Advanced technologies such as GenAI, ML, and NLP continue gaining momentum, yielding greater efficiency and savings across all areas of talent acquisition (TA). Vendors are becoming more expert in applying these tools, improving TA outcomes and candidate experience, reducing candidate bias, identifying resources at the highest risk of flight, and predicting a candidate’s cultural fit within an organization.

Improving Candidate Experience is Key

In NelsonHall’s 2024 Next Generation RPO Market Analysis, we found that ~62% of buyers are planning recruitment transformation initiatives in the next 24 months. Improving the candidate experience and quality of hire are identified as the most critical transformational outcomes. At the same time, strategic talent insights, access to expanded talent pools, and immediate responses to candidate inquiries are likely outcomes of applying advanced technology.

According to job seekers, top factors leading to a positive candidate experience include excellent communication from a recruiter, including prompt feedback and follow-ups (55%), an easy job application process (53%), easy-to-schedule interviews (50%), and a short hiring process (43%).

According to the 2024 Employ Job Seeker Nation Report, ~26% of American workers have, at some point, interacted with a chatbot during the recruiting process. Of those, ~64% believe that the chatbot improved the process and experience, most often through quickly answering their questions (69%), quickly connecting them to helpful resources (64%), and through availability when needed, especially during non-working hours (60%). An overwhelming majority of job seekers expect to work with either a recruiter on behalf of the company (48%) or a corporate recruiter (34%) during the recruiting process.

NXTThing RPO’s Balanced Approach to Applying Technology

RPO vendor NXTThing RPO differentiates itself by the results and impacts it delivers for clients, evidenced by its clients’ quality of hire and the flexibility and scalability of its technology and recruiting solutions. The company assists clients in achieving their hiring goals and objectives by appropriately balancing human interaction and technology. NXTThing plans further integration of AI into its recruitment processes, driving efficiency and engagement. Additionally, the company will launch concierge services for new hires, providing direct support for completing onboarding, answering first-day questions, and initial cultural submersion, supporting employee well-being.

NXTThing delivers solutions leveraging innovative tools and technology where it makes sense for its clients and candidates. It educates organizations on the talent challenges surrounding their business and rebuilds their TA processes from the ground up. These insights require significant market research and data analysis at the front end, supporting its clients’ strategic hiring initiatives, such as process reengineering, generational hiring considerations, and technology infrastructure transformation.

NXTThing RPO’s balanced approach to technology application aims to provide an optimal blend of candidate interaction and responsiveness from human and artificial sources, ensuring the candidate feels wanted. The company highly values the emotional well-being of its candidates and staff, taking a Disney-like approach to providing a positive experience in the TA and employment lifecycle. Its white-glove and red-carpet approaches consider a candidate’s readiness and potential fit within the organization’s culture.

Service delivery transformation is an ongoing focus for RPO. NXTThing RPO attributes its success to its commitment to its core values, experienced recruiting team, high employee retention rate, and effective management of its TA operations. Its recruiters consult with hiring managers and develop strong client partnerships. This approach has enabled NXTThing RPO to significantly reduce time-to-fill and create a predictable TA model for its clients. The continuity of its resources and collaborative relationships are the keys to its long-term client relationships.

Investment in employees’ skills development remains a priority among RPO vendors, with an added emphasis on cross-training resources, ensuring service quality and continuity, and supporting employee retention. Additionally, upskilling strategies reflect career-long learning journeys and broadening skillsets, including data analytics, industry-specific topics, effective selling, and cross-generational recruitment methods. NXTThing RPO ensures its recruiters attend events and undertake training to keep up-to-date in their space, understanding and applying the best recruitment methods for their cross-generational target audiences. Selling a job to a candidate is critical, so recruiters must also possess practical sales skills.

Since 2020, RPO vendors have experimented with when and where best to apply technology. While this trialing has led to significant breakthroughs, such as efficiency gains, real-time candidate engagement, minimizing bias, and assessing candidate fit, it has also propagated noise in the system, leaving buyers unsure about the real benefits. As vendors continue designing optimal solutions for the new world of work, successful solutions will thoughtfully balance human and technology engagement channels.