Humanization has become the bacon of the HR and recruiting world. By that, I mean that it is loved by everyone but no one wants to see it made. Experts call for HR Pros to humanize everything from employer brand to processes and claim it makes everything so much better. As technology continues to take over many of our day-to-day tasks in talent acquisition and management, it stands to reason that humanization, or bringing the humans back to human resources should become increasingly important.

How does that tie into virtual interviewing? While it’s true that some tech tools can impede personalization in hiring, I can say first hand that virtual interviewing is not one of them. Here’s how this high-tech tool can give your recruiting process the warm and fuzzies.

Get FaceTime Faster

In a world with Google Hangouts, frequent Skype Sessions and more, seeing someone face to face is still prized. I recently shared a statistic that 93% of communication is non-verbal. Resumes and phone screens only give hiring managers and recruiters part of the story. Virtual interviewing allows candidates and recruiters to get face-to-face sooner, albeit through a screen. This helps the hiring team to make better decisions faster and for the candidate, it supercharges their relationship with their future employer. Not a match? At least everyone knows it early on in the process. The quicker these more personalized connections take place, the faster the screening process goes. A smiling face vs. a phone conversation makes a big difference.

Display Culture and Values from the Start

As video interviewing has advanced to a full suite of virtual products, cultural fit has entered the conversation as a value add for organizations using virtual screening. Ways that video interviewing can increase the chances that you will hire a great fit for your organization include: having a white labeled solution that presents your company culture front and center, allowing your applicants to take interviews on the go with a mobile application and back end collaboration tools to up the chances that everyone communicates during the interview process.

Cultural fit is better assessed via face-to-face interactions than a piece of paper or via a rushed conference call. Video interviewing not only helps to assess cultural fit but it displays company values at the same time. And it can help companies differentiate by incorporating branding into yet another facet of the hiring process. Universum’s Melissa Bailey states why this is so important:

Employer branding always seems to fall into the “important but not urgent” category, since recruiters are encouraged to focus on activities that yield more immediate results.

When video interviewing is done correctly, the candidates will have a better understanding of the organization and can then assess fit for themselves as well. Candidates can tell whether they want to work for your organization based on your landing page, your interview questions, how your team is dressed and what the offices look like…and guess what? You can tell the same sorts of things from their interview surroundings and behavior.

Keeping Up with Demands and Trends

A big part of humanizing the hiring and recruiting process is finding out what candidates want, and giving it to them. Right now, they want to be heard and find out more about what makes employers tick. Candidates don’t want to fly halfway across the country to discover they aren’t a fit. And shockingly, CFOs don’t really want to spend six figures (or more!) on travel for candidates when they only end up hiring 15% of them.

Studies show that 96 percent of job candidates using a company’s vi...had a favorable impression of the potential employer. Since 75 percent of candidates in a separate survey stated that the experience they had when interviewing or applying for a job influenced their decision to work for the company, the metrics are persuasive of the import of video for the employment brand, writes HRO Today’s Russ Banham.

In today’s techie climate, it can be a battle to keep personalization and humanization in the hiring process. Having tools, like virtual interviewing, that actually encourage that, takes some of the burden off of recruiters and HR departments. While they are combatting the dehumanization that other tools might bring into the process, it’s nice to have these tools that combat that all on their own. The right technology won’t depreciate communication in the hiring p...