A pair of luxury Italian shoes can cost thousands of dollars.   

The best ones are handmade, of course,  using old world techniques and custom materials.  

Likewise, the most expensive cars are not made on a high speed assembly line. They’re made one at a time and sold to a waiting list of buyers.

And yet here we are -- everyone in the recruiting industry -- racing to create a hiring experience void of personal touch. 

We need automation, AI, and customization to automate the low-value, administrative tasks that no one wants to do.

But wait...who told us that? Candidates?

Do candidates want speed at the risk of human touch? AI-driven messaging without a person on the other end? Do they want to be assessed by robots?

I don’t think that’s what the research says. 

If you look closely, yes…candidates want a faster process. But they also want to be seen. They still want to connect with the people they’re going to work with. At least for now. 

So who told us we needed extreme automation?

Well, it was the RecTech marketers. And our business leaders who told us we needed to "do more with less".

Now, to be clear, I support the exploration of AI and automation. But consider this…when your main focus is to optimize for speed and efficiency, you end up with a mass-market product. One that is best suited for the middle or lower end of a market.

This also happens when you make cars on a high speed assembly line.  Or shoes in a factory in China.

So, it’s okay if you’re optimizing for the low or middle market of talent.   

But if you’re optimizing for top talent in a highly competitive market, automation can be counterproductive.

By automating, you often remove the personal touch that the high end of the talent market demands. And you lose the handmade experience that sets employment brands apart.  

To stand out and impress the most highly sought after talent, consider going against the grain by offering a more human experience.   

One designed to augment a recruiter’s ability to spend more time connecting with the candidates. 

Then, keep offering that experience for the next 12 months. And then keep doing it for the next 5 years. And then for 10 years after that.  

The longer you offer a custom, handmade experience, the more novel it will become over time as your competitors opt for a more digital process.  

The same is true for shoes and cars. Custom, handmade products always have more value in an increasingly mass-market world.

So before you dive into AI and automation to streamline your process…ask yourself what you’re optimizing for.    

Do you really need speed, efficiency, and automation? Or would a more human experience give you an edge?

// Supporting Resources

Use the following resources to go deeper on the topic of smart tech adoption in an age of rapid innovation. 

Books to Read..

• The Robot-Proof Recruiter: A Survival Guide for Recruitment and Sourcing Professionals by Katrina Collier: This book directly addresses the central conflict in your article: the balance between technology and humanity in recruiting. Read Here

• High-Tech High-Touch Recruiting: How to Attract and Retain the Best Talent By Improving the Candidate Experience by Barbara Bruno: This book provides a methodology for successfully integrating technology without sacrificing the personal element. Read Here

• Recruiting Sucks… But It Doesn't Have To: How to Recruit Like a Human by Steve Lowisz: Written as a no-nonsense guide, this book centers on the concept of improving the candidate experience by treating job seekers like humans, not machines or data points. Read Here

Podcasts to Ponder..

• Why Human-First Recruiting Still Wins (Even in an AI World) by Recruiting Is No Joke: This type of episode directly addresses the tension between technology and human connection. Listen Here

• The Candidate Experience Podcast by Chuck Solomon: This entire podcast focuses on the candidate's journey from application to onboarding. Listen Here

• Human Hiring: How to Humanise Recruitment in the era of AI & Automation by Talent X Tech: The content typically explores how large, global organizations are intentionally applying five-star service principles to their hiring processes, not just for executive roles, but for volume hiring as well. Listen Here

Articles to Skim..

• Balancing AI and the Human Touch in the Hiring Process: This piece advocates for a hybrid model where technology augments the recruiter, allowing them to focus on high-value human interactions. Read Here

• Human-Centered Hiring in the Age of AI: This article directly addresses the challenge of adopting AI without losing candidate trust. Read Here

• Why the Human Touch Still Matters in Hiring: This article emphasizes the strategic value of the human element, particularly when recruiting top talent. Read Here

Videos to Watch..

• The value of your humanity in an automated future by Kevin Roose: He argues that instead of trying to compete directly with AI and robots on efficiency, people should focus on cultivating skills that make them uniquely human, such as empathy, creativity, and relationship-building. Watch Here

• Automating recruitment by Todd Carlisle: He discusses how the arrival of AI and machine learning has evolved the human resources field. His talk presents the perspective that technology should be used to make it easier for companies to find, grow, and retain the best people, focusing on augmentation rather than full displacement. Watch Here

• The Power of Personalization in the Age of AI by Mark Abraham: He emphasizes the need for a key mindset shift: leveraging AI to deliver highly relevant and timely communication while retaining the human touch to foster emotional connections. Watch Here