Many younger candidates find getting to know each other digitally also in the job up-to-date.
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Cologne The smartphone as a door opener to a new job: One click on the button of an online job advertisement or scan a QR code – and an automated WhatsApp interview with the personnel consultancy starts. It takes less than five minutes to answer the questions and send the CV. The usual cover letter is no longer necessary.
Although it is only the beginning of the search for a new specialist or manager, recruiters can decide after examining the first applicant profile whether a candidate has the necessary qualifications.
From messenger service to artificial intelligence (AI) – nothing is currently more important for the personnel consulting industry than digital applications. This is the conclusion reached by the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI) in a current industry study in which more than 2,000 representatives of HR consultancies as well as executives and HR managers in companies took part. 43 percent named digitization as a “topic that particularly moves the industry” – well ahead of sustainability and agile working.
Digital tools are not only becoming more important in the application process. “Also in the qualification profiles – with the customers and with the personnel consultancies themselves – AI skills or digital leadership play a much stronger role than in previous years,” says study leader Gunter Nowy. “The hype surrounding ChatGPT is a key driver.”
Parallel to the industry trends, the HRI also compiled a list of leading personnel consultants in Germany in the study. 40 of the 443 participants were awarded. The HRI study also asked which personnel consultancy the participants recommended for which hierarchical level. Egon Zehnder won the race for jobs with an annual income of more than 120,000 euros per year. Hays received the most mentions for the salary brackets from 60,000 to 120,000 euros.
Digitization pays off – this is shown by a study by the software provider Bullhorn. In it, 30 percent of the interviewed personnel service providers and agencies as well as personnel consultancies with a sales increase of more than ten percent in the past year name more digitized data in the company as the strongest influencing factor for the leap in growth. Another 20 percent attribute the high growth to an increased degree of automation.
On the other hand, only 19 percent of the companies surveyed blame a higher placement rate for their additional turnover. “Digitization is the most important sales driver for the industry,” says Marek Kraus, Managing Director at Bullhorn. According to the BDU, two-thirds of personnel consultants now use digital tools, for example for the automatic processing of CVs and applications.
Nevertheless, many personnel consultancies have to increase their digitization. “So far, the usual, often personal approach has worked well. But among other things, the growing variety of jobs and the nationwide search are forcing personnel consultancies to further digitize,” says Arne Adrian, Chairman of the Association for Personnel Consulting in the BDU. It is true that ERP systems for office organizations are common in many companies in the industry. “But when it comes to using software to identify and search for candidates, to select them and to ask how they should ideally be approached, many HR consultancies still have some catching up to do.”
Contact via messenger
The expectations of the young executives, who are more and more often to be found on the executive floor, change when addressing them. “The new generation on the board is surprised when they get a call from a recruitment agency. They expect to be addressed digitally,” says Adrian. This can also be done via Messenger – WhatsApp, for example, is definitely suitable for this.
As an introduction to working with AI, the association recommends creating a job advertisement or addressing a candidate using ChatGPT. Of course, solutions equipped with artificial intelligence can already do much more. For example, they observe the labor market and evaluate candidate profiles. “AI can already do that better than humans,” says Adrian. This also changes the day-to-day work in the consultations.
“The use of AI will lead to HR consultants increasingly taking on those tasks that require empathy. AI doesn’t inspire enthusiasm,” says Adrian. The BDU does not expect technology to displace people. The personnel requirements of the consultations will not decrease.
In fact, new skills are also required from HR consultants. “We will need more IT experts who can handle the new systems,” says Adrian. However, smaller consultancies will have a harder time asserting themselves in the future. Because the mechanization causes additional costs – and urgently needed IT experts tend to prefer well-known companies. “Smaller personnel consultancies will look for the networks of larger providers,” predicts BDU expert Adrian.
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