AI in Hiring: Strengthening Retention and Replacing Bias
The retail industry is notorious for having one of the highest turnover rates. Worryingly, retail hiring is facing an all-time low: last year, companies only hit 47.9 percent of their hiring goals.
Moreover, losing one employee can cost a retailer $10,000 on average. It’s well documented that replacing employees is extremely expensive, but early attrition also means lost opportunities for retailers. For instance, McKinsey found that a better employee experience (EX) directly correlates with stronger customer satisfaction, a key pillar to driving loyalty and brand image for retailers.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and recruitment is no exception, with over 70 percent of companies using it throughout the hiring process. Here’s how AI is helping retail recruiters retain new hires and tackle bias.
Fix the 'Leaky Bucket' With Retention-First Hiring
"Employee expectations," "poor management," and "lack of opportunity" were the top-cited reasons candidates quit a job in six months. The hiring phase isn’t just about finding people with the right technical skills; it’s also an opportunity for candidates and companies to get on the same page about role responsibilities and growth expectations.
Enter AI, which is helping hiring managers figure out what candidates are looking for in a job and understand more about their personality. Tools like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) can enable recruiters to uncover more abstract traits like ambition and strong leadership. A recruiter can use these insights to address growth development opportunities during the interview process and prepare the onboarding stage accordingly, which sets the tone for a new employee’s experience joining the team.
Aligning expectations before starting a job can make all the difference to a new hire staying on at a job. This helps avoid frustrating situations where new employees feel like they’re getting the short end of the stick in terms of professional growth and recognition.
Tackle Bias With AI
A shocking 48 percent of recruiters admit that bias affects their hiring decisions. When recruiters are rushing through resumes, there’s more room for error and unconscious bias, particularly as they spend six seconds to seven seconds, on average, evaluating a resume.
Technology is at the core of most hirers’ recruitment strategies, specifically because AI tools enable recruiters to screen through droves of applications that otherwise take up time and energy they don’t necessarily have.
AI is also helping hiring managers take a deeper dive into a candidate’s profile beyond their resume. For instance, it cuts down on the required manpower to build in-depth, sophisticated psychometric tests to screen candidates. These tests are crucial for gauging how much of a cultural fit a candidate is, understanding their professional values, and overcoming bias when profiling candidates.
Generative AI (GenAI), NLP, and ML tools have become highly sophisticated in analyzing sentiments, uncovering word patterns, recognizing facial expressions and body language, and predicting behaviors to bring softer skills and traits to the surface. Algorithms can be trained to deploy tests and yield insights into candidates' responses.
However, a note of caution: AI is only as good as the data it’s trained by. As time goes by, AI algorithms learn from previous data what to look out for. Without auditing this data and these tools, retailers run the risk of encountering bias on this front, too. Ensuring that data is impartial, balanced and accurate is key to avoiding this issue.
Technology is now a non-negotiable for many recruiters in retail looking to nurture retention while ensuring they’re not missing out on the top talent because of unconscious bias. Balancing human judgement with AI can transform recruitment strategies for the long term.
Jon Puckett is the CEO of Cadient, a provider of AI-powered hiring solutions.
Jon Puckett, the CEO of Cadient, brings over two decades of management and SaaS experience to the forefront of the talent acquisition industry. With a proven track record of fostering strong client and partner relationships, increasing profitability, and enhancing operational efficiencies, Puckett has demonstrated an outstanding ability to visualize, articulate, and solve complex problems. His leadership at Cadient is marked by the successful development of core initiatives aimed at focusing, managing, and driving organizational change and performance improvements. Prior to his current role, Puckett served as the Interim Chief Operations Officer at Cadient, where he played a pivotal role in customer relationship management post-sales, including implementations, education services, professional services, client success, and technical support. His tenure at Cadient began in January 2024, where he has since been instrumental in setting the company's strategic direction, sales strategy, and annual targets, underscoring his strong empathy for customers and passion for delivering positive outcomes, revenue, and growth.
Before joining Cadient, Puckett's career spanned several key positions, including Vice President of Client Success at Cadient Talent, where he was responsible for offering an end-to-end hiring solution for distributed workforces, and Director of Professional Services at Kronos Incorporated, where he contributed significantly for nearly two decades. His entrepreneurial spirit was also evident during his time as Owner/Partner of Clean Air Lawn Care Portland LLC, where he championed eco-friendly lawn care services. Puckett's educational background includes a BS in Education/Business from Eastern Illinois University, complemented by certifications in Inbound Marketing and Sales from HubSpot Academy. His extensive experience, coupled with a strategic and empathetic approach to leadership, positions him as a visionary leader in the talent acquisition and SaaS sectors.
