Key takeaways from HR Tech 2024 conference

Every year the HR Tech Conference brings together industry leaders, technological innovation, and pushes the bounds of “what’s next” for hiring. 

HireVue was once again pleased to attend and present at this year’s conference showcasing the AI-driven solutions specifically designed to unlock candidate potential by assessing the skills that best predict success.

This year’s sessions and discussions centered around key themes that all work to advance technology and hiring in general. Below are 4 key takeaways from this year’s event. 

In a changing landscape, root your AI in science

In their session, “Unlocking Human Potential: The Transformational Impact of AI Rooted in Science,” HireVue’s Dr. Lindsey Zuloaga, Chief Data Scientist, and Dr. Mike Hudy, Chief Science Officer explained the impact hiring teams will face in the coming years. 

They highlighted the fact that not only will 69 million new jobs be created between 2023-2027 but 25% of today’s jobs will be disrupted in the next 5 years.In this age, there is a landscape of shifting skills, the adoption of AI, and a move away from traditional hiring methods. However, the outlook for hiring AI is fortunately positive with 73% saying they trust AI systems, at least to some degree, to make candidate recommendations. Similarly, 66% report a more positive attitude towards AI in the workplace compared to one year ago.

Session attendees were reminded of the shift from talent rigidity to talent agility. This means no longer relying on resume reviews and degrees but rather unlocking potential and discovering what your candidates are capable of with skills assessments—increasingly important in an ever-changing skills landscape.

HireVue’s Job Match Assistant asks “What if?” What if this candidate can do even more than they thought possible

As a result of incorporating a chatbot that can “think” outside the box and match candidates with roles by skill set, one hospitality customer saw:

• 126% increase in candidates selecting the first job shown
• 80% decrease in candidate drop-off at job choice select
• 70% less likely to “restart conversation”

It’s time to incorporate a skills-based approach

According to Aptitude Research, 64% of organizations are already incorporating skills-based hiring while 23% are just starting.

HireVue offers various solutions designed to evaluate talent on what they can do—not just what they have done. With an assessment for every role at any level, we offer a complete library of interview, game-based, technical assessments, and virtual job tryouts, that back decisions with data and empower smarter hiring. And our AI algorithms are audited and third-party tested to ensure we minimize bias in the process, so we can provide fairer evaluations of candidates.

While HireVue AI-driven technology is a powerful way to gain candidate insight and make smarter hiring decisions, we also offer non-AI-driven solutions that tap into the potential of your future workforce. So no matter where you are in your AI journey, we have solutions to help you achieve your goals. 

This year, Find My Fit was awarded a Top Product of the Year award by HR Tech Executive. The award recognized the power of the pre-application assessment to quickly identify interests, work styles, preferences, and history before recommending all the roles the candidate fits—not limiting them to just tje traditional roles they’ve always applied.  

The Virtual Job TryoutⓇ is another non-AI option that offers a science-based, engaging assessment that helps candidates learn more about a role while providing hiring teams with insight into a candidate’s ability to do the job.

Skills mapping

And while companies are moving towards skills-based talent frameworks, technology vendors are now looking at what AI can do to identify and map skills to job roles.

In their session, “Building a Dynamic, Skills-based Talent Enterprise at Delta Air Lines,” the airline started with their mission that “no one better connects the world.” 

The company has a long-term goal of filling 25% of their corporate and management openings with current talent that are serving in front-line roles. And to do this, Tim Gregory, Managing Director of HR Innovation and Workforce Technology at Delta, laid out a simple blueprint.

“We need to focus on skills.” 

But with an AI twist. The traditional approach of just entering data into the system is too difficult and time-consuming while manual mapping is too hard to do effectively. 

However, with an attribute library, or skills library, Delta can leverage AI to identify 22 core skills, 467 job skills, and potentially thousands of position-specific skills.

And their method is backed by research from Deloitte stating that skills-based organizations are 107% more likely to place talent effectively.

1. Individual attributes: Core personal traits such as innate abilities, personality, and personal drivers like motivation and interests, which are broadly applicable across roles
2. Behavioral competencies: These include work-related behaviors, such as adaptability, problem-solving, and communication, which help individuals navigate different work environments.
3. Job-specific knowledge, expertise, & technical skills: These are specialized skills and knowledge, including work experience, technical expertise, and specific job skills required for success in particular roles.

One word: Streamline.

We get it. Building your tech stack can be nothing short of overwhelming, but looking for solutions that automate, integrate, and support fast engagement is a solid foundation on which to build your hiring ecosystem.

In their session, “How Schneider Electric Powered their Hiring Efficiencies with Sterling and iCIMS,” Schneider Electric emphasized the importance of strong integrations that support positive candidate experiences. 

Schneider Electric leans heavily into skills-based hiring, not just because of its ability to hire strong talent, but because jobs and skills are changing at a rapid pace. When coupled with low-friction engagement, the company was able to decrease its hiring time and increase its hiring volume. 

They eliminated 1.5 days from the process, rid themselves of manually copying and pasting data, improved the candidate experience, and increased brand ambassador and employee referrals. 

Schneider Electric was awarded the 2024 Customer Excellence Experience Star Award for their use of HireVue technology to create a standout candidate experience that sets them apart from the competition.

In their session, “The AI-Empowered Hiring Manager: How Pfizer is Filling Jobs 31% Faster & Increasing Manager Satisfaction,” the pharmaceutical giant also emphasized the importance of a strong integration—theirs with Workday (previously HiredScore).

“Our tech stack is pretty lean, and we like to keep it that way. When we can do things with our current tech, we can deliver things faster and deliver a better candidate experience,” said Ann DeVos, Sr. Director of Candidate Experience at Pfizer. 

As a result of their integration with Workday, since March, Pfizer has seen:

• 31% reduction in time-to-hire with Workday collaboration
• 64% reception in time in hiring manager review with Workday hiring manager dashboard
• 52% reduction in time to interview with Workday hiring manager dashboard

In their session, Spectrum, Splunk, and Ford Motor Company further emphasized the importance of streamlining a tech stack. 

Melissa Thompson, Executive Director of Global Talent Acquisition for Ford Motor Company, told attendees that they implemented a CRM a month ago and are dedicating the next 18 months to streamlining their tech stack to get value—even asking themselves what are the point solutions that can fill the gap between their ATS and CRM.

Kelly Cartwright, VP of Global People Acquisition, Technology and Operations for Splunk, doubled down saying, “I don’t want 36 things in my tech stack. You have to think about the viability of a vendor if they will get acquired. We want vendors to solve more problems instead of tiny pieces.”

When it comes to auditing your process, budget, and ultimate value, Jen Tracy, VP of Talent Attraction & Acquisition at Spectrum, emphasized the importance of assessments in their hiring. The team uses Find My Fit and can see abandonment rates, withdrawal drops decreasing, and improved diversity. 

“Good technology solves more than one problem. We have assessments and they mitigate risk. ROI is not always sexy but it’s important.”

Learn more about HireVue’s Certified Integration Partner Program here.

Ready to take the next step in your skills-based hiring journey? Request a demo.