One of the biggest challenges facing corporate leaders today is the attraction and retention of talent. With this in mind, there is no surprise the recruitment industry is flooded with suppliers offering digital solutions that streamline, speed up and enhance recruitment processes in order to adapt to the pressure of competition. Understandable that efficient methods must be adopted to assist recruiters in their efforts to fill the gaps and place quality talent, but does this mean we are beginning to see the end of human interaction as we know it?  Let’s face it, recruitment is a relationships-based discipline. Without connections, the understanding, of “people” and the “trust” factor, it would be difficult for recruitment consultants to do their job. So how does technology fit into this puzzle? Given the fact that technology does seem to remove a lot of the interpersonal characteristics of relationship building, it’s hard to see how it fits in to the workflow of the recruitment function. In answer to this, I suppose it comes down to how you view its purpose. Technology is not meant to replace a recruiter, but rather, it should be seen as a tool to assist in the overall recruitment process. With the rate at which talent attraction must respond to the shortage of available candidates, it’s easy to understand why there is such a need for fast, reliable and efficient tools to assist recruiters, with “assist” very much being the operative word, because technology can never replace presence in a relationship and the very important key skill of judgement, both critical to good recruitment practice.

The other day I was reflecting on my time playing sport as a teenager, particularly about the coaches and mentors who I was lucky to have met and learn so much from.