This Week, In Recruiting - Issue 178

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Open Kitchen: The Search for the Human Premium in Talent Acquisition

About a year ago, I asked ChatGPT to create and then force rank a list of 100 Recruiter activities that it considered 'most exposed' to Artificial Intelligence. The exercise required ChatGPT to consider each activity, assess against its own capabilities of doing it and then compare each of those assessments against each other to create a sort order from 1-100.

You can find the full spreadsheet on my website if you want to take a closer look.

By reviewing the top and bottom 20 records, we would get a view of the recruiter activities that ChatGPT itself considered to be the most AI exposed vs AI insulated. Those two lists can then be used as reasonable guide for forward thinking recruiters on which activities we human recruiters should aggressively automate out of our workflow, and which ones require greater investment of human time and energy

We can see that we spend most of our time performing activities that are highly exposed to AI. If we were to create a job description for recruiter today, the responsibilities section will likely feature many more of the items on the left hand column than on the right. And if we continue to do those activities at the expense of expanding scope toward those which are AI insulated, then we are volunteering for being seated in the middle of the track as the train fast approaches.

Twelve months later and we can see that the train is nearly here - AI has made tremendous progress in many of the recruiter activities on the left hand column. Every spreadsheet programme (even Google Sheets!) now has Data Analysis add-on's which enable non experts to convert raw data into human-readable insight. SEO can be calibrated by AI better than any human. Job Adverts / Job Posting - we stopped writing job descriptions ever since copy paste was invented, so it was natural thing to have AI generate it from a prompt. And guess what? Because the AI was trained on a great deal more data than we humans had exposure to, it was able to generate JD's based on those which performed best in generating applications.

The list goes on - we're now seeing modularised solutions like this week's sponsor Popp, which basically do most of these activities, which you can pick and mix your way through, according to your readiness or your preference. I wrote about this in last week's Open Kitchen so feel free to read about 10 Ways in Which AI is Eating Recruiting

It's pretty obvious what we human recruiters have to do: become AI-enabled super users of these technologies on the left hand column and convert the efficiency gains to new, expanded work on the right hand column. We have to be conscious about this shift, because it will not happen of its own accord. The logic of our economic system is that technological innovation 'increases productivity' which is code for reducing headcount. What we need to do is insist that a share of the efficiency gains is converted into better work for humans, not just more profit for business.

The concept of 'Human Centred AI' lead by GoodTime CEO Ahryun Moon - is the sort of thing we need do be doing. Ahryun is one of the few software vendors who fully understand that her product can produce enormous efficiency gains for businesses, but is determined that those gains do not come at the expense of the human experience. We're early on in learning what Human Centred AI is, and I'm delighted to be on board in supporting its definition and elevating the concept in the industry discourse. We're talking about this later this month on the 27th August, so make sure you tune in

In the meantime, for recruiters who are operating at the coal face, lets have a think of what common elements make for AI insulated activities. What is it that causes AI to think it cannot easily perform this or that task?

1. Where the Problem or Task is Ill-Defined

Donald Rumsfeld is nobody to admire but he has right about one thing in his life when he talked about 'unknown unknowns'. There are things we know we don't know about, but also things where we don't know what we don't know about. Accordingly, we need to apply different problem solving frameworks according to our awareness and our knowledge.

This 2 x 2 matrix, reproduced by Marc Zao-Saunders (hope you're doing good man - long time no see!) is a good a visual descriptor. Where we have known knowns, good chance the problem is going to be a matter of data processing, and therefore very good chance that AI is going to be better at it than us. We need to play in the Known Unknown and Unknown Unknown quadrants. For Talent Acquisition, this is likely to occur in the liminal periods at or before the beginning of projects, so this is going to turn into another call to action to 'become more strategic' - understand what your CEO wants and come up with a plan to help them get there - not just order take from hiring managers.

2. Novel Configuration (Likely Because Previous Human Worked On it!)

The call for everyone to abandon 'email jobs' (thanks to Chantelle Jones for this one 😀) in favour of learning a trade is based on the widely accepted idea that we're always going to need plumbers and electricians. Lesser known is the reason why.

