HR Leaders Correct the Top HR Misconceptions

May 17th, 2018

HireVue Team

Technology is taking the “human” out of Human Resources. New tools are one-size-fits-all-except-my-organization. Learning new HR technology is too time-consuming.

Do any of these sound familiar? These are just a few of the most common misconceptions about HR technology today.

HireVue rounded up several HR industry leaders and asked them to set the record straight on their least favorite HR technology misconceptions. Here are the results.

Laurie Ruettimann: Founder; Laurie Ruettimann; LFR, LLC; Twitter: @lruettimann

Laurie Ruettimann Misconception: HR technology is just for people who think the future of work is automation and robots.

Correction: It's for the dreamers and doers who work in the trenches of HR. Most of all, it's for the practitioners who are committed to improving the employee experience for everybody.

William Tincup: Recruiting Daily; Twitter: @williamtincup

William Tincup Misconception: A common misconception in the marketplace is that HR Tech solves problems.

Correction: In truth, it mostly highlights process failures or, in rare instances, illuminates where HR is actually getting it right. HR processes, for example, onboarding new employees, is 100 times more important than any onboarding technology ever created. Truth is, you can place inferior (onboarding) technology on top of a superior (onboarding) process and while not perfect, it will still work. Try the opposite, superior (onboarding) technology on top of a broken (onboarding) process. Doesn't work. That's why process (and continuous refinement of said process) is always more important than technology.

Sarah Brennan: Principal, Accelir; Twitter: @ImSoSarah

Sarah Brennan

Misconception: There is a “best” option for (recruiting, learning, performance, etc.) that works for everyone.

Correction: There isn’t one “best” product out there in any segment of HR technology. I see a lot of organizations making the mistake of asking “who should I use for ____” on social media sites. What works really well for your competitor or even your last company may not be the best fit for your current company and its process. How a company implements a technology, the features they use and the internal process that they are trying to fit into the technology will all impact the success.(recruiting, learning, performance, etc.) that works for everyone.

I’ve seen two companies in the same industry have polar opposite opinions about the same technology - neither was wrong, it just didn’t work for one company’s processes. As you start the selection process it is important to make sure the product (as you see it today) will work for your team, that it seems easy to use and has the features you need for how your company works. At the end of the day, success is based on your team’s adoption and on the impact it has on your company, not whether you bought the product that was ranked highest on a chart, your friends suggested it, or that had the biggest booth at a conference.

Madeline Laurano: Co-founder, Aptitude Research Partners; Twitter: @MadTarquin

Madeline Laurano Misconception: A mass Taleo (Oracle) exodus is coming.

Correction: Many of the next-generation talent acquisition systems are waiting for a mass exodus of Taleo customers. But the reality is that many companies are planning to stick with Taleo. They need a provider that can support a global enterprise organization, provide the scalability and security they need, and can integrate with their Human Resource Management System (HRMS). In the ATS world, global providers are few and far between. Many Taleo customers are not looking at replacing their ATS, but instead investing more heavily in the broader talent acquisition ecosystem (recruitment marketing, assessments, AI solutions, etc).

Carol Fishman Cohen: CEO and Co-founder, iRelaunch; Twitter: @iRelaunch

Misconception: HR technology just makes life difficult for job applicants, requiring them to spend time understanding the latest recruiting tools.

Correction: HR technology is a reflection of technology used in a range of contexts. Understanding and using HR technology is imperative, because it allows you to be open to learning and understanding the technology tools you will need to use once ON the job. Embrace it, don't ignore it!

Kimberly Simms: SVP, Customer Success; HireVue

Kimberly Simms Misconception: AI in recruiting eliminates the human factor. Correction: In fact, the opposite is true. With HireVue Assessments, we can give every candidate a fair chance at an opportunity and let them show more of who they are as people. What many people don't realize is that the hiring leaders in our customer organizations care deeply about the outcome of their candidates' hiring processes. Our HireVue Customer Success team sees this day after day: the hiring and recruiting professionals at our customers truly do want all candidates to have a good experience and land in the right positions - the ones that are best for them and the companies that are fortunate enough to hire them.

Have a pet peeve about HR industry misconceptions? Send it to Cynthia Siemens and we may include it in a future blog post.