Preparing Your Search Firm for AI Adoption

January 3, 2024 – AI isn’t just a buzzword in recruiting anymore. A recent survey of Bullhorn customers revealed that 63 percent have started using generative AI, and 54 percent plan to roll out new AI-driven solutions within a year. If you’re not already using AI during the hiring process, now is the time to prepare your business, according to a recent report from Bullhorn. The study explains that AI can streamline your processes, increase team productivity, and help you realize more value from your database. “To fully reap the benefits of AI, businesses shouldn’t just give their teams access to it and hope for the best,” the report said. “Instead, staffing firms must prepare their systems, teams, and strategies to ensure strong adoption of AI and lasting success. That may seem like a big hill to climb, but don’t worry; we’ve summarized everything you need to know to successfully implement AI within your staffing firm so you can spend less time troubleshooting and more time transforming.”

What are the types of staffing AI? From crafting outreach to identifying key opportunities, staffing firms can apply AI across the talent lifecycle, according to the Bullhorn report. They have broken down recruiting AI into three categories:

• Generative AI enables the creation of customized content and communications, optimizing engagement with candidates and clients.
• Sourcing AI facilitates efficient talent acquisition by identifying suitable candidates from your existing database and external job boards.
• Directive AI helps recruiters focus on what matters by suggesting action items, flagging at-risk opportunities, and summarizing interactions.

Bullhorn also points out how AI can help search firms and provided this list of benefits:

• Increased efficiency: Automate tasks such as resume screening, candidate outreach, and scheduling interviews to free up recruiters to focus on more strategic tasks.
• Improved decision-making: Analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and trends that would otherwise be difficult to see. This can help staffing firms make smarter decisions about submissions, business development, and more.
• Personalized experiences: Personalize the candidate and client experience by generating targeted outreach messages, recommending jobs that are a good fit for candidates, and creating client-specific communications.

The Path to AI Adoption Success

To prepare your business for successful AI implementation and adoption, Bullhorn offers this path to success:

1. Centralize and Standardize your Data.

AI requires a large volume of clean data to operate effectively. Bullhorn notes that recruiting firms should invest in a cloud-based ATS/CRM that acts as the single source of truth for the entire business, from front-office candidate information to back-office data. “Once that’s in place, building an integrated tech stack to connect each tool will ensure important data doesn’t fall through the cracks, helping teams provide a superior candidate and client experience,” the report said. “Prioritizing the digitization of your candidate and client information and establishing a centralized data repository are critical initial steps for harnessing the full potential of AI.

AI Making Inroads Into Human Capital Sector, Jolting Investor Interest
A recent McKinsey & Company survey revealed a remarkable adoption of generative AI tools across various industries. Over one-third of respondents reported that their organizations were already leveraging artificial intelligence in at least one business function. What’s even more astonishing is that nearly a quarter of C-suite executives admitted to incorporating AI into their work processes, signifying a notable shift in how leaders are embracing cutting-edge technology. In an upcoming market intelligence report, Hunt Scanlon Ventures has found similar promise in the role AI can play in adding strategic value to search firms and human capital solutions providers. AI has already had a transformative impact on talent acquisition and the executive recruiting space in reshaping how organizations identify potential candidates.

Within this rapidly evolving landscape, advanced AI technologies are playing a pivotal role at a time when recruiters are finding their industry in the midst of a renaissance. According to Hunt Scanlon, generative AI is on track to becoming the most pivotal advancement for human capital and talent-centric business in more than four decades. Hunt Scanlon has backed up this forecast by investing in AiFlow, an AI-driven market research platform designed to automate competitor analysis and market research for private equity firms. As Josh Gardner, co-founder of AI Flow explains, “PE dealmakers can consider 100x more data, compare more benchmarks, and ultimately consider 10x more deals,” with AiFlow at their side.

Ready to digitize your data and centralize your systems? Bullhorn points out two ways to make it happen: Develop your data collection and hygiene strategies, and build out your workflows with data in mind.

2. Unleash Automation.

You can have automation without AI, but you can’t have AI without automation. Automation is crucial to AI because it allows AI systems to perform tasks at scale that would otherwise be difficult and time-consuming for humans to do, according to the Bullhorn report. For example, AI systems can use automation to analyze large amounts of candidate profiles or analyze years of submission data in seconds.

Related: How HR Can Harness AI to Advance DE&I

“Leverage automation to kickstart your data hygiene strategy so AI can unlock more value from your database when it’s implemented,” the report said. “Start by identifying missing information, like email addresses or phone numbers. Once you have clean data, let automation optimize and standardize your processes even further so AI can have a greater impact over time.”

3. Set Up Policies for Security, Compliance, and Regulations.

The Bullhorn report also explains that AI adoption must be done responsibly, taking into account all applicable security, compliance, and regulations.

“Establishing robust policies ensures that AI is used responsibly and ethically, safeguarding the interests of both clients and candidates,” the study said. “Before adding AI to your team’s toolkit, establish policies that govern the use of AI within your organization and ensure that your internal teams adhere to these policies, whether that’s guidance on handling sensitive information or limiting which tools employees have access to. Just like privacy policies and terms of use, AI policies are crucial for maintaining trust with your employees, clients, and candidates.”

4. Choose the Right Partners.

When adopting AI, Bullhorn stresses that it is essential to partner with companies that understand the unique challenges and opportunities AI brings to the staffing industry. The report says to look for AI technology providers that prioritize compliance and data integrity while also monitoring and adhering to global, national, and regional AI regulations. Remember, adopting AI is not just about using the newest piece of technology; it’s about solving critical problems and driving growth in your business, the study said.

5. Start Testing.

Start experimenting with free generative AI tools. Bullhorn says to play around, try different things, and share your learnings with your team. “Practice using different kinds of prompts to achieve the desired results – small tweaks in how you design your prompts can make a big difference to the outcome,” the report said. “This hands-on approach will help you understand the capabilities and limitations of AI, paving the way for successful (and lasting) adoption. From there, your team can explore more extensive ways to bring AI into the recruitment process, helping speed up routine tasks that are being done manually each day.”

Preparing your business for AI adoption is a strategic move that can revolutionize your operations and drive growth, according to the Bullhorn report. “By understanding the basics of AI, leveraging the right AI technologies, and following a systematic approach, you can unlock the full potential of AI in your staffing firm,” the study concludes. “If you haven’t started to explore AI tools yet, don’t panic. Using AI during the staffing process will soon become table stakes, so now is the time to prepare your team.”

Related: How to Use AI to Stand Out to Executive Search Consultants

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media