The collision between HR & Tech has just started

This 4th and final post in The Future of HR series comes from Greg Moran of Chequed.com.  For all the details on this series click here.

When people ask about the future of HR technology, it’s difficult to paint a crystal clear picture because we can never be positive of what the coming days will hold. Yet, while complete certainty is unavailable, experience and understanding lead us to some well-informed, and thus very likely, conclusions about the impact of modern science on some of the most fundamental aspects of our field.  In essence, the collision between HR and technology has only just begun.

Perhaps most evident is that the value of automation will very likely continue to commoditize, as all companies will utilize such tools interchangeably.  Simply put, if it isn’t already, it will soon be commonplace for recruiters to employ automation at multiple points in the hiring process. Consequently, more automated services will follow in the footsteps of recruitment software firm SmartRecruiters and offer their product for free. This means that those organizations that continue to ignore automation will only fall further and further behind the eight ball, placing both their stability and profitability in considerable jeopardy.

What’s more, the efficiency of many HR processes will increase dramatically as Quality of Hire tools flourish.  While assessments have been around for centuries, they were often willing to sacrifice timeliness in exchange for a process that actually predicted a candidate’s post-hire performance. However, automated assessments, such as pre-screening evaluations, online interviewing, and automated reference checking, will not only allow for a predictive process, but one that also places greater emphasis on overall efficiency.  In other words, the speed of the process that we are currently appreciating through automation will be coupled with increased accuracy, thereby leading to exponentially improved outcomes.

Finally, HR will align itself with the mobile world, leveraging one-click technologies such as QR codes to more effectively source and process candidates. Just as top talent managers are eager to embrace technologies that make our jobs more accurate and less time consuming, so too are top candidates seeking a hiring process that is unburdened by scheduling dilemmas and long online applications.  Although considered by some to be a filter, such barriers could in fact mean the difference between finding and missing the right candidate for the job. By minimizing many of these hurdles through point-of-decision and impulse technologies, talent managers and candidates for all types of positions are able to meaningfully interact more quickly.

The inclusion of these cutting-edge developments in recruitment practices is critical for organizations intending to maintain status quo, let alone grow.  Recruiters are on the cusp of what could be a golden age for our field, a time when progress is both rapid and exciting, and the effects will undoubtedly reverberate throughout our respective firms.  No longer can we afford to cast doubt on the efficacy of these proven technologies because of our own limitations.  We must embrace them for all that they are and all that they will do, lest we be left in the dust.

Greg Moran is President and CEO of Chequed.com, a provider of predictive pre-employment assessments and automated reference checking software. With more than two decades of human capital management experience, Greg has been quoted in numerous prominent publications including the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and Businessweek. In addition to authoring two books, Hire, Fire and The Walking Dead, and Building the Talent Edge: A Manager’s Guide to Recruiting the Best, he has recently initiated his own human resource blog, DisruptHR.com. You can connect with him over email or Twitter @CEOofChequed.