Technology is becoming an increasingly strong asset in all areas of business.  As companies become more complex, the need for technology grows and management is turning to technology for answers in all verticals.  Have we asked ourselves - is technology the answer at all?  Managers look to technology approaching issues with the question "What technology will solve this issue?"  They need to ask if technology is the answer at all, and then ask what technology might be the appropriate response.  This is never more obvious than in the recruiting and talent management verticals.  Each day more applications arise from various vendors promoting their software as the best management tool for finding, on boarding and then managing talent.  Some do it all, others do part of the process, but I believe the point is being missed all around.  Technology will never replace the human element of the recruitment and talent management sector.  No matter how many fields, how many applications, nothing replaces the human interface which is the core of recruiting employees.

Social networking, applicant tracking systems, etc are all executed by people.  These tools, though effective, are not stand alone.  They rely on the people that work within them and develop relationships based on the introductions they produce.  Communications will never be replaced with advanced systems.   People are people, phone calls and in person meetings are required for the most effective recruiters to acquire the best talent.  Recruiting is not a scientific algorithm, but an art in which skilled professionals effectively understand the human factor of recruiting - one in which matches more than simply hard skills but soft skills and company culture - characteristics that cannot be measured nor tracked by a computer. 

Recruiting is a knowledge based business, a true business intelligence solution.  This requires a professional with a diverse set of skills that can manage the systems that are used to assist with the massive amounts of data, but also the brilliant communications ability that can bring full circle the ability to not only locate people, but win them over to come and work for your company.  This skill cannot be measured by systems and can never be replaced by IT.  No automatic email will ever get someone to come work for your company.  In fact, it is more likely to turn someone off than actually assist the company.  Hiring decisions are not made on skill sets alone, actually it has been shown that most hiring decisions are made on non-essential elements (alumni, association, referrals, etc) when a capable candidate pool has been established.  How can all of these elements possibly be tracked?  They can't.  It requires a person to know another person, then and only then will the proper hire take place. 

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