High employee turnover has become as much a part of the retail world as cash registers and inventory management. Many organizations assume that the cost of generating a steady stream of new hires is as inevitable as Black Friday markdowns.

But in the still-rippling wake of the Great Resignation, some retailers have started to experiment with new recruitment technologies, such as video interviews and automated psychological assessments. Such tools offer seductive promises of efficiency, accessibility, and scientific accuracy. At the same time, smart retailers will embrace them with caution because they pose risks to both the organization and job candidates.

How tech is tackling recruitment costs

Early recruitment technologies, such as online job boards, tackled two obvious costs: advertising positions and paying employees to collect and vet resumes.

The next generation of recruitment technologies is streamlining some interactive parts of the search process. For example, asynchronous video interviews (AVIs), in which the interviewee creates a video recording of themselves answering pre-assigned questions, reduce the amount of time needed to meet with a candidate. Another popular time-saver is the automated assessment tool, which pre-screens applicants for certain personality characteristics.

It’s no wonder that so many recruiting teams have been eager to jump on the technology train. Some providers of recruitment software promise time savings of up to 50%. If, like most retailers, you’re expecting to rehire over half of your frontline workers in the next year, such a gain in efficiency could add up to hundreds or thousands of saved hours.

Yet that efficiency could interfere with both your decision-making and your company reputation. A speedy hiring process is not necessarily an effective hiring process, and tools that claim to reduce interviewer bias may introduce new biases we haven’t had to worry about before.

These are the kinds of tech-related tensions that concern Dr. Nicolas Roulin, at Saint Mary’s University and a researcher with the David Sobey Centre. Dr. Roulin’s research is revealing both the potential and the perils of turning parts of recruitment over to technology.

Hidden hazards of new tools

Recruitment software has become a $2 billion industry in the U.S., so if your organization isn’t using it now, it probably will be soon. Automation is becoming as integral to recruitment as the resume, and organizations that don’t keep up with the pace of change will find it harder and harder to hold their own against tech-enabled competitors.

At the same time, Dr. Roulin’s research shows that a practice as “normal” as a video interview or an online assessment can be fraught with issues.

Video backgrounds may reveal more than candidates intend

In a series of recent studies, Dr. Roulin and a team of colleagues examined a group of AVIs, looking for hidden sources of bias. It turns out they didn’t have to look far. The data they collected showed that bias seeped into the selection process through visual cues that appeared in candidate backgrounds.

Dr. Roulin’s research found that video interviews revealed aspects of the candidate’s life that normally remain “invisible” in interviews held at a store or office. Those revelations influenced evaluations of the candidate’s character and ability to perform on the job.

In three separate studies, Dr. Roulin investigated how three different types of potentially “stigmatizing features” impacted interview evaluators. He and his colleagues analyzed the effect of visual cues concerning parental status, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. As an example of a visual cue, a background feature indicating parental status might be a mug labeled “World’s Greatest Mom” or a picture with “I love you Dad!” scribbled across it.

The research findings showed a definite link between the background of the AVI and evaluator judgements:

• Interviewees whose background showed they were a parent were perceived as being warmer and more competent than non-parents.
• Cues indicating support for a political party also made a difference. If they showed that the candidate shared a political affiliation with the evaluator, then, compared with other applicants, the applicant was perceived as warmer and more likely to perform well on the job.

Despite the gains in efficiency, it seems we have reason to treat AVIs with some suspicion. Not only can video backgrounds reveal information that candidates didn’t intend to share, but they can also trigger intentional bias. For example, an applicant can try to make themselves look more intelligent by placing a bookcase behind them or a large copy of a diploma.

In other words, AVIs take the old game of “impression management” to a new level. Both candidates and hiring managers will need to think carefully about how they handle video interviews to keep the evaluation process as unbiased as possible. For example, recruiters might want to start asking candidates to shoot their AVI against a neutral background, such as a blank wall.

Psychological assessments may not be narcissist-proof

Many retailers are turning to online psychometric assessments in the hope of quickly ruling out problematic applicants, such as narcissists and psychopaths. Such pre-screening becomes especially important for manager-level roles since a leader with “dark personality” traits can do significant damage to other employees and the organization.

Dr. Roulin points out that instinct alone is seldom enough to gauge a candidate’s character.

“Hiring people is not easy because there are a lot of elements going on,” he says,” such as potential biases, experiences, people trying to impress one another.

If you are a manager trying to hire your next employee, it’s not like you can look the person in the eye and know right away they are the right person.”

However, whatever claims a so-called scientific assessment makes, it may not be foolproof either. A clever, insincere applicant can easily game the system. A liar by definition, any intelligent narcissist will figure out the most desirable answer to a question and enter it in the software, whether or not it truly reflects their thoughts or experience.

Five critical questions for vetting new recruitment technology

With a wide range of recruitment technology available (and that range growing every month), how can a smart retailer seize the benefits while avoiding the drawbacks?

Dr. Roulin suggests that retailers ask five critical questions before adopting a new tool:

1. Does the tool’s method align with existing best practices?

Recruitment software doesn’t reinvent recruitment processes; it just automates them. A worthwhile tool will fit seamlessly into your current practices, without skipping steps or compromising on quality.

2. What specific outcomes does the tool target?

Does the software provider make generic claims about saving time and money, or does it promise specific results, such as reducing the number of manual touchpoints with an applicant from five to three?

3. What evidence is there that the tool achieves measurable outcomes?

When the Conditional Reasoning Test for Workplace Psychopathy becomes available to the public, potential users will be able to read a long trail of research publications. They’ll be able to identify the team behind the tool, consider the ins and outs of the test’s design, and read the results of early trials.

When you’re thinking of adopting a new piece of recruitment technology, do your due diligence and investigate the science behind it. Don’t be afraid to ask the vendor for specifics to show that the tool has substance and credibility.

4. What potential biases could be built into the tool?

With AI playing an increasingly prominent role in many software applications, it’s important to find out all you can about the data the AI uses to make decisions. Dr. Roulin gives the example of AI-driven software that rejected AVIs based on the pitch of the applicant’s voice, even though that personal characteristic was irrelevant to the job.

5. How is the tool keeping pace with regulations?

Most recruitment technology has implications for candidate privacy. Be sure that you understand exactly what those implications are so you can mitigate risks for both candidates and your organization.

Recruitment software may introduce new complexities into the hiring process—but it’s here to stay. The more information you can gather about new tools as they come onto the market, the better prepared you’ll be to replenish your workforce with employees who merit the time you invest in recruiting them.