Lance Haun - Writer and Consultant on Work TechStrategy for The Starr Conspiracy. Former HR pro. Portland guy (Go Blazers!) and WSU alum (Go Cougs!). I get to write about what I want here.
Does it always feel like somebody’s watching you?
I don’t want to throw it back to the ’80s, but I do have 1984 on my mind, or more specifically, the novel “1984.” Big Brother is watching employees in some obviously invasive and other less invasive ways. It’s widespread, it’s increased since the pandemic started, and it’s worth considering whether it’s appropriate in an age when employers are getting invited into homes.
“Hey Siri, how tall is Mount Kilimanjaro?”
“You have no appointments for tomorrow.”
I love new technology, especially in recruiting. I love getting demos and getting reminded that all of our jobs are temporary because we’ll be replaced by robots very soon. I’ve read glowing case studies, big funding announcements, and coverage of new releases.
Well, it was somewhat nice while it lasted, right?
For recruiters — at least the ones who kept their jobs and weren’t in the industries that were hit hardest by Covid-19 — a temporary hiring advantage in the wake of massive unemployment was a change of pace.
What does an AI researcher at Google getting fired have to do with talent acquisition?
It’s a moment that could spark the beginning of the end for a wild west of artificial intelligence and the emergence of ethical AI into the mainstream.
That should spell concern for any recruiting technology that employs AI in a critical function like hiring. But would that be the end of all of these emerging AI tools?
In one HR job I had, we went through a disruptive technology transition. Of course, pretty much any tech transition is disruptive. Even the best-laid plans don’t work perfectly.
Applicant flow had slowed as we moved from one HR platform to another and we paused job advertising as we made the switch. I had planned for this slowdown, but the change took an extra week due to miscommunication between our IT department and the software vendor. It wasn’t great, but there also isn’t much you can do in the heat of the situation.
Do you remember what you were doing about six months ago?
If you were working, which was a bigger “if” then than it is today, you were either working from a worksite under very strange conditions or you were working from home under very strange conditions.
“What ATS do you have, and do you like it?”
Whether I’m roaming through the halls of the HR Tech conference (in-person or virtual) or on a call with a VP of recruiting, I always ask talent acquisition professionals what they use as the brain of their recruiting operation.
“Brain” might be stretching it with some applicant tracking systems.
The last trade show I went to in person was 2019’s version of the HR Technology Conference & Exhibition. It seems so weird to think of packing into an Uber on the strip, crowding into a session or an expo hall, and, well honestly, the whole thought of going to Vegas isn’t at the top of my list for the foreseeable future.
I bring that up because it felt like I saw approximately three billion AI for recruiting vendors on the floor, all of which had booths larger than my first apartment.
A unicorn is a magical being that my daughter is obsessed with — and also a company that’s valuation has reached $1B. HR tech has had a number of them, especially over the last decade.
February and March were a wild time to be dozens of people’s work-from-home “expert.” You see, that’s what you become when you spend more than a decade vacillating between a home desk, standing countertop, kitchen table, couch, and, yes, occasionally the bedroom or bathroom.
Lance Haun - Writer and Consultant on Work Tech