Importance of AI in Executive Search, but Not to the Detriment of the Human Touch

Within the highly specialised and confidential world of executive search, a new balance is emerging in which artificial intelligence is taking over the data processing and pattern recognition that’s required; leaving us humans to thrive in the areas of creative problem-solving and emotional intelligence. Jeremy Bossenger, director at BossJansen Executive Search, weighs in on the subject.

There are five important tips to take on board when you begin to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) into your team’s executive search process.

First of all, be careful to identify the key areas in which AI could add value – such as in CV screening, scheduling interviews, and conducting an initial round of assessments.

Secondly, it is vital to select the best-in-class AI tools for application across talent acquisition, candidate sourcing, and also the screening process. A few of the good ones out there are Eightfold AI, Loxo, HireVue, and Fetcher. Read more, here.

Thirdly, consider the technical prowess of your team members. Do they require a specialist training programme to effectively and ethically utilise these tools? Scheduling a professionally led training course would certainly not go amiss.

Fourthly, after two weeks or a month of use, evaluate what the impact of these AI tools has been on the efficacy of your firm. While AI in recruitment offers a plethora of benefits, it is possible to come across challenges related to bias, privacy, and ethics. On the other hand, to evolve with the times, AI can prove a game changer in its ability to process extensive batches of data both quickly and accurately, and to identify patterns that humans may well overlook.

Lastly, never dispense with the human touch – which is ever important in understanding non-verbal cues, tone of voice, and context, while bringing to the table soft skills such as empathy, intuition, and advanced levels of cultural understanding.

A balanced approach – where AI enhances human efforts, and vice versa

Perhaps, then, the most critical term in recruitment-based AI adoption is “enhancement”. Instead of swinging to the one side (i.e. “I’ll never corrupt my human-led operation by giving power over to the bots”) or the other (i.e. “Yay, we can all go on leave while the bots do most of the groundwork!) – the reasonable and rational approach is AI integration into executive search such that:

• it adds vast levels of efficiency, scalability, and data-driven insights to the process;
  but
• it could never completely replace human intuition and judgement, in what is essentially a people-centred industry based on honed contacts.

So, if you had to make a list revealing the value that AI brings to the process, versus the reasons why it could never take over from us humans, it may look something like this:

Value of AI. It… vs Necessity of humans. They…

• streamlines lengthy and mundane tasks; • are excellent at teasing out nuance;
• uncovers red flags hidden in the algorithm; • select candidates according to culture fit;
• scales efforts across positions, and locations.. • excel at building long-term industry relationships.

A match made in heaven

Colleen Carrol, president at ProActivate, writes for LinkedIn Pulse that “the future of talent acquisition clearly lies in combining the strengths of AI, with human expertise”.

While human interaction remains a top priority in the quest to provide candidates with a positive experience (i.e. one filled with warmth, empathy, and authenticity); AI offers up valuable data about a candidate’s skills, experience, and performance history so that those based at executive search firms can proceed to make informed and objective decisions.

Further, although AI is able to automate administrative tasks to save time and keep the focus on candidates who meet the critical skills and qualifications of the role at hand; human expertise cannot be overridden when it comes to building up a sterling network, and tapping into the emotional intelligence required to make an accurate fit on the basis of corporate culture and the personal aspirations of a senior candidate.

So, while AI is unlikely to ever be able to completely replace the human element in executive search, it is becoming an increasingly valuable complementary tool to consider for your firm.

Author: Vanessa Rogers