The Role of Technology in Talent Waste

In the modern world, it is necessary that organisations have technological implication is essential for success. Without technology, it can be difficult for organisations to maintain its success in the business world. However, Church et al. (2015) are of the opinion that technology can sometimes be the cause of the waste of talent. This is mainly because the talents and skills of the employees are depleted by the excess use of technology in every department of an organisation. Scientific research on the innovation of the technology related to innovation is limited and so no such evidence exists on such a method. Hence, the use of the traditional method of identifying the talents and potential of employees is so that the dependence of technology can be reduced. The commentary provides a detailed analysis of the challenges that industrial-organisational psychologists face while implementing this technique. The position identified in the article is analysed and an elaborate version of it is provided so that it can be applied to organisations.

One of the growing prospects in modern organisational development is the search for raw talents. Talented employees are required so that an organisation can maintain its productivity and efficiency. In order to do so, it is necessary that the managers find ways to recruit the people either from the local environment or from areas outside the locally. Presently, with the advent of technology, the employers use social media and other job portals to find out talents. Employees seeking employment also focus on these social media and job portals to come in the view of the recruiters. In the words of Al Ariss, Cascio and Paauwe (2014), these job portals and social media provide a detailed persona of the employees and the employers. This reduces the job profiles of the recruiters as the required information and criteria about recruiting are already found in the social media platforms. However, Deery and Jago (2015) stated that there are certain challenges that exist while recruiting for candidates using the social media.

One of the most important challenges that the recruiters face is the ability to use the application. The candidate profiles in the job portals can be accessed instantly as per the requests of the recruiters; however, the social media profiles pose a concern as the candidates normally keep these profiles in privacy. This may create a sense of disturbance for the recruiters as at times, the employers look towards understanding the candidates by the activities they carry on in the personal lives. This acts a background check of the candidates that can be used as a code of reference while seeking employment. Collings, Scullion and Vaiman (2015) stated that identifying the true self of an applicant is essential so that the position of the candidate in the organisation can be determined. The challenge in this regard is the fact that the candidates may remain cautious of the employers and makes change the behaviour patterns so that they can remain on favourable terms with the employees.

Challenges in Recruiting Talents via Social Media and Job Portals

Another application that can be considered is the fact that with the age of technology, the most people have been witnessed the revolution of digitalisation. The introduction and application of smart phones have enabled technical expertise personnel to create a phone metadata that can be used to access phone details such as frequency of calls made, duration, and location. As suggested by Landy and Conte (2016) this technology can be used to understand the personality of the candidates. Based on this analysis, employment can be made to these potentially skilled employees. However, the challenge in this prospect can lie in the fact of the invasion of privacy. The application of personality tests such as the Big Five Personality model can help in identifying the personality of an individual, but the fact that the privacy of an individual is invaded is a greater cause of concern for the people. Thus, it is necessary to abstain from such a method and focus n the traditional recruitment method that involves making personal contact with the candidates and their references.

An important challenge faced by the job seekers is the fact that excess time is spent on writing the resume. According to Deery and Jago (2015), the manner in which the candidates present themselves to the employees increases the opportunities of being selected. However, the amount of time dedicated to making a job portal resume look good or a social media profile look attractive can be used for improving the skills and expertise further. Thus, the candidates can use the traditional method of seeking jobs by making appointments with large organisations provided the requirement of the organisation and the talents of the candidate are aligned together. Thus, it can be said that the comparison between the new and old methods of recruiting candidates have many differences that provide opportunities in the modern world as well as challenges. In this regard, elaborate details can be made concerning the techniques used in the traditional requirement with that used in the modern recruitment of candidates.

The focus of the article is the difference that exists between the old and new method of employment. Chamorro-Premuzic et al. (2016) provide a detailed analysis of the position that existed in the traditional method along with the position that exists in the modern day. The new and old method of identification focuses on the dimensions that used to assess the changes that have been brought about in the methods. For example, in the earlier days, interviews were taken of the candidates to understand the talents and knowledge of the candidates. The physical presence of a candidate contributed to the selection process as it helped the employers analyse the candidates directly. However, in the modern world, digital interviews and voice profiling are used as methods of the interview. This provides candidates with the luxury to remain at home and be present online for the interview scheduled. Riggio (2015) observed that such a method might pose problems in understanding the personality and the creditability of the candidates as the responses given can be easily fabricated.

