HCM Talent Technology Roundup Jan 22, 2021

HCM Talent Technology Roundup Jan 22, 2021

HireVue Ends Use of Facial Analysis

HireVue stopped using software that analyzes facial expressions to identify certain characteristics of interviewees.

The company’s platform had recorded candidates’ behavior, speech, and intonations and run them against an algorithm that matched them with specific traits. HireVue said advances in natural language processing have eliminated the need for visual analysis. Because of NLP’s evolution, “visual analysis no longer significantly added value to assessments,” the company said.

HireVue dropped facial analysis last year, but just announced the move now. At the same time, it released a third-party audit showing that its assessments “work as advertised” in terms of fairness and bias.

In February 2019, HireVue created an advisory board to help guide ethical AI development and advise the company on issues of diversity and inclusion, algorithmic bias, and data security and privacy. HireVue claimed it was the first AI developer in HCM technology to set up such a panel.

Still, its use of facial analysis was controversial. The Washington Post reported that its technology was so widely used that many colleges trained graduates on how to present themselves for the best results.

Some AI researchers worried that the platform could not fairly or accurately determine which job seekers could actually succeed in a role.

COVID-19 Spurs Changes to Recruiting Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed most employers to revamp their approach to recruiting and talent acquisition, mostly by adopting tools that allow them to evolve traditional practices to the realities of social distancing and hampered travel.

According to a study by HR.com’s HR Research Institute, 78% of employers have modified their approach to talent acquisition. About 79% increased the number of interviews they conduct remotely, while 32% implemented new technology to streamline remote hiring.

Eighty-nine percent have deployed a video conferencing platform, while 56% have adopted electronic signature capabilities.

Even in the face of the pandemic, more than half of the respondents, 54%, believe their talent acquisition efforts are good or excellent. Of those, 81% use an ATS, compared to barely two-thirds of the employers who view their talent acquisition as average or below.

Doing Business

Greenhouse received a $500 million investment from investment firms TPG Growth and The Rise Fund, giving the company an estimated value of about $820 million. About 47 million of those dollars are new money. The rest is being used to buy back stock from existing investors and employees. Last April, Greenhouse had to lay off 28% of its workforce last April because of the coronavirus.

iCIMS added a video-studio module to its Talent Cloud, an early result of the company’s acquisition of Altru Labs in December. iCIMS Video Studio allows companies to provide new content as they build their employer brand throughout the talent acquisition process. Videos can be used to spotlight employees and add testimonials to career sites and communications campaigns, and can be embedded into internal communications. Among other things, iCIMS said the module will reduce the cost of video production.

Upwork announced Project Catalog, a collection of predefined projects that customers can browse and buy from. These are predefined, fixed-price projects organized into more than 300 categories. They cover areas like design, web development and translation, and include information like scope, cost, timing and deliverables.

CEIPAL’s recruitment and talent management platform has been added to the SAP App Center, allowing customers to integrate the platform with SAP’s contingent workforce management solution, SAP Fieldglass. The integration helps users communicate job requirements to Fieldglass without leaving the CEIPAL platform.

JazzHR and social media screening company LifeBrand announced an integration that will allow customers to review social media profiles on their way to making hiring decisions. LifeBrand says its technology is both FCRA and EEOC compliant. It’s meant to bring “social media snooping” into the open.

Alexander Mann Solutions changed its name to AMS.  The company’s going to start talking a lot about “workforce dexterity” as it focuses on helping clients “build, reshape and optimize” their workforce so they can more easily redeploy talent as needed.  

Authors

Mark Feffer

Mark Feffer is executive editor of RecruitingDaily and the HCM Technology Report. He’s written for TechTarget, HR Magazine, SHRM, Dice Insights, TLNT.com and TalentCulture, as well as Dow Jones, Bloomberg and Staffing Industry Analysts. He likes schnauzers, sailing and Kentucky-distilled beverages.