1. As a job candidate, would you prefer your CV be reviewed by a machine or a human? Why?

2. As a job candidate, would you prefer to be interviewed by a robot or a human? Why?

I received a total of 20 responses.

And here are the results:

About half (50%) of the respondents preferred HUMANS for both questions.

 

About 25% preferred Machines to review their CVs but Humans to interview them.

 

5% preferred Machines for both.

 

The rest (20%) seemed non-committal (or their answers were not quite intelligible).

From the results of this straw poll, it seems most people still prefer to deal with Humans and not Robots.

I was actually hoping for more HR Professionals to respond and give their views, however only 3 out of the 20 who responded were from HR / Recruitment.

And the reason why I was hoping for more responses from the HR community is to understand what they themselves would prefer as candidates – by virtue of the fact that they are employees means they would be candidates too.

So I wanted to get a feel of what their own preferences were as candidates when they are looking for a job – would they want their own CVs to be reviewed and filtered by Robots or would they prefer Humans to review their CVs.

But what is clear from this Straw Poll is that most of us still want to deal and interact with real people.
And this is not at all surprising to me because we humans are basically social creatures.

We were built this way.

We need and sometimes crave social interactions – simply because we as homo-sapiens require that basic emotional connection with the parties we come into contact with.

Some of the respondents commented that they preferred Robots to review their CVs so as to eliminate bias.

But here’s my question:

How can you be sure Robots are not biased?

Robots run on algorithms.
Algorithms are programmed by people.
And you can be sure those programmers / algorithm developers have their own unconscious biases too.

And here’s the danger:

Most of us using these systems (aka Applicant Tracking Systems or ATS) do not question the validity of these algorithms. We take them as Gospel truths. We assume the algorithms and the filters these Robots apply in sieving out the CVs are not flawed and that they are correct.

So how sure are you the Robots are not biased?

(just think about the frequency and the number of patches and updates are required just for your PC to stay updated. If these systems are flawless, then they don’t need to be patched and/or updated at all)

Now don’t get me wrong.
I’m not against technology.
I’m all for it.

What I’m trying to point out here is that we need to be more discerning and more circumspect when we decide to rely wholly on technology to perform tasks where the algorithms have not yet been perfected – such as reviewing CVs and conducting job interviews.

Because if the algorithm is not perfect, and we automate it, all it means is that we commit to making the mistakes faster!

What do you think?
What’s your take on this?

About the Author

Steven Lock is the Founder of FutureTHINK! Training & Consultancy LLP. He is an Author, Facilitator, Consultant and a Coach. Steven brings with him 20 years of corporate experience.

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

Steven is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. The model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach.

Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”
• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been interviewed twice on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital, LinkedIn and other publications.

His comment on Team Collaboration has been quoted in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven is certified in MBTI® (Step I & II) & DiSC® Personality instruments.

For the uninitiated, all able-bodied males in Singapore have to serve in the armed forces (The Army, Navy or the Police) for at least 2 years usually before they head-off to college or university.

As a senior instructor in the Army, I had the privilege of picking my co-trainers.

So I decided to approach one of the junior instructors to ask if he will join my team.

His answer was a firm “NO! You always pull rank!”

I was shocked.
I was hurt.
And I was confused.

What was wrong with using my rank to get things done?

But that was the TURNING POINT in my life.

After I joined the Corporate world, I set out to change my leadership style.

I read voraciously on leadership and motivation.

Bit by bit I put into practice what I learned on leadership and motivation.

One day I was asked to build up a regional team in Asia Pacific.

I switched from being COERCIVE and COMMANDING, to being AFFILIATIVE and DEMOCRATIC.

Eventually I built a regional team so cohesive that we achieved 0% attrition rate; hit almost 100% of all KPIs; and almost 100% engagement rate.

Over 10 straight years!

I don’t remember his name. But I still remember how he looks like.
And if I see him one day, I will thank him for making me who I am today.

So what kind of leader are you?

If you would like to find out how you can be a better leader, check this out: Leadership Styles Questionnaire

Ask employees what they want improved.
Ask what excites them.
Ask how you can help them do better.

These are all great ways to motivate employees, help improve employee retention and get employees happy about working in your organisation.

These are also great questions if you want to come across as a caring boss and enlightened manager.

I’ve been seeing articles after articles advising managers to conduct “Stay Interviews” and change the way they do employee performance appraisals by asking questions.

These are not bad approaches I must say. It is always good to approach employee performance appraisals by asking more questions and listening to what the employees themselves have to say.

Stay Interviews are also a great approach to employee retention and motivation.

In fact, in our organisations today, managers don’t ask their staff enough questions. Questions when asked in the right way and at the right time could bring about tremendous benefits to both the staff and the manager. The right questions can also spark creativity and innovation, and also help the manager keep their feel on the pulse of the organisation at large.

In our organisations today, managers don’t ask their staff enough questions

But here’s one huge downside to asking questions that most people don’t realise.

If you’re not ready to take action on the feedback, comments and suggestions you receive from your staff and employees, and you are just asking questions for the sake of asking questions, then don’t even start!

If you’re just asking questions because the consultants and coaches say so, then don’t be surprised if the entire approach backfires on you.

The fastest way to breed cynicism and demotivate your employees is to ask them for their opinions, comments and feedback just to brush them aside and do nothing.

The fastest way to destroy credibility and trust is to ask your employees for their inputs and then sit on them and/or ignore them.

The fastest way to breed cynicism and demotivate your employees is to ask them for their opinions, comments and feedback just to brush them aside and do nothing.

The fastest way to destroy credibility and trust is to ask your employees for their inputs and then sit on them.

So if you decide to take the new approach of asking your employees more questions, then be prepared to take action to address their concerns and implement their suggestions.

Otherwise if you’re not even sincere about taking action, then don’t even start.

About Steven Lock

Steven Lock is the Founder of FutureTHINK! Training & Consultancy LLP. He is a Facilitator, Trainer, Author and a Leadership Coach. Steven brings with him 20 years of corporate experience.

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

Steven is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. The model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach.

Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”
• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been interviewed twice on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital, LinkedIn and other publications.

His comment on Team Collaboration has been quoted in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven is certified in MBTI® (Step I & II) & DiSC® Personality instruments.