ChatGPT one year on: what have we learned as talent professionals?
It’s been a year since ChatGPT came into our lives, so what is everyone thinking about it now?
Has it had a beneficial impact to your organisation as a leader or talent professional?
ChatGPT is now one of many AI technologies that people worldwide have integrated into their operations. According to the Artificial Intelligence In HR Global Market Report 2023, it’s expected to grow to $5.28 billion this year from $4.50 billion in 2022, with predicted growth of 16.7% to $9.80 billion in 2027.
Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, told leaders at the LinkedIn Talent Connect Summit 2023 that AI was ‘fundamentally going to alter both how we build careers [and] how we build companies’.
But are we AI-ready yet?
According to the Avanade AI Readiness Report report, 95% of those surveyed are optimistic about AI and 96% are confident their organisations’ have the knowledge and resources. But only 48% say their workplaces have put in place specific guidelines and policies for responsible AI.
63% agree that additional support is needed to onboard new employees with the skills needed for generative AI. Similarly to IBM’s global survey, Augmented work for an automated, AI-driven world, 40% predicted that their workforce will need to reskill over the next few years as a result of integrating AI into their workplace.
97% use AI in their role at least once a week, mostly for automating repetitive tasks. AI might be here to stay, but there’s clearly a lot of work to do to make it part of our ongoing operations.
AI and talent engagement
According to Gartner, 76% of talent professionals believe that if they do not introduce AI to their organisation in the next 12 to 24 months, they will be lagging in organisational success compared to those that do. It has become an investment driving a multi-billion dollar industry.
52% of talent professionals said they were looking at potential opportunities for AI, with 63% planning to use it for improving efficiency. 52% planned to use it for improving the employee experience, among other goals.
From a talent perspective, there are certainly benefits to using advanced technology to help streamline a recruitment process - from writing job descriptions to scheduling interviews.
There are 2 basic advantages to using AI technology like ChatGPT:
1. It offers a new perspective and a starting point
The technology may offer new ideas or angles you hadn’t thought about and you can expand on. It can also source valuable content to use in your own marketing strategy. After all, recruitment is marketing. According to a report, by the end of 2024, most of those surveyed expect AI to impact their jobs mostly by inspiring creative ideas and driving innovation.
Technology like ChatGPT can provide a starting point to work from when creating content. It can provide the filler, but it’s your own experience and skill that makes content authentic. You can’t base your employer brand on words and data from ChatGPT because it is not you.
It’s important to remember that talent attraction and engagement is about creating an emotional connection with the right people. AI can’t do that alone. Your talent brand’s personality is unique and shaped by the people in your team.
For this reason, AI can only do so much. It gives you a starting point, a foundation to work on. But as an employer, you and your people are what will attract the right talent. Business is people.
Great business is about creating connection and building relationships through trust. Jacinda Ardern gave a timely reminder when speaking at the LinkedIn Talent Connect Summit 2023 when she said ‘simply being human is more than enough for a leader’.
2. It can streamline your processes by taking on automated, repetitive tasks
There are many, many AI tools available to help you streamline your talent management processes! Here are just a few.
AI assistants like IBM watsonx Orchestrate can help facilitate common talent management tasks like writing a job description or sourcing candidates.
Olivia by Paradox is a conversational recruiting support system that can automate answers, screen candidates, schedule events, and manage onboarding processes.
This is quite simply a search engine for talent sourcing, adding an extra resource to your talent searching toolkit!
Leena is a tool that assistant employees can use to answer all of their questions about their workplace query. Apparently it will even answer personal questions like ‘Why is my salary less this month?’
Final thoughts
As a marketing-led talent business, we’re serious about the power of words. We know content drives marketing and helps engage, retain and attract talent.
ChatGPT and other AI technology is an effective and useful tool if used correctly (not just to cut corners). But it will never replace human writers, communicators and marketers. People have the ability to create emotional connections through storytelling. AI can’t do that alone.
As an employer, you know your business better than any robot. You know what is best for the future of your organisation and the people within it.
Articulate your EVP, celebrate your people and the culture you’ve created together. Most people want to work with people, not robots! If you understand and can identify the talent you need, only you can engage, retain and attract the best people and solidify what makes a great employer brand.
For more insights, visit the Heart Talent blog.