Identifying and onboarding the right talent is the key function of Human Resources. In a competitive business landscape, the quality of human resources is the key to win markets. Advancement in technology has brought radical changes in sourcing, shortlisting, interviewing, and selecting the best candidates, for a variety of job roles. The availability of 4G networks, advancement in smart-phones and their increasing affordability has helped establish a new recruiting process—video assessment. This process can help with the first round of assessments, ensuring that only the right candidates apply and qualify for the next round. Video assessment has become an integral part of the digital onboarding process and is changing HR as we know it. 

Ensures the recruiting process is easier to navigate 

Video assessment would help review the fitment of an applicant for a particular role. This will act as a check to the 'click happy' application process on various professional networking sites, where candidates just click and apply without reading the job description. It has become an integral to assess candidates via video response. It can also help in identifying the right talent for a particular role through a combination of text analytics from the resume and body language/speech analytics. 

A potential candidate can record their one-minute-long response to a series of interview questions using a mobile phone or a web-based device, and upload it easily on the job portal.  Setting up a video assessment starts with identifying and listing the questions for the role. It is imperative for recruiters to create a meaningful mix of generic and role-based questions. Questions that are unclear are a major deterrent to video-based assessments. 

This process is gaining popularity because: 

1. It is easy to set up (HR side)—they just need to highlight the priorities of the role and the skills expected in a candidate in an app/algorithm 
2. It is user friendly and simple to understand (candidate side)—they simply need to follow the instructions given for responses and upload the short video
3. Offers a competitive advantage to employers/companies

Hiring is all about the right candidate, right position, right time, all at the right compensation. Given the serious competition, attracting talent is a big challenge for recruiters. Candidates also gauge and evaluate the companies they are interviewing for based on the hiring process. Digital onboarding processes are viewed by the candidates as transparent and unbiased. Including video assessment in digital onboarding can help companies gain a competitive edge over others to hire the best available talent. 

Helps optimize time and resources

Hiring is a time-consuming process. It takes time to source and select the right candidate. One has to review numerous databases and assess candidates in under a minute. This process often has unavoidable challenges:

• Databases do not have the details about the best time to reach a candidate
• Contact details are old or incorrectly mapped
• Most candidates do not answer calls from unknown numbers
• Time spent on each call in identifying and assessing the candidate 
• Long hold at times for the candidate to appear

As a result, there is deterioration in the quality of the communication as well as the assessment. Not to mention that the process is exhausting and frustrating. With video assessments, companies can predefine the criteria for the job role and the assessment. Reaching out to candidates via standard emails or social media platforms is cost and time effective. The candidates can also submit their responses at their convenience, irrespective of time and location. 

Ensures standardization based on a data and AI

Since video assessments are data-driven, they can analyze audio and video data related to the “qualities” and fitment of the candidate. As video assessment leverages the power of AI, the output is almost error-free and consistent. 

Video assessment starts with the mapping of competencies for a given role followed by listing questions that measure these competencies. The response of the candidates on the video is measured against each competency and the results are calculated. The process of evaluation becomes data-centric and free of human biases, focusing only on the skill and knowledge needed for the role (measurable criteria).  

All organizations have equal access to the material resources needed for business. The quality of the workforce is the differentiating factor. Video assessment is a recommended tool to build a strong workforce in the new normal.