Latest Posts


How New Technology is Changing Recruitment

How New Technology is Changing Recruitment

Maxsum Consulting is proud to partner with Caliper Australia in presenting this Guest Blog post.

How New Technology is Changing Recruitment

The rapid advancement of technology in the recruitment and HR space is significantly changing the way businesses handle their talent management

The recruitment process in particular is changing immensely for both small and large businesses, with faster, cheaper online solutions becoming readily available.  The laborious process of advertising, reading resumes, interviewing, personality profiling, skills testing and so on, is now rapidly being replaced by technology systems that can do a big part of the work in a shorter time frame for the hiring manager. Whilst many may presume that these technological advances are only suitable for big businesses with huge budgets, the accessibility of the majority of these platforms has never been greater.

HR technology has expanded so drastically in recent years that it is now estimated that the market for HR software and tools is worth more than $14 billion dollar per year.  With such a large market, competition has driven suppliers to provide cost effective solutions for all market segments, including SMEs. This raises the question: with such high functionality now available instantaneously, online and cost effectively, is the age of the recruiter and the HR manager coming to an end?

For sourcing talent, platforms like LinkedIn have risen to prominence by providing the ability to actively reach out to a targeted pool of candidates that may, or may not, be searching for a new role.

The introduction of skills and competency matching via online HR systems provides a streamlined shortlisting process, assessing candidates before the hiring manager even looks at a resume.  Sophisticated systems will also request references be included to confirm the level of competence proclaimed by the applicant, ensuring a level of validation.  These systems generally work on a ‘per user per annum’ fee, and require some set up, so shopping around for the best platform to suit your business needs is worth the time and effort.

The world of personality assessment has also advanced greatly in the last two years, with systems like Caliper Analytics disrupting the usual methodology of static profile reports based on set job models that may or may not fit the business’ precise needs.  Caliper’s system allows a manager to custom design a high quality personality profile report based on their ideal job role by selecting from an extensive online competency library.  From this a manager gains a measure of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses against the exact role they need filled, providing an intricate understanding of their ‘hard wired’ potential for the job.

With all these HR technologies readily available do we really still need HR experts and the human element in the talent management function? The majority of thought leadership addressing HR and technology suggests that yes, we do.  Human intuition and the ability to learn from experience is something a software programme cannot imitate (yet), but it is crucial in the recruitment and talent management process.  Whilst a company like Caliper specialises in putting science behind talent management decisions, the expertise and intuition of an HR professional, recruiter or manager is still invaluable to determine whether a candidate would be a good fit for a certain job or company, alongside what tools can tell us.

Keep in mind that multiple factors need to fall in to place to achieve optimal performance from your staff.  Does this individual have the hard wired characteristics and natural strengths for the role? Do they have the training, experience and skills required? Do you feel right about employing, training or promoting them? Do they fit your culture and team? Do they possess the right motivation to perform at your organisation?

New HR technologies will streamline your HR practices and make you a more effective decision maker, but remember that a combination of these systems and human expertise still provides the most rigid process for recruiting the right people, and developing them to their full potential.

Shaun Farrell, Director, Caliper Australia

Shaun Farrell is a Director of Caliper Australia, a company which has been helping large and small companies hire the right people, develop individuals and build high performance teams by predicting job performance.  The foundation of their work is the Caliper Profile, an accurate and job-matched personality assessment instrument that measures whether an individual has the natural strengths, motivations and overall potential to succeed in a particular job role.  Shaun has provided engaging and interactive presentations to hundreds of business owners on how to hire the right people, manage staff more effectively, and achieve peak performance.