Do More With Less 😩

If there was a phrase to be ditched, I wish 'do more with less' burned in a fiery hell. At what point do leaders realise it's unsustainable and people are burning out? That unhappy people are unproductive and costly to the bottom line?

Yet the people who hire the people - the ones who decide the fate of the company - are most often expected to do more with less whilst pretending everything is rosy to future employees.

As we enter the final month of 2024, I have never seen so many TA and recruitment teams as undervalued, underfunded or overloaded. Nor have I seen so many exceptional Heads or Directors of TA on the market, as business leaders fail to realise the shortsightedness of their cost-cutting and/or ageism on the future success of their company.

So, recruiters turn to tech hopeful for the load to be lifted.

Has technology been the great saviour recruiters hoped it would be or is it generating more work and job insecurity? Is the noise of poor automation and GenAI same-same posts something else that recruiters need to wade through to be heard by potential candidates? Are the results these AI tools provide to be trusted or does it take more work to verify results and ensure they are not producing 'people like us' too?

Let's not forget the payback of job seekers, either. Fed up with ridiculous hiring processes and unbothered about their reputations, many use AI to submit thousands of applications, which ultimately wastes everyone's time, when you contact them and they ghost or don't know they applied! 🙄 Let's not overlook the challenge of interviewees using Gen AI either (seems dumb to me when they'll only be found out and be let go but... 🤷 )!

Invest in your career and your mental health! You can still join session 2 on Tuesday 10th at 3 pm and receive the recording of session 1 today. (Won't be re-run live; recordings only)

Do more, but with which tech? 😕

As Glenn Lindley's recent post demonstrates, there's a lot of HR tech! So, it's a good job that TA has bucketloads of time to research it thoroughly and consider its impact before implementing it, right?

Ermmmm, no.

However, you must research - whether buying or not - because company leaders are under pressure to 'do more with less' from shareholders and the board, so you need to know how realistic the HR tech company's claims are. Knowledge is power.

To those saying you are not replaceable, I would argue it's already happening. If a TA team has implemented tech, which has delivered on its promises and enabled the team to run lean and efficiently, its headcount may well have been lowered or not increased.

Do I think that candidates want to be interviewed by AI? For the vast majority, no.

Do I believe that humans are critical to securing recruits? Absolutely! 💯

Recruiters play with people's lives and livelihoods - and there are still tellers in the bank for cash transactions! - so people are unlikely to fully trust AI with their career any time soon.

But don't be complacent.

As readers of The Robot-Proof Recruiter know, you have to engage your critical thinking, curiosity and active listening.

1. How will this tool save everyone's time, money and hassle?
2. How will this tech improve the hiring manager and candidate experience?
3. How will it encourage better hiring manager partnerships? (I argue that tech won't fix a human-connection issue and cite the unattended messages on your phone as evidence!)
4. Ask your peers about their experiences - did the tool deliver the results they needed or add more steps and delays to the hiring process?
5. How are the algorithms created and how are they mitigating against bias? Yes, humans are biased, that's why I am asking, and a court case has already been won!

Bonus: buy your hiring managers Reboot Hiring and The Algorithm (thank me later!)

Want to see this questioning in action?

Do more employee advocacy videos with less

Pop your earbuds in and listen to my conversation with the co-founder and CEO of Vouch, Gary Zurnamer. Take in the questions I asked. Notice how he wasn't at all defensive, admitted to mistakes and pivots, expressed how they adapt based on feedback, and the many process headaches they solve.

I finished the Live wishing I could use their editing software! Massive FOMO.

Also, did you spot that I shared a few hiring-process roadblocks the tech cannot fix?

Note again Gary's attitude: this is someone who understands that hiring is and always will be a people business.

Because human connection will always matter.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to this newsletter & shares each edition. 💛🙏🏻

I publish at 7.30 am UK time every other Wednesday. Subscribe & click the 🔔 on my profile to see future posts, or receive it by email by turning this feature on in your settings.

Recruiters and TA leaders:

• Order Reboot Hiring for your hiring managers and The Robot-Proof Recruiter for yourselves.
• Book a workshop or webinar and let's transform TA into strategic AI-proof hiring partners.
• Invite me to speak at your event or work with me one-on-one.
• Attend Braincamp - for Directors and Heads of People & Talent. Feb 5 in London.

Curious souls:

• Join the waitlist for my memoir, The Damage of Words. Publishing June 1st, 2025
• Subscribe to my mental health & healing newsletter, What If It's Not.

Originally posted at KatrinaCollier.com