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AI Is Forcing Recruiting To Be Human Again · Edan Haddock - Total Talent

• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Eden Haddock Total Talent.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Eden Haddock, Head of Talent and People Experience at Movember.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk today about something that might make a few people uncomfortable.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Not because it's controversial, but because it asks a question we haven't really sat with yet.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: For the last fifteen years in Talon Acquisition, we digitized everything.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean everything.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Our applications, screening, interview notes, scorecards, offer approvals, reference checks.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And we told ourselves it was progress.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And in many ways, it was.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thought scratcher for today.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: What if digitization wasn't evolution?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: What if it was survival?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: And now that AI is removing the manual burden inside those systems, what if we get to decide what becomes human again?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: This episode isn't about tools.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a vendor review.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a here are five ways to automate your funnel.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: In some ways, this is philosophical.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is about design.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is about where we value, what we value, where we add value.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And this might be one of the most important conversations talent has in the next few years.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get into it.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, let's sit on this one.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't digitize because it was better.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Take yourself back.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I can.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: You may be younger.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk early two thousands recruiting.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Phone screens, paper CVs, coffee chats, reference calls that lasted twenty minutes?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring managers making judgment calls?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Was it perfect?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Was it scalable?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely not.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: But it was human.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then the volume, volume exploded.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Online job boards, globalization, employer branding scale, hundreds of applications per role, thousands in some markets.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And talent teams were drowning.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't digitize because it was beautiful.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: We digitized because we were overwhelmed.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: We needed consistency, audit trails, defensibility, speed, control.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we built systems, structured applications, knockout questions, competency scorecards, online reference platforms, workflow approvals, to name a few.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And those systems did something important.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: They stabilized the chaos.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: They allowed five recruiters to handle what used to require fifteen.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: They allowed global hiring.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: They reduced bias.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: They created documentation.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: It was necessary.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the uncomfortable reflection.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Digitization optimized for effort, not depth.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It optimized for scale, not connection.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that made sense.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because effort was the constraint.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Flash forward 2026.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Effort is no longer the constraint.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Enter AI.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Not in a hype way, in a practical way.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: AI writes notes.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: AI summarizes interviews.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: AI extracts competencies or skills.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: AI benchmarks salary.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: AI structures feedback.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: AI flags risk patterns.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: AI automates scheduling.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: AI drafts communication.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I can go on.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, now manual effort starts disappearing.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Not completely, but significantly.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the shift.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: If effort is no longer the constraint, why are we still designing processes around effort?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's sit for that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let's sit with that for a second.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: If documentation is automatic, if structure is automatic, if compliance capture is automatic, then what are we optimizing for now?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because for 15 years, we optimized for survival.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And now we might be able to optimize for experience, for nuance, for trust.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that changes everything.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's think.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: What deserves to be human again?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the heart of the episode.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Not what can be automated, but what deserves to be human.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's a different question.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because automation isn't the point.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: The point is redesign.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: We digitize to reduce friction.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now AI removes friction inside digital systems.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we can ask, what did we sacrifice in the process?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Where did we trade depth for efficiency?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And what would we bring back if the admin disappeared?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's the thought scratcher.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want to pick one.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: The big one.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to talk reference checks.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because reference checks actually tell the entire story of talent over the last 20 years.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And really tell the story that I that I want to share today.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really great example.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Once upon a time, and I remember, you picked up the phone.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: You called someone who knew the candidate.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: You asked, What are they really like?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: How do they behave under pressure?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: What is their blind spot?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Would you hire them again?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: You listen to tone.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: You listen to hesitation.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: You listen to the pause before the answer.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was messy.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was subjective.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was human.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then scale arrived.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Compliance increased.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Legal scrutiny increased.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Volume increased.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we digitized.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Online reference platforms, rating scales, drop-down competency scoring, automated email requests, structured forms.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was faster.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was safer.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was auditable.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: It was consistent.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: But it also did something subtle.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: It flattened nuance.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: A human conversation became a numerical scale.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Candor became four out of five.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hesitation became meets expectations.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: We traded tone for template.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it made sense.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because effort was the constraint.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: AI removes the reason for the form.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now imagine this.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: You pick up the phone again.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: You have a real conversation.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: AI records it, AI transcribes it, AI structures it, AI extracts competencies, AI flags behavioral indicators, AI creates a report, AI creates an audit trail.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: The documentation argument then disappears.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: The compliance argument weakens.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: The admin burden vanishes.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the question.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: If AI handles the structure, then why are we still filling out forms?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's not nostalgia.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's architecture.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: What if the form was never the evolution?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: What if it was just a workaround for manual effort?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And if the effort disappears, what do we redesign?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about the network renaissance.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here's where it gets interesting.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Digitization professionalized talent.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: It standardized it.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: It created fairness frameworks.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: But it also de-emphasized networks, calling someone, warm introductions, reputation mapping, industry conversations?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: What if AI brings that back?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Not as back channel bias, not as secret whisper hiring, but as structured, captured, transparent human insight.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: What if reference checking becomes, who do I trust that knows this person?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: What if recruiters become network connectors again?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Not form managers, not workflow controllers, connectors.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because if AI handles validation, humans can handle depth.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a very different operating model.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Moving on to the tension, bias, and fairness.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let's not romanticize the past because the past had problems.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Phone calls without structure created bias.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Networks excluded people.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Gut feel wasn't always fair.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Digitization improved equity.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if we move back to conversation, what protects fairness?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe AI does.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe AI becomes the compliance wrapper around human judgment.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe AI monitors language, flags risk, highlights inconsistencies.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the future isn't human versus AI.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's AI for structure, human for nuance.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's an augmented model, and that's powerful.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't about our industry going back.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be clear.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't the old days were better.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: They weren't, they certainly weren't.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is about choice.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: For 15 years we didn't have choice.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now we might.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: If AI removes admin, we are forced to confront a new question.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: What is talent actually for?
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is it workflow optimization?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it human capital judgment?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is it funnel efficiency?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it relationship architecture?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's the shift.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: So when the forms disappear, imagine this: no manual note-taking, no manual scorecards, no manual reference forms, no scheduling chaos, just conversation, insight, judgment, network, depth.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: When the forms disappear, who does the recruiter become?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's the real question.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because if your value was process management, AI will challenge you.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: But if your value is judgment, trust, market intelligence, relationship depth, you become more important, not less.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: The closing question.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a prescription.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying burn the reference platforms.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying ditch structure.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm saying this.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: We digitize to survive.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: AI removes survival pressure.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now we get to choose what becomes human again.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe, just maybe.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: The most ironic outcome of artificial intelligence is that it makes talent more human.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the question I'll leave with you.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: If effort was no longer the constraint in your talent function, what would you redesign?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: What would you bring back?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: What deserves to be human again?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sit with that.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's the next era.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is Eden Haddock Total Talent.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Eden Haddock.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you here next time.