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Back in June, I was delighted to host a gathering of leaders from some of the world’s largest recruitment firms at a LinkedIn search and staffing event in London where our focus was the transformative impact of emerging technologies in recruitment. 

We were joined by Nathalie Nahai, a specialist in psychology, persuasive tech, and human behavior, who spoke about the huge challenges associated with managing people through the current rapid pace of tech adoption. The conversation was wide-ranging, covering the radical impact of what’s to come, the competitive advantages available, balancing the tech with the human, and the critical role of the recruitment industry in helping workforces navigate change. 

What was clear is that these are not just future concerns but present realities. For recruitment leaders currently being pitched by countless tech providers, the key is to start thinking now about a road map for tech adoption tailored to your organization, what you want to do, and how you want to do it. 

AI has arrived and most companies are missing out on the strategic use of it at scale

The message that clearly comes out of the global 2024 Work Trend Index, produced by LinkedIn and Microsoft, is that AI is not a distant potential — it’s already happening. The use of generative AI nearly doubled in just six months, with 75% of global knowledge workers now using it. 

We know that AI is going to radically impact recruitment and much of the focus has been on its potential to make it faster and easier to write job descriptions and to automate mundane tasks so that recruiters can spend more time engaging with candidates. 

But we are just at the beginning and the pace of change will be rapid. We know that 78% of global AI users are bringing their own AI tools to work, and that’s not just Gen Z — it cuts across all generations. Given this rapid surge in AI adoption, there is a clear need for strategic integration and leadership. 

At our event, we discussed the need for executives to take a much more elevated approach to this because the current bottom-up approach means companies are missing out on many of the benefits of strategic AI use at scale. Their lack of oversight also means data is potentially at risk. 

We talked about how the next step may be an evolution from chatbots to digital agents: There are businesses out there now helping candidates identify the perfect job fit, using AI to trawl thousands of opportunities, and then customizing a response and sending a CV. We have chatbots working with line managers instead of talent professionals to take job requisitions.

Companies need to prepare for the arrival of digital agents

We are now very close to digital agents turning up to job interviews and taking meetings on our behalf. That could happen within a year, and raises all sorts of questions around employee verification, privacy, and authenticity that leaders cannot afford to ignore.

Businesses that can put together high-level multidisciplinary working groups that include IT, HR, legal, and commercial professionals are leading the way. Taking such a joined-up approach means these steering groups can not only identify AI opportunities but also support staff with training that encourages both adoption and experimentation, at the same time putting in place guiding principles to ensure responsible use. 

In the absence of regulation, companies need to develop clear guardrails

Because the pace of technological change is outrunning the ability of governments and regulators to keep up, there is a broad hunger for clear guardrails. In our survey of recruitment leaders across EMEA and the U.S., 71% said it is hard to keep up with the pace of technological change and 74% would like more knowledge and support to take advantage of generative AI benefits. 

In the absence of regulation, it is incumbent on business leaders to set the agenda for their own organizations. LinkedIn’s guiding principles, for example, set out our belief that AI technology needs to advance economic opportunities, uphold trust, promote fairness and inclusion, provide transparency, and embrace accountability. 

We heard from Nathalie about how important it is to integrate AI tools in ways that still value and empower employees, which means being clear on the problems that need solving and the company philosophies on the best ways forward. 

To build trust, embrace commitment, congruency, consistency, and coherence

Nathalie talked about the four Cs — commitment, congruency, consistency, coherence — that she has identified for leaders who want to build trust with employees, which is so important as businesses embed new technologies.

She advises companies to start with a publicly stated set of commitments to specific values and principles. Then leaders need to have congruency in word and deed, making sure actions align with those commitments and are applied with consistency over time. Finally, there is a need for coherence, doing the right things for the right reasons, which may mean sometimes taking a hit to the bottom line rather than reneging on core principles. 

Recruiters have a key role to play in the transformation of the workforce 

We know that the makeup of the workforce is going to change fundamentally as a result of AI adoption. Already, 66% of global leaders say they wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills, while 76% of professionals say they need AI skills to remain competitive in the job market. 

As skills requirements shift, recruiters will be central to workforce transformation, recognizing that some of the in-demand AI skills will already exist within organizations and there’s a need to look across both internal and external resources. 

If the recruitment industry takes the opportunity, it can be at the forefront of workforce transformation, supporting multiple organizations as entire economies transition from hiring based on roles and responsibilities to a focus on skills and tasks. The future is going to be about the recruiter as a critical partner, informed by data, helping businesses with strategic workforce planning through a period of radical skills transformation and a shift to continuous learning. 

Recruiters have a responsibility to take charge, as others look to them for leadership and learning. And recruitment leaders need to take action now on AI. The most enlightened are already well advanced with rolling out training programs to teach their teams how to use generative AI most effectively. Those forward thinkers are also encouraging their teams to experiment, offering them access to new tools and helping them advance the tools that generate the most tangible benefits in their day jobs. 

Employees need intentional trainings to use AI effectively

When I sat down with Michael Smith, chief executive at Randstad Enterprise, to talk through some of the themes in the Future of Recruiting research earlier in the year, he said his company has launched training programs to teach its recruiters how to use AI effectively.

He believes the acceptance and adoption of generative AI presents both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for the industry today. Randstad is working hard to encourage experimentation and to remain mindful of the need for a thoughtful, considered approach.

“We have a tool that automatically creates job advertisements now, which we estimate saves our people between 19 and 27 minutes each time they need to do that,” Michael says. “The challenge is what those people do with that time – how do we move them into more value-creating activities that align with the aspirations of those individuals.” 

Final thoughts: It’s critical to lead from the front on AI issues

Technology has huge potential to level the playing field, empowering smaller organizations to make a bigger impact and challenging larger ones to be more nimble and efficient. By encouraging our people to have a go, find use cases, and play with emerging technologies, we can change the game. 

Some really useful practical tips emerged from our event, starting with the need for leaders to educate themselves by leaning on partners, developing their own curiosity, and being prepared to explore. Why not speak to people on your teams about what they are using and how they are finding out about AI tools? Then open your mind to the possibilities within the business. 

Next, create clear principles and purpose for your business, focusing on getting your company culture right while creating a strategy for AI adoption and AI use at work. Build trust with your employees and be sure to stay on top of the fast-changing legal landscape. 

The critical thing is for bosses to lead from the front, understanding this is about talent, identifying the skills already in the business, encouraging colleagues to experiment, and always prioritizing human communication and relationships.

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