Because human beings have worked on a project before, they are highly likely to have created local ad hoc non standard solutions which are fit for that purpose, but do not scale for future purpose or a modular refit. The reason why you need a skilled trades person is because the previous skilled tradesperson did something which worked then but doesn't work now. These are instances where there is a 'novel configuration'. Now for Talent Acquisition person, or anyone who is working in a knowledge based role, we should see these novel configurations everywhere - technical & cultural debt build up in organisations over time and it takes time to acquire the institutional knowledge to figure out how exactly things work in that organisation. So, seeking out and identify areas in the hiring funnel which have novel configurations is a good place to play if you want to be AI insulated.

3. Requires High Context

Erin Meyer's 'TheCulture Map' was one of the most popular management books of the globalising era. The idea that different cultures had different communication styles, even when we were all speaking the same language was a hugely important mainstreaming of a widely accepted anthropological phenomenon. We forgive the necessary overgeneralisations because the heuristics were pretty accurate - and it proved an essential tome for anyone doing business internationally or managing international teams.

The concept of high and low context is relevant when we think about AI exposure vs insulation. There is a direct analogy between implicit and explicit information. In low context scenarios - where the explicit information is sufficient - AI has a much greater chance of playing a dominant role. Think about a tight definition of a specific task you want to give to a human gig worker on Upwork - this is low context, because there is little requirement for the receiver to collect more information because all of the vital stuff has already been communicated. In high context scenarios the explicit information is insufficient - there is more relevant information that has not been communicated explicitly - the requirement for the receiver is to collect this information before effective work can be conducted. Now have a think about where this happens in the recruiting funnel - lots of places - especially when the unstated realities of social organisation are considered. We need to make sure we play hard there.

4. Work Requires High Collaboration Intensity

The 'Human towers of Spain' is this spectacular ritual where human beings use their own bodies to create a tower upon which more human beings are added until you reach a dizzying heights which clearly come with significant risk!

It is easy to see why this ritual is regularly used to as an analogy of team work - the tower is made up of dozens of participants, each one vital for the stability of the structure, regardless of their position in the team. Have one person fail to do their job, and the tower is going to come down. This is a perfect description of 'high collaboration intensity'.

Now it is probably not a good thing for a company to be always be in high collaborative intensity mode; there are single points of failure everywhere on the stack, and it is incumbent upon business owners and function leaders who have a basic understanding of organisational resilience to eliminate these points of failure in organisation design. However, there times when high collaboration intensity is the most efficient way to do something, so much so that it is worth trading off the risk that everyone needs to rely on everybody. Classically, early stage startup might be considered one of those scenarios - part of the reason why tech bro CEO's have been prominent in calling for RTO is in part because of reminiscence of the collaboration intensity provided by this type of 'all-in' commitment. Now have a think about moments when HCI is required or desired in talent acquisition; any major new initiative, moments when there is a short term tactical goal (a 'sprint'), moments when there is a requirement to course correct or move to emergency stations. In some ways, crisis can create the requirement for high collaboration intensity. Something to think about if we want to stay insulated from AI.

5. Prefer A Human Anyway

AI wins because it is more efficient. But sometimes optimal efficiency is not what we actually want. Th canonical example is the artisanal coffee movement. If I were to ask any of you 'what is your favourite coffee shop' - very few if any would say 'Starbucks' or 'Costa Coffee' or any of the mega corp global brands. Instead, we would refer to a local boutique where some hipster would manually grind the beans whilst we wait 10 minutes and pay twice the price. The reason why we have this preference is explained only in part due to the perceived improvement in quality of product; we have this preference because purchasing artisanal communicates important social information - that we are sophisticated buyers, therefore have excess resources to spend on frivolities, therefore are economically successful, highly cultured, high status and worthy of your admiration, you plebeian!

Would we feel differently if we got exactly the same coffee dispensed via automated kiosk? The kiosk would be more efficient for sure, but that efficiency itself communicates a message of time poverty which contradicts our bohemian self perception. In this circumstance, we want inefficiency. And we especially want inefficiency if it is provided by a skilled human craftsmen.

Can recruitment become artisanal? I'm really not sure, but we don't have to stretch the imagination too far to see moments when skilled human inefficiency is preferred. A great deal of the CX problems we have is precisely because we have not delivered 'the human touch'. I suspect if we rigorously examine the function of recruitment, we will have more moments when human delivery of the thing might be preferred to the more efficient bot delivery of the thing. It's probably the reemergence of the Labour Theory of Value, something we might increasingly treasure as more work is conducted and completed by AI.

