How to Transition Your Team to Recorded Video Interviews

Social distancing and remote work are here to stay. In response, companies are looking for new ways to diversify their talent pools and connect quickly with the best candidates. Recorded video interviews have been shown to increase efficiency and diversity in hiring. However, their use can cause concern in some hiring teams unfamiliar with the technology. So, while recorded video interviews are set to become a staple of the talent acquisition process, making them work for your organization may require as much attention to the people behind the cameras – your Talent Management team – as your candidates.

The good news? Change doesn’t need to be awkward or stressful. Here are some best practices for ensuring a smooth transition to video interviewing tools for your organization.

Making the Shift to Recorded Video Interviews with Confidence

Get buy-in from the start.

Your Talent Management and Human Capital personnel love their jobs because they’re, well, ‘people’ people. So a move away from live interviews may feel like a major upheaval. Before shifting to recorded video interviews, invest in some internal research to better understand how the switch impacts your team. Go beyond time-to-fill and time-to-hire statistics to learn more about team members’ reservations and provide the needed reassurance.

For example, knowing that hiring managers appreciate the efficiency of recorded video interviews but worry about losing the human touch allows you to tailor your roll-out or adjust your process to include additional points of contact with candidates.

Ask for – and implement – suggestions.

High-level management may have great visibility into the big-picture advantages of recorded video interviews. But it’s your frontline recruiters and hiring supervisors who understand the candidate experience. Be sure your process development team includes employees from all levels of the Talent and People functions and that everyone has a chance to contribute ideas. Asking those outside the hiring stream for feedback may also provide valuable insight into how your recorded video interview process might feel to an applicant. 

Think beyond technology training.

Depending on your organization’s existing recruitment process, a switch to recorded video interviews may feel like a big change. So, set your hiring and recruitment experts up for success with training designed to soothe nerves. Allow them to build the hands-on skills required for accurate assessments. Interviewers accustomed to relying on ‘gut’ or ‘instinct’ when making hiring decisions may need guidance on reframing their preferences in terms of skills and competencies. Those worried about appearance-based decision-making might benefit from additional information on how recorded video interviews level the playing field and decrease bias in recruitment. And your lone wolf Talent Leader probably needs some practice working collaboratively to evaluate candidates.

Practice makes perfect.

Some of your employees will need to see to believe. Go beyond demonstrations and offer the opportunity to ‘beta-test’ or ‘soft-launch’ your new system. Allow employees to apply their new candidate evaluation and collaborative assessment skills with simulated applicants from outside the organization. It may be just what they need to allay concerns about their own ability to adapt or the fairness of the process. Feedback from these practice sessions may also reveal gaps in your thinking or opportunities to enhance the candidate experience.

Like any other game-changing technology, recorded video interviews may create anxiety for some of your team members. Therefore, set minds at ease by making space to collect and implement suggestions. Garner feedback from all levels of the recruitment and hiring functions and incorporate it into your strategy. And go beyond technology training. You’ll want to ensure that employees responsible for screening have the skills and tools they need to accurately assess applicants with confidence and communicate effectively with team members.

For more information on how to create a recorded video interview experience that meets the expectations of your candidates and your Talent Management Team, contact us.