Does technology beat the personal touch?

I came across a really interesting article in Forbes this week, around The Innovation That Could Make Most Job Interviews Obsolete.

The central idea being to enable prospective employees to record a video of themselves answering pre-set questions set by a potential employer.  It enables the potential recruit to show themselves without the formality of one way interview. It's an interesting idea, but not without its downsides, not least how does the potential employee form a view of the employer even at this early stage.

There's no doubt it further shows how technology and specifically the digital world enables us to challenge and change the accepted way of doing things.  In this example, the person at the employer brings their values and requirements to bear at a time to suit them, in watching the video and forming a view on the potential candidate.  So technology brings the two together virtually, but the human influence leads to the informed decision around 'do I want to find out more about this person?' The technology alone is not enough of course, but it does enable the traditional recruitment process to be changed.

I was further reminded of this when one of our Travel Counsellors shared a story about a family wishing to go on holiday to Spain. They had tried to book on-line, but the internet had said no flights available to your destination.  Our agent, using our technology, was able to find a flight to a different airport and arrange a private transfer to the resort of their choice.  The expertise of the agent, using the same technology as the customer, was able to find a solution.  Interestingly, the customer found the agent through our web site.  The technology alone was not enough.  The human interaction and connection provided the right solution, facilitated by the technology.

That is why next week we are holding a live recruitment web cast. The technology enables us to reach people in an instant and in a way that is personal, because we see, hear and interact through that medium. Yet we have also decided to do it live, so that it is authentic, raw and real.  It is the emotion of the moment that will enable people to form a view of whether they trust us enough with their future. That comes from people; the technology alone is not enough, but can help in bringing us together to build the trust that we crave for.