficiencies may actually be compounded by the introduction of new tech. Before going after new or replacement technology, spend time getting to the root cause you’re solving for. The best place to start on this is to speak to recruiters, hiring managers and candidates and build a business case from there.

Yes, AI will change everything. 

I think it’s already clear to even casual followers of technology that AI is going to bring fundamental changes to how and who we hire. For now, the general public seems to have a starry-eyed fascination with its potential and doing some early experimentation with the cool and quirky things it can do. But make no mistake: as it rapidly becomes more advanced and embedded into our daily lives, more risks will emerge and as such the use of AI will be subject to stringent regulation with penalties and reputational damage for its improper application – especially in relation to hiring. This is why AMS Verified is giving it so much focus with our AI Index and other content.  It is imperative for HR leaders to stay close to this subject and play an active role in developing strategies and policies for the responsible use of AI in their organizations.

There are some simple but amazingly impactful technologies out there. You’re just not using them. 

There are a few categories of talent tech that have some of the most passionate customer advocates but for some reason aren’t widely used. These are mostly products with a specific purpose (aka point solutions). The category that stands out the most to me is tools designed to support onboarding of new hires.  Despite being loved so much by their customers, they don’t often get past the gauntlet of corporate procurement, IS and finance. My guess is that these products’ benefits are indirect and difficult to put a number to. For example, what’s the up-side of improving the onboarding experience? The answer is a shorter productivity ramp-up time, lower voluntary attrition, reduced “no-shows”, and can lead to a greater exertion of “discretionary effort” by new joiners (look it up – a great concept that many companies don’t appreciate or often confuse with “employee engagement”). While these elements have a very strong influence on underlying company performance, there are no standard formulas to calculate their impact on the bottom line meaning most talent leaders struggle in creating proper business cases. This is where networking and learning from the experiences of peers is of huge value to gather the insight and confidence that a new technology can bring. 

In the year ahead we will continue to evaluate and add products to AMS Verified. In addition, we will be adding new features such as resources and peer networking for members to stay up to date and help guide them to the right tech to achieve their objectives. If you’re not already a member, I invite you to join me and hundreds of talent leaders on AMS Verified and stay ahead of the curve on talent technology.

Check out our fantastic platform here.