Over the last few years, there has been a push to “buy local.” Buying local allows for each community to have a stake in the financial well being of its infrastructure. This trend is a 180-degree turn from the “global” society we have become. We are realizing that we have to go back to a local mentality in order to build a stronger economy.
Buying local cuts down on energy costs, helps small businesses survive against the bigger conglomerates, and gives the consumer a stake in improving his or her own community. Otherwise explained, we are going “old school” by buying groceries the same way our grandparents did. I foresee companies taking a similar trend in their approach to recruiting and hiring talent.
Over the last few years, I’ve seen companies go on quests to use “big data” to automate hiring as much as possible in order to make the process a cost effective and simple transaction. The hope is that if you use technology and other tools in the selection process, then hiring should be as easy as pushing a button. Take as much of the human interaction out of the equation as possible, and you should have a straightforward transaction sans differences of opinions that should result in a perfect hire.
Companies are pouring over stats and data to get this whole hiring thing down to a science.
The reality is, hiring someone to work in your company is personal, not science! Just like a computer or a formula can’t tell you what stock is going to make the most money or what horse will win the race, it can’t tell you who will be the best hire. Sure, all of those tools can certainly help you make a good, informed decision, but at the end of the day, these tools will not replace a human mind.Many companies have chosen to outsource hiring, and have built systems to keep as much human interaction out of the talent acquisition process as possible.
I speak to hiring leaders all day, every day, who are finally frustrated with all of this automation. They are finding that this so-called “simple” process isn’t simple at all. They long for the days when they could go through a hiring process like the one they went through. One that involved people, not just a computer or an automated message. They complain about how automating the hiring and selection process has made the whole experience more complicated, difficult, and frustrating.
Many go around these systems, and go back to the old school ways. They call people they know. They ask for opinions. They leverage all of the “local” resources.
In the coming years, I would suspect that we are going to see companies encouraging their hiring managers to “hire local.” It’s those methods that are going to keep positive economic growth happening in the marketplace. An individual creating positive economic growth impacts every person and doesn’t leave the very important decision of hiring someone to a formula, computer, or process.