Using Phone Metadata to Understand Personality Challenges and Issues

Apart from this hiring of candidates, require a thorough background check. This can be done checking and cross-referencing the information provided in the resume. The manner in which this is done has varied from the traditional method. According to Lefkowitz (2017) earlier days the cross-examination was done upon the candidate by analysing the responses provided by them. This required marinating a thorough analysis of the activities of the candidate by allowing them to provide a self-report of the activity that has been presented in the resume. In the modern days, this method is carried o by assessing the social media platforms in which the candidate is a part. Despite the privacy of the information by the candidate, the employers manage to analyse the facts of the candidates by staying in touch with the neighbours, friends and former peers that will provide the required information about the candidate. Some people can consider this as a breach of privacy, however, with an employment factor being at stake; most potential candidates generally ignore such activity.

Similarly, the personality traits of the candidates are assessed by using different techniques. Traditionally the personality of the candidates was mainly done by using methods such a 360 and self-reports. This provided ideas about the thoughts and feelings that the candidates have with themselves and the manner in which it resembles with that of the peers. The opinion of the employer was also taken into consideration to evaluate the candidate and make him suitable for the particular job. However, with the advent of technology and digitalisation, the opinion provided by the peers and the popularity of the candidate with the crowd is taken into consideration. Guzzo et al. (2015) opined that the changes that have evolved from the traditional style have a significant contribution to the business. These changes can bring about proper functioning within an organisation or can deplete an organisation from finding new talents. Nevertheless, the switch to modern technology is required to draw the attention of the candidates as the psychology of the candidates in terms of using modern technology is at par with the psychology of the employers seeking employment of technically advanced candidates.

The issues identified in the article can have a significant impact on an organisation. The foremost issue that has been seen is the privacy of the candidates. The use of digitalisation and accessing the social media profiles of the candidates pose a serious threat to the hiring of candidates. Baum, Frese and Baron (2014) stated that the privacy concerns of the candidates are one of the essential factors that need to be considered before implementing a background check of a candidate using social media. The fact that such tools have not been developed to check the background of the candidates in a subtle manner may have a serious problem for the employers. This is because the Governments and other privacy advocators may pose threat towards the organisations for conducting an unethical business. This may hamper the reputation of the concerned organisation and cause a significant dent in the possibilities of gaining talented employee Baum, Frese and Baron (2014). Hence, changes need to be made in the cross-examination of the candidates so that such ethical issues can be avoided.

Differences Between Old and New Methods of Employment

Another cause of concern is the cost of the new tools required for gaining a talented employee. In the traditional method, a simple advertisement to the newspapers was more than enough to gain a talented candidate. The talent acquired and the productivity gained from the candidate could surplus the cost required for printing the advertisement. In the modern digital world, advertisement via newspaper is used by certain organisations; however, the real investment is made on the digital acquiring of talents. This requires a healthy cost as the finances required for identifying these costs cannot be generated by most organisations. The developers of the tools charge a high price to ensure that accuracy of the modern technology is maintained (Koppes 2014). It has been seen that with the increase in the experience of the user, the price of the tool decreases thereby, the accuracy of the tool also diminishes which becomes a cause of concern for the employers.

Apart from this, the new tools are made in a manner that identifies ethical issues related to an employee. Facts such as gender, religion and race of a candidate are identified by the application of the modern means of talent identification. According to Baum, Frese and Baron (2014), this may provide a problem for the organisations as the candidate may attribute their rejection based on the identification of such information. Hence, this can be considered as another violation of the ethical codes that govern an organisation. It can be said that the commissions that provide guidelines for the violation of these codes need to be concerned with the implementation of this method.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that with the given increase in the organisational performance and industry reputation, the use of modern methods of talent management is important to combat the competitors. It can be effective for an organisation if manages to maintain the traditional, as well as the modern method as the existence of both these methods, can have a significant impact on the productivity of an organisation. The fact that to get a job, candidates have to be physically present for the interview provides evidence that the traditional methods are important for recruitment. The other new methods used are generally to follow the trends of the modern world so that a safe recruitment can be made. The issues concerning the recruitment of the individual using modern sources need to be solved before the acceptance of these sources in the market. Thus, organisations need to consider both sources and ensure that the method used for the recruiting of candidates yields profitable results for the organisation.

Reference

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