When it comes to robotics, automation and technology, humans tend to have very mixed emotions. “On one hand there’s anxiety about robots,” said Kate Darling, an expert in robot ethics at the MIT Media Lab. “And on the other hand people are fascinated by them. We’re hypocritical.”

Over the past few years, robotics has become increasingly prevalent in every industry from manufacturing, to agriculture, to healthcare, to recruiting. Although respected economists such as Dr. Erik Brynjolfsson and David Autor have professed that robots are creating jobs rather than eliminating them, about 75 percent of Americans still believe that the majority of jobs currently done by humans will be done by robots in 50 years.

I’m here to set the record straight about automation in the recruiting industry (and if you want to learn about robots and humans successfully working together in other industries, click here). Contrary to popular belief, the goal of automated recruiting software is actually not to cut down on costs by replacing human recruiters. Rather, its purpose is to empower recruiters and enhance the whole recruiting process, for both recruiters and candidates. As is the case in so many other instances, technology in the recruiting industry is only as good as the people who use it. Here are a few of the many benefits of automated recruiting:

Huge time savings

The most obvious benefit of automated recruiting software is the time recruiters save by automating parts of their process. The average recruiter spends anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of their workday searching for new candidates. By automating the sourcing and initial screening processes, recruiters gain 3 to 5 hours back each day that can be spent engaging with candidates, interviewing applicants and performing other tasks that require human intelligence. As HR guru Sharlyn Lauby said, “when you automate the right tasks, then it frees up time to do the in-person ones better.”

Don’t we all wish there were more hours in a day? Automated recruiting software grants recruiters this wish.

Smarter process = Better candidates = Money savings

Lou Adler, CEO of the Adler Group, contends that recruiting technology is about finding the best, rather than weeding out the weak—he calls it the “smartification” of recruiting. Automated recruiting software can be equipped with predictive analytics to better understand candidates and predict which will be successful in a role. In fact, a recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that algorithms are capable of making better hiring decisions than humans.

The study observed over 300,000 hires made across 15 companies. The study required the companies to implement hiring assessments created by PeopleMatter that asked candidates a variety of questions about their technical skills, personality, cognitive skills, and fit for the job. In some cases, hiring managers were removed from the process, and hiring decisions were made by an algorithm that based the decision on the test results. In other cases, hiring managers used their discretion to override the algorithm’s suggestion for the position. The result? Retention rates increased by 15 percent when the algorithm made the decision.

Why does it matter? Obviously, higher retention rates are better for the growth and prosperity of your company. But also, it’s estimated that replacing a single employee costs companies an average of six to nine months’ salary, between recruitment efforts, training costs and productivity losses. It looks like the “smartification” of the recruiting process might be well worth investing in.

Knowledge retention

You have one star recruiter at your company. She’s been there for years, understands your company’s unique needs and knows all the best tactics for attracting great candidates. So what do you do when she leaves your company?

With automated recruiting software, you won’t have to worry. Highly intelligent automated recruiting software utilizes machine learning to recognize your recruiters’ best practices, retain the information and replicate their actions—even if they leave your company. The knowledge retention aspect of automated recruiting software enables all of your recruiters to be as effective as your best recruiter, and it decreases the amount of training and ramp-up time that new recruiters typically require.

Automated recruiting software allows you to retain a goldmine of valuable data. Think about how your recruiting process could be enhanced if you had access to this mine!

Enhanced candidate experience

In our candidate-driven job market, one of recruiters’ biggest priorities is to provide a stellar candidate experience. But how can recruiters accomplish this, when there are an average 250 resumes submitted for each job opening? The answer, of course, is with automated recruiting software.

Automated recruiting solutions create easy, one-click applications in order to encourage more candidates to apply. The software also has the capability to stay in constant contact with applicants, giving candidates timely updates on their status in the recruiting process. Additionally, automated recruiting software leads to a reduced time-to-hire, another factor that improves overall candidate experience. Providing a VIP candidate experience doesn’t require a ton of effort from the recruiter—try enlisting the help of automated recruiting software to get the job done.

Greater diversity

Using automated recruiting software can lead to greater diversity in your workplace. Because automated recruiting software relies on data, conscious and subconscious human biases are largely eliminated from the recruiting process.

“Every company vets its own way, by schools or companies on résumés,” said Sheeroy Desai, co-founder and CEO of Gild, a recruiting software company. In fact, a recent international survey conducted by Cubiks Consultancy revealed that 80 percent of hiring managers strongly value likeness between the interviewee and themselves. “It can be predictive, but the problem is it is biased. They’re dismissing tons and tons of qualified people,” said Desai.

Hiring people based on their likeness to you will not only create a homogenous workforce, but it might also diminish your company’s productivity. According to Katherine Phillips, an associate professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, diversity actually enhances group work. “The mere presence of diversity in a group creates awkwardness, and the need to diffuse this tension leads to better group problem solving,” Phillips says. Meanwhile, in groups lacking diversity, members are more likely to blindly agree on everything, rather than cause any disturbance in the group dynamic. Overall, diverse groups have been found to complete tasks better than non-diverse groups do.

Aiming to achieve diversity in your organization is the ethically right thing to do, and it also enhances your overall company efforts. Diversify your workplace with automated recruiting software.

With all of the great benefits that automated recruiting software and other recruiting technologies have to offer, it is a mistake to ignore their growing popularity. Stay ahead of your competition and land the best talent with the help of automated recruiting software.

For information about Arya Recruiting Robotics solutions, visit www.goarya.com.