This is a guest post by David Esler, from Kaizen Executive
Imagine going into the office knowing that a pile of estimating and quoting was waiting for you. Then you have a flash back of how things used to be done. There’s you getting your first of many coffees and spending the whole day manually processing window schedules and quotes.
Fast forward 20 years from now, you are sitting at your desk and saying “Hi Vee (short for V6 or Siri), I sent you a set of plans with a window schedule. Can you do a take-off, check the window schedule against the plans and highlight any anomalies? Then prepare a quote using our 100mm framing system in charcoal color powder coating.” Vee replies “what type of glass do you want me to use for the quote?” You reply, “clear glass to meet category two terrain standards.” Vee’s done the job and the quotes are ready for your approval. How amazing would that be? It would definitely fix many problems we face today, but there is the issue of recruiting in a technology era.
Employers are always looking for qualified estimators (and other staff) that are tech savvy and can get the work done. Is artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) or big data really the future to finding the right people?
Our challenge
One of the challenges faced by labor-intensive industries is finding, securing and then retaining talent. This applies to all parts of the business. While it’s true that the internet provides us with a wealth of information on potential candidates, knowing where to look and then wading through all the data can be a considerable time and financial drain. It’s enough to make you miss the good old days when referrals were the only way to find employees.
Even with all this available “data”, how many of you are still keenly looking for tech savvy staff to join your business? Well guess what, the right talent, experience and/or attitude is still elusive and is hard to find.
Information economy
Currently, you can turn to Seek, LinkedIn, social media channels and other websites boasting to have the right people. When you do find one, in most cases candidates haven’t included their email or mobile because they do not want everyone calling them. Contacting them then becomes a problem.
I have learnt that “data mining” your way to the right candidate isn’t enough. You need the right tools to analyse and the right people to provide meaningful insight into the information you require. And you must also entice experienced candidates through a strong online corporate or business presence.
Recruiting using AI
Let’s talk about AI for a moment, think about the screening process and how software these days is doing most of the work in the larger firm. It is all very “black & white”, meaning that using the approach of algorithms means that at present, human intervention is still very much a necessity.
I believe that human intervention will always play a significant part in recruitment because people interact and get a sense or feel for others. I’d also expect to see recruitment screening software that is increasingly “human” in the way it analyses and reviews job applications and then presents us all with a more holistic view of a candidate’s skills and experience.
Future recruiting using AI
There are already a number of technology solution providers that have started to bring AI and ML into the recruitment world. In the future, artificial intelligence tools will simply collect all the candidate information from all the online sources and then shortlist candidates.
The same technology will allow us to put candidates into real life scenario’s where they must demonstrate their ability to analyze and manage situations, to see if they are a good fit for the position and company. Then they will be interviewed using AI algorithms to determine the perfect match to the criteria or position specification.
This will also put an end to fooling us with mates as referees, as they will be screened with as much vigor as the candidates because we have the technology. And, that’s just the beginning…
A world of opportunities
New technologies offer a world of opportunities and AI, ML and big data just keep advancing. We live in a very different world and it will be different again for the next generation. Clearly technology is and will continue to play a lead role in all our lives and particularly as we continue the search for that perfect candidate. Alternatively, you can just grab another coffee, chat with “Vee” and let AI do a lot of the work around the business. Not a bad position to be in I think!
David Esler is the Principle of Kaizen Executive and for more information contact David on 0420 905 580.
