RecFest 2024 Day 1 Recap

RecFest Day 1 was nothing short of an inspiring experience, filled with valuable insights into the future of talent acquisition. Our time in Nashville proved that recruiters always show up for each other, rain or shine.

It's probably no surprise to anyone that the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) dominated the discussions, but there were also many thought-provoking sessions on skills-based hiring, quality of hire, and the evolution of recruiting practices.

In this blog, we'll recap some of the most impactful sessions we attended and the takeaways that left us motivated to reimagine our approach to recruiting.

The Dominance of AI: What's Next?

AI's impact on recruitment was a central theme at RecFest, with several sessions exploring both the current landscape and what to expect in the future. Rob Long, chief revenue officer of Workable, gave a compelling talk on the evolution of AI and work. He reminded us about how we've moved from the industrialization of knowledge work in the 2010s to today's world, where machines are not only reading data but also writing it. AI-generated job descriptions, for instance, are already transforming the way companies create content for job postings, with 27% of Workable's new job ads written by AI.

We were particularly struck by the data showing that AI-written job descriptions receive a 62% higher application rate compared to traditional methods. In a world where time and efficiency are paramount, AI is clearly a game-changer, and the potential for semi-autonomous "co-worker" agents by 2025 only reinforces this.

From AI-generated resumes to automated passive candidate sourcing, Rob's session illustrated the breadth of AI's integration into recruitment. The takeaway? AI is not just a tool but a strategic partner that will continue to grow in influence. By 2025, we could see AI playing an even greater role in candidate sourcing, screening, and even decision-making, creating efficiencies that many of us never thought possible.

Skills-Based Hiring: A Path to Innovation

Another eye-opening session was led by Tiffany Heimpel, vice president of partnerships at Hireguide, who delved into the growing importance of skills-based hiring. We've all heard the term “skills-based hiring” before, but Tiffany offered a clear, actionable roadmap for how to make it work. She argued that hiring based on skills, rather than traditional qualifications or job experience, is the key to boosting diversity and quality of hire, and the data backs her up.

Organizations that have embraced skills-based hiring have seen impressive results, including a threefold improvement in the quality of hire, a 33% reduction in bias, and a 24% increase in applicant diversity. As hiring demands become more complex and societal pressures call for more equitable practices, this approach is a necessary evolution.

Tiffany also introduced us to a three-step plan for implementing skills-based hiring in a way that's accessible to any company:

• Reframe jobs based on skills: List performance objectives and identify the specific skills needed to achieve them.
• Focus interviews on skills: Use behavioral and situational questions to evaluate candidates' skills, ensuring a more reliable assessment.
• Use standard scoring: Employ a consistent scoring system across interviews to compare candidates fairly and objectively.

One of the most practical aspects of Tiffany's session was her advice on selecting the right technology to support a skills-based hiring approach. With so many tools available on the market, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. However, choosing the right platform is crucial for ensuring that your hiring process is not only efficient but also fair and focused on the skills that matter.

Here are some key steps to guide the selection process:

• Align Technology with Your Company's Values: It's important to choose platforms whose values align with your organization's goals, especially around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Does the technology you're considering help you reduce bias? Can it ensure that you're making evidence-based decisions? Look for platforms that are designed to augment the quality of your hiring data, document the process clearly, and provide tools to audit interview practices to prevent adverse effects on certain groups of candidates.

• Look for Key Features Tailored to Skills-Based Hiring: Not all hiring platforms are created equal. Some are more focused on traditional resume-based assessments, while others are built to support a skills-based approach. Key features to look for include:

  • Skills Taxonomy: A well-organized list of skills to choose from when designing job descriptions and interview questions.
  • Interview Guides: Tools that help you plan and conduct structured interviews with a focus on evaluating specific skills.
  • Scorecard Aggregation: This feature allows you to collect and compare interview scores for each candidate based on their demonstrated skills. Importantly, ensure that scorecards remain “blind” until they are aggregated to avoid introducing bias during the assessment process.
  • Analytics and Reporting: The ability to generate reports on candidate performance based on skills, providing clear data to justify hiring decisions and demonstrate progress in areas like diversity and bias reduction.
• Evaluate the AI Philosophy of the Platform: With AI playing an increasingly central role in recruitment, it's critical to assess how a platform uses AI in the hiring process. Does the tool have clear guiding principles for how AI should be applied in candidate selection? For example, does it use AI to help you make unbiased, skills-focused decisions, or is it prone to reinforcing existing biases? Platforms with a solid AI philosophy are transparent about how their algorithms work and are designed to ensure fairness at every stage of the hiring process. Ask yourself: is this tool assisting in creating a more objective and equitable hiring environment?

By carefully selecting technology that supports skills-based hiring, you're not only enhancing the efficiency of your hiring process but also ensuring that you're creating a fairer and more inclusive candidate experience. These platforms offer the potential to remove many of the biases that traditionally plague hiring and allow you to focus purely on the skills that matter most for your organization. As companies increasingly embrace this approach, those that are slow to adopt such technologies may find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Real Business Results with Conversational AI

One of the standout panel sessions featured Courtney Dempsey from SouthernRock Restaurants and Mary Battle Broxton from Tractor Supply Co. about how conversational AI is driving real business outcomes in recruiting. From reducing application times to automating interview scheduling, conversational AI is transforming how companies engage with candidates.

