Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be all the rage today- and the benefits of AI for HR are vast. But which tools will truly help you meet or exceed your goals for the new year? Which ones are "must haves" and which are "nice-to-haves"? In this article, we'll explore some of the top AI tools for human resources (HR) professionals in recruiting.

What is Artificial Intelligence in HR?

Before diving into specific AI tools for human resources, it's important to have a clear understanding of what we mean by "Artificial Intelligence" in this context. In short, AI refers to the power of computers to learn and perform tasks that would typically require humans. In the HR industry, AI is being used to automate repetitive tasks, make data-driven decisions, improve employee experience, and it's saving HR professional's time and company budgets.

At Pillar, we focus on the recruitment and selection of top talent by building and implementing interview intelligence software to help you make hiring decisions, so this article will primarily focus on how AI can help recruiters, hiring managers, and HR professionals make better hiring decisions.

Categories of AI Tools for HR Professionals:

1. Recruitment & Selection - AI-powered tools can help streamline the recruitment process by using algorithms to analyze resumes and identify top candidates based on skills, experience, and personality fit. Pillar's interview intelligence fits squarely into this category as a top contender.

2. Candidate Screening - AI-based screening tools can help HR professionals sift through large volumes of resumes and identify the best-fit candidates for a particular role. These tools use natural language processing (NLP) to analyze candidate resumes and match them with job descriptions, saving time and improving accuracy (also within our software's "purview").

3. Onboarding & Employee Engagement - AI-powered chatbots can be used to automate onboarding processes and answer employees' questions, freeing up HR professionals to focus on other tasks. Additionally, AI chatbots can be trained to handle simple employee inquiries, such as leave requests or benefits information, improving the overall employee experience.

4. Performance Management - AI tools that use predictive analytics can help identify patterns in employee performance data and predict future success or areas for improvement. This allows HR professionals

AI tools are proving to be game-changers in the field of Human Resources. They streamline tedious HR tasks, improve candidate & employee experience, and learn continuously to become more efficient and effective over time. AI-powered tools like smart recruitment systems, AI candidate sourcing, and AI-based HR chatbots have dramatically altered the HR landscape and saved HR professionals 12-14 hours per week.

Imagine saving 20-25% of the time you spend on tedious tasks like interview scheduling and candidate/ interviewer email introductions with tools that automate those tasks and take them off your plate. That's the power of the current tools at hand.

This shift towards AI tools aligns closely with the evolving needs of HR professionals where workforce shortages and high turnover keep recruiters constantly searching for talent. Combine this with the fact that modern HR personnel are expected to contribute to the organization's growth strategically, ranging from diversity hiring goals to culture development- meaning there's an ever-growing mountain of tasks to complete. The automation of routine tasks provides them with the time and bandwidth to focus on these strategic aspects to help the business grow into an organization where people can do great work.

Best AI Tools For Human Resources

HR teams who want to see immediate returns on their time and the company's budget should focus primarily on solutions that drive visible change and vital metrics for the organization. This means that the best AI tools for human resources teams will differ based on the challenges that you're facing- which means the AI you choose should be targeted at achieving your goals and not just a cool addition to your tech stack.

AI for HR professionals (and the artificial intelligence market in general comes in two primary forms. traditional AI and generative AI. Generative AI, or Generative Artificial Intelligence, is a sub-field of AI that trains machines to create new content that mirrors the look and feel of human-generated content. It can generate anything from an email to an entire article, from graphic design work to the creation of entirely new visual or audio media. Generative AI in HR can be used to generate personalized emails to candidates, create job descriptions, and even draft policies.

Traditional AI, also known as "Narrow AI," is programmed to perform a single task - whether it's checking the weather, answering a specific question, or playing chess. It operates under a limited set of constraints and doesn't possess the ability to understand or learn anything beyond its programming. In the context of HR, traditional AI can be used for tasks such as sorting through resumes based on predefined criteria, scheduling interviews, or automating responses to frequently asked HR-related queries.

The primary difference between the two types of AI is seen most clearly through their functionalities. While traditional AI can automate tasks to improve efficiency, generative AI takes it a step further by creating new content, thus opening a new avenue of possibilities for automation in HR processes. Both, however, can significantly enhance the operational efficiency of HR, allowing professionals to focus on more strategic tasks.

HR AI tools whether generative or traditional can be beneficial in many ways, so deciding on the right one can be difficult- which is why our next section is going to focus on choosing the right AI tools for your recruitment goals.

AI Tools For Recruitment

Choosing the right AI tools for your recruitment goals can be as easy with a little First Principles Thinking.  The concept of First Principles Thinking involves breaking down a problem into its fundamental parts and thinking about each component on its merits. This allows us to build a strong foundation for our decision-making process when it comes to choosing the right AI for recruitment.

The primary factor to consider when selecting the best AI tool for recruitment is the specific challenges you are facing as a team. Are you struggling with high volumes of resumes and need help with candidate screening? Or are you looking for ways to automate repetitive tasks, such as scheduling interviews or answering candidate inquiries? Place your primary short-term goal as the immediate roadblock to overcome.

Next, look at your long-term goals. 6, 9, 12, or 18 months into the future. Where do you need your team to be for this organization to be a success? Are you working on implementing a diversity strategy? Creating a more efficient hiring process? Improving employee retention rates? Choose the AI tools that align with these long-term goals and will help you achieve them faster.

Another essential factor to consider when choosing AI tools for recruitment is whether they integrate well with your existing technology stack. Your HR team should be able to use the tool without hassle, and it should seamlessly fit into their daily workflow.

Once you have identified the areas in which AI can make the most significant impact on your team, research, demo, test, and trial a few different options to find the best solution. Here's the tech stack we recommend, but there are many places online where you can go to find other great tools- G2, TrustPilot, TrustRadius, and Glassdoor to name a few.

The Perfect Hiring Tech Stack

In our mind the perfect AI hiring setup would include:

1. Applicant Tracking System (ATS): At Pillar- our team likes Lever and it integrates perfectly with our interview intelligence and candidate analytics suite.

2. AI Sourcing Solution: HireEZ is our favorite and offers AI-powered candidate sourcing and job advertising.

3. Digital Assistant: We prefer Paradox's Olivia. Olivia helps to automate candidate screening, scheduling, and answering frequently asked questions.

4. Video Interview Software: Zoom and Teams both work well- although if we have to choose a favorite it would be Zoom- this is after all the perfect hiring tech stack.

5. Interview Intelligence Software. Ummm, Pillar - of course (our shameless plug). What kind of software company would we be if we didn't love what we built?

6. Onboarding Software: BambooHR is our go-to for helping us get new hires deployed and ready to work.

The truth is that there are many options to choose from- 320+ last time I checked. But the perfect hiring tech stack needs to focus on the primary goals- a constant flow of new candidates, better analytics, and automation anywhere a human touch isn't required.

If you'd like to see how Pillar can help you reach the hiring targets you're focused on this year, book your demo and chat with our team today. We've helped our customers improve vital metrics like increasing diversity hiring by up 59%, decreasing employee turnover by 50%, and lowering cost-per-hire and time-to-hire so your team can focus on doing great work. Happy Hiring!