Why AI Literacy Is the Next Strategic Skill for TA
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in the hiring process, many organisations are asking the same questions: What role will AI play in recruitment, and what does it mean for the people behind the process?
While headlines often focus on automation replacing human effort, the reality is more nuanced. The next chapter of talent acquisition isn’t about replacing people, it’s about redefining their contribution. Those who understand how to leverage AI as a tool, rather than view it as a threat, will be the ones who continue to create value.
But AI literacy in TA doesn’t happen by accident. It requires new skills, new mindsets, and a clear understanding of where AI can meaningfully support the recruiting lifecycle. It also demands an honest look at how different roles, sourcers, coordinators, advisors, and strategic partners, will be impacted differently.
AI Has Entered the TA Workflow, But Capability Gaps Remain
Recent data from LinkedIn shows that 74% of talent professionals are optimistic about AI’s impact on recruitment, yet only a small percentage feel equipped to use these tools effectively. Many organisations are still navigating early-stage experimentation, often lacking a framework for how to roll out AI responsibly and practically.
The challenge isn’t just technology, it’s people readiness. Adoption is uneven, often slowed by fear of redundancy, tool fatigue, or a lack of clarity on where AI actually adds value.
That’s why leading TA teams are shifting their focus from surface-level adoption to deeper capability-building. TA professionals need to understand how to use AI tools not just functionally, but strategically. That means asking smarter questions, engaging with data more fluently, and knowing when to apply AI-generated insights versus when to rely on experience and judgment.
From Tool Usage to Strategic Enablement: The AI Maturity Curve
A growing number of TA leaders are mapping out an AI capability journey that moves through several stages:
Exploration – Piloting tools in isolated workflows, often with individual enthusiasm leading the charge.
Enablement – Upskilling teams in prompt engineering and basic data interpretation, often with measurable time savings.
Integration – Embedding AI into core systems (ATS, CRM, sourcing stacks) to support consistent workflows.
Augmentation – Using AI to inform strategic decisions, shape job architecture, and advise hiring managers at a consultative level.
Where a TA function sits on this curve should inform its investment priorities. Skipping stages leads to poor adoption, fragmented workflows, and wasted spend.
What Skills Are Emerging for the AI-Enabled TA Professional?
Forward-thinking talent teams are investing in capability development that goes well beyond basic tool adoption. Some of the key skills being prioritised include:
1. Prompt Engineering
Learning how to write effective, targeted prompts has quickly become essential. This skill allows TA professionals to extract better results from generative AI tools, whether it’s drafting a job description, building Boolean search logic, or personalising outreach messages based on candidate motivations.
Training in prompt engineering is already underway in several enterprise environments. These programmes focus on secure platforms like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT Enterprise, teaching TA teams how to apply AI in daily workflows while remaining compliant with data and privacy standards.
2. Predictive Analytics for Strategic Demand Planning
As organisations mature their workforce planning efforts, AI offers an opportunity to improve how TA professionals anticipate and prepare for complex hiring needs. Predictive analytics helps teams interpret demand plans with greater precision, identifying potential bottlenecks, forecasting sourcing difficulty, and prioritising critical roles before requisitions hit the system.
Rather than reacting to intake meetings, AI-enabled TA professionals can proactively partner with talent intelligence and workforce planning teams. By surfacing patterns in hiring volume, geography, and skill clustering, they help design sourcing strategies that are more aligned to business timing, risk tolerance, and labour market constraints.
This shift moves TA from execution to orchestration.
3. Advanced Market and Role Research
In parallel, TA professionals are using AI to enhance their ability to conduct strategic market research. This includes analysing adjacent skill sets, identifying alternative career paths into hard-to-fill roles, or benchmarking similar positions across peer organisations and industries.
These insights help reshape job design, adjust expectations, and open up more inclusive or innovative talent pipelines. When combined with recruiter experience and hiring manager consultation, it enables more agile and data-informed decision-making.
Used well, these research capabilities strengthen the TA team’s role as an advisor, not just a delivery function.
4. Experimentation and Peer Learning
Perhaps most powerful is the rise of shared experimentation. A growing number of talent functions are creating internal “AI labs” or learning communities where teams test new workflows, explore niche sourcing challenges, and share what works (and what doesn’t). These environments are critical for building capability and trust.
A common use case emerging from these labs is forensic sourcing: using AI tools to convert vague job specs into structured search logic, sometimes across multiple geographies or languages. Over time, these experiments build institutional knowledge that scales beyond individuals.
Infrastructure Still Matters: Data and Integration Are Make-or-Break
One of the most overlooked blockers to AI impact is infrastructure. Even the best AI tools won’t deliver value if the underlying systems, ATS, CRM, and talent data, are fragmented or outdated. TA teams need to partner closely with HRIT and data governance to ensure they have a stable foundation for scale.
What Should TA Leaders Be Doing Now?
For TA leaders and CHROs, the focus should be on structured readiness, not reactive adoption. That doesn’t mean rolling out every new tool or jumping on hype trends. It means thinking strategically about where AI can support core goals like improving workflow efficiency, enhancing candidate experience, or surfacing underrepresented talent.