So How Does This Manifest in Recruitment?

You're going to have to wait for next week for that one, as this essay is already way too long.

Now out of the kitchen, onto the lounge 👇

What's Going On?

Big List of Recruiter Events to Attend in 2024

Big List of Recruiting and HR Events to Attend in 2024 - updated folks. Coming back from Recfest, no question my enthusiasm for in-person events has only grown. Make sure you check out this spreadsheet - add any you think are missing - and get attending some of these amazing events. Btw, we might as well start adding 2025 events also, so get cracking with this also!

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep269 - New Labour Govt: What Recruiters, Talent Acquisition & Human Resources Leaders Need to Know , Thursday 22nd August, 2pm BST

Summer recess comes to a close in two weeks, and by then UK's new government will start implementing their policies on employment, worker protections, pay and taxation. What will this mean for employers and recruitment agencies? We're with Neil Carberry, CEO (Recruitment & Employment Confederation, Tony Wilson, Director (Institute of Employment Studies), Ray Walker, VP Contingent Workforce (Worksome), David D’Souza, Director of Profession (CIPD) & Rachel Dalboth, Director of TA Centre of Excellence (The Talent Labs) to figure this out. Register here

Employer Story Video Tech for Talent Attraction, Tue 27th Aug, 10am BST

So video is something I personally need to get better at, so I am very keen to understand what is working when it comes to short form video for recruiting. VMJ have been a leading player in using video to promote jobs, but we know that there is so much more to the medium that job ads - it's an essential media for communicating company culture and values. We're on Tues 27th August, 2024. Register here

Human-Centric AI in Hiring: Blending Efficiency and Experience, Tues 27th Aug, 1pm EST | 10am PST |

We know that AI is going to change the way we work. The question we all have as human beings is how do we ensure that AI innovation remains human centred, and not have human's relegated out into the periphery. Maybe the most important topic we have to discuss is this and I am delighted to join Rameen Fattahi, Director, Recruiting Operations & Insights (Rivian), Charles Mah, CCO (GoodTime) and Ahryun Moon, CEO, (GoodTime) in finding a way where we can innovate with AI but ensure the human experience remains at the centre of it. Register here

Founders Focus - Ep51 - Up close and personal with Runar Reistrup, CEO of YunoJuno, Wednesday 28th August, 12pm BST

Runar probably doesn't remember but we met a long time ago when I was chatting about a newly funded company called DePop ;-). I'm going to be excited to reconnect with Runar and learn from him what he has learned from CEO-ing scale ups vs leading enterprises. This is the show where we get up close and personal with the people changing the way we work together. We're on Weds 28th August, 12pm BST. Register here

Worksome Meetup: Operating with independent talent in the UK, Wed 3rd Oct, 830am - 10.45am, Lantana London Bridge | 44-46 Southwark St

In a VUCA world, it is essential for employers to create an agile and flexible workforce. Whilst the core component of any business will always be FTE, the non-FTE component will continue to increase as workers and organisations figure out new ways of working. What are the best ways to work with 'independent talent' in the UK? Join Worksome in this in-person meet up in London Bridge on the 3rd Oct. Register here

ERE Recruiting Conference, November 12-14, Anaheim, CA, USA

As I mentioned, I'm stealing Peter Hinssen's term, 'human premium'. I suspect that it, along with access to collective intelligence, is going to be the decisive component of human work in era of generative AI. How does this translate for us in TA? I'm going to be presenting a discussion on how recruiters can future proof in the era of AI. I would welcome any comments or contributions from the community in advance of this talk. See you in Anaheim: register here

NB: if you want a discount code, comment "ERE" below and I will DM you

If you have an event, webinar or podcast going on next week and want it featured on next week's newsletter, comment below with the link and event details. Don't forget to at mention me so that I see it

End Notes

Final week of summer? I think we've already peaked so time to finish the ice cream tub, have one more lazy week in the sun, before going hard again for the Autumn. What are your plans in September and beyond - what are you going to do to make sure you see through the year in great shape? Let me know what things you're going to change up - love to hear if you have tactical tips I could adopt.

Onwards friends

Cheers

Hung

Hung Lee is the curator of Recruiting Brainfood, and now This Week In Recruiting. Subscribe to both if you are into recruiting or HR or just interested in world of work.