Tractor Supply, for example, has seen a 58% decrease in time to apply and an 80% chat-to-apply conversion rate using its AI assistant “Cory.” SouthernRock Restaurants, which handles over 3,000 applicants a week, cut its time to hire to under 31 hours, thanks to AI assistant “Savannah.” These examples showcase how AI is not just improving efficiency but also enhancing the candidate experience.

What stood out the most was how candidates often mistake these AI assistants for real recruiters, proving that AI can maintain a human touch even while automating large-scale recruitment tasks. As we look ahead, integrating conversational AI seems like a must for any company looking to stay competitive in today's fast-paced talent market.

You've Been Recruiting Wrong Your Whole Life: A Bold Claim with Major Insights

Shannon Pritchett, vice president of marketing at hireEZ, brought humor and insight to her session, “You've Been Recruiting Wrong Your Whole Life.” In it, Shannon emphasized the importance of recruiters creating positive experiences that foster a positive association between the candidate and the organization, using hireEZ's own initiatives, such as the FRBR Conference, RecruitCon, and Recruiter Therapy as examples of how to foster that community spirit.

Her key message was that recruitment is not just about finding talent but about creating a lasting, positive impression that resonates with candidates long after the hiring process is over. It was a reminder that, in the age of automation, the human touch still matters.

Lessons from the Pandemic: A Post-Mortem on Talent Acquisition

In one of RecFest's more emotional sessions, Sarah Smart, co-founder of HorizonHuman LLC, and Amy Cropper, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at Tricentis, reflected on their experiences leading talent acquisition teams during the pandemic. This candid conversation revealed the lasting scars the pandemic left on the recruitment industry but also the hard-earned lessons that can help us prepare for future disruptions.

The session underscored how unprepared many organizations were when faced with rapid changes during the pandemic. As Sarah and Amy shared their stories—ranging from mass layoffs to hiring booms—Kyle Lagunas of Aptitude Research pointed out the challenges we face today are rooted in issues that existed long before the pandemic but were simply amplified during it.

It was a sobering reminder that talent acquisition needs to be more adaptable, forward-thinking, and compassionate. While business and TA leaders have made strides in improving some areas, many systemic issues remain unresolved. The takeaway? We need to fix today's problems so they don't become tomorrow's crises.

Deconstructing Quality of Hire with AI

Another standout session came from Michael Fitzsimmons, CEO of Crosschq, and his panel, which included leaders from AAA, Aptitude Research, and the EEOC. The discussion revolved around how AI can enhance the most critical metric in recruitment: quality of hire (QoH).

Quality of hire, the panelists argued, is not just a metric but a strategic point of alignment between talent acquisition and the broader business. AI's potential to impact QoH is undeniable, from improving candidate screening to offering predictive insights into long-term performance. As Darnell Hill, VP of Talent Acquisition at AAA, noted, "TA is ready to own this business-critical metric," and AI will be instrumental in helping us get there.

Fixing Corporate TA: Tim Sackett's Five Fixes

Tim Sackett's session, “The 5 Things Corporate TA Continues to Mess Up and the Immediate Fixes That Can Be Made”, offered a refreshingly candid perspective on where talent acquisition teams often go wrong—and how to fix it.

Tim's five fixes included:

• Stop Farming, Start Hunting: Hiring managers should be actively involved in finding the best talent, rather than passively waiting for candidates to apply.
• Measure the Funnel: Tim stressed the importance of monitoring the hiring funnel and focusing on quality-of-applicant as a key metric. Quality of hire, Tim noted, is a hiring manager metric, not a talent acquisition one.
• Become Tech Super Users: Before looking for new tech, TA teams should master the tools they already have. We loved Tim's statement, “You can't tell me you want new tech if you can't tell me what your old tech isn't giving you.”
• Simplify the Application Process: Tim encouraged organizations to stop making the application process cumbersome, which can deter top talent from applying. According to Tim, 3-5% of candidates convert into applicants. The reasoning, Tim says, is because we build the process for “us,” not “them.”
• Less Branding, More Recruitment Marketing: Rather than investing heavily in branding, companies should focus on training their recruiters and improving the candidate experience. As Tim suggests, maybe use some of that new career site money to invest in your team.

Tim's straightforward advice resonated with many of us, providing practical steps we could take back to our own organizations.

World-Class Storytelling with Gerry Crispin

The final session we attended on Day 1 was led by Gerry Crispin, founder of CareerXroads, whose storytelling captivated the audience. He spoke about the importance of paying it forward and investing in the future—whether that means mentoring the next generation of talent or simply supporting each other within the recruiting community.

Gerry's session was a beautiful reminder that recruitment isn't just about filling roles. It's about building a legacy by investing in people, creating opportunities, and strengthening our communities. We left feeling inspired to make an impact not just on our companies but on the future of talent acquisition as a whole.

Feeling Inspired

RecFest 2024 left us feeling inspired and motivated to take these lessons back home and rethink everything we thought we knew about recruiting. From the exciting advances in AI to the growing movement toward skills-based hiring, it's clear that talent acquisition is undergoing a significant transformation. The future of recruiting is more data-driven, automated, and human-centered than ever before, and hireEZ is excited to be a part of it.

Looking ahead to 2025, we feel optimistic about the potential for continued innovation in the industry. As technology reshapes talent acquisition, staying agile and focusing on creating seamless experiences will be key to success. hireEZ is your trusted partner in tech consolidation, compliance, and AI-powered automation. Let's start a conversation about how hireEZ can transform your recruiting function and create seamless recruitment workflows by consolidating your tech stack.