Here are a few actions that progressive leaders are already taking:
Define clear use cases where AI can add value, starting with sourcing, scheduling, and candidate communications.
Invest in TA professional upskilling, especially around prompt engineering, predictive analytics, and ethical reasoning.
Encourage safe experimentation through structured learning spaces, team jams, or AI hackathons.
Choose secure platforms that support responsible use and align with company risk policies.
Track outcomes like time savings, response rates, and TA professional satisfaction, not just cost reduction.
Procurement with Purpose: Avoiding the Shiny Tool Trap
With so many AI vendors flooding the market, discernment is critical. Teams should look past flashy demos and ask tougher questions:
What data is the model trained on?
Is the algorithm explainable and auditable?
How does it integrate into existing TA workflows?
Can we govern this tool in alignment with company risk policies?
The most sophisticated teams aren’t just buying tools, they’re evaluating partners.
Responsible AI: From Ethics to Governance
As AI tools evolve, so do the risks. Algorithms trained on biased data can reinforce inequity. Black-box models may produce impressive outputs without transparency. The responsibility for maintaining fairness, inclusivity, and data security still sits with humans.
TA teams should implement clear policies on responsible AI use, including:
Oversight committees involving TA, Legal, DEI, and Data Governance
Review checkpoints in the workflow for all AI-generated recommendations
Documentation of how decisions were made, especially in high-impact hiring situations
Final Thought: A More Human, More Strategic TA Function
The best TA professionals will always be those who build trust, influence hiring decisions, and spot potential others might miss. AI doesn’t replace those qualities, it amplifies them. It gives professionals back the time and insight they need to operate at a higher level.
As a partner to many organisations navigating this shift, we’re seeing that AI success doesn’t come from tools alone. It comes from mindset change, capability building, and cultural integration. There’s no one-size-fits-all playbook, but there is a clear opportunity to rethink what great recruitment looks like in the age of AI.
What does it take to completely transform Talent Acquisition across 47 countries… during a global pandemic… in just six months?
That’s exactly the story shared last week at the HRCoreLab conference in Barcelona, where Carrier and AMS took to the stage to showcase what true partnership and agility look like in action.
When Carrier spun off from its parent company in 2021, they were starting from a blank sheet. There was no global TA infrastructure. No modern tech stack. No consistent process. Just a pressing need to build a function that could scale rapidly, deliver value, and support the business in a time of global uncertainty.
Originally, the plan was to build an in-house team — until COVID hit. In a matter of weeks, the strategy had to pivot. The hiring plan was pulled. The headcount disappeared. And the CHRO gave a new brief: find a way to build a world-class TA function — without increasing cost, and fast.
That’s where AMS came in.
From complexity to clarity
The TA landscape at Carrier was, in the words of TA leader Dan Fitzpatrick, “a mess.” Fragmented agency spend. Inconsistent processes. No data. No visibility. No candidate experience to speak of. The goal was clear: simplify, standardise, harmonise — and do it all at pace.
Why AMS?
As Dan explained on stage:
“All the RPO providers can offer similar services — sourcing, delivery, tech support. But AMS stood out because they listened. They didn’t just sell a standard solution. They heard what we needed, challenged our thinking, and built something bespoke around our vision.”
It wasn’t just about ticking boxes. It was about partnership with purpose — aligning not only on processes and tools, but on mindset, culture and ambition.
The result? A global transformation at scale.
✔️ A fully integrated TA function covering 47 countries
✔️ Workday Recruiting at the core, supported by a strong tech ecosystem
✔️ 24 languages supported
✔️ Globally standardised processes with local flexibility where it matters
✔️ Less than 10% agency usage
✔️ $21.9 million in savings delivered in just three years (versus a five-year $12 million target)
✔️ And an award-winning programme recognised across the industry
And perhaps most importantly — data-driven hiring
Before the transformation, local hiring managers relied on anecdotal input and invoices from agencies. Now, Carrier has real visibility: funnel metrics, time to hire, conversion rates, market insights — all powering better, smarter talent decisions across the business.
🔄 A repeatable blueprint for success
The success of the EMEA transformation became the blueprint for further rollout across APAC and the Americas — proving that when you get the fundamentals right, global scalability is not just possible — it’s powerful.
As Dan said:
“The RPO only works if you lead it well, empowering it and enabling its success — it’s about creating one team, one mission, one standard. That’s how you win.”
Huge thanks to Dan Fitzpatrick and the team at Carrier for sharing this incredible journey so openly on stage — and for being such a fantastic partner.
This is what great TA transformation looks like:
🔹 Vision
🔹 Pace
🔹 Challenge
🔹 Collaboration
🔹 And a partner who truly listens.
If you’re thinking about how to elevate your own Talent Acquisition strategy — we’d love to talk.
Every business experiences hiring peaks – periods of rapid surge when extra work demands additional talent to deliver results. However, finding this talent quickly is becoming increasingly challenging each day.
Sourcing an additional 200 or 1,000 employees for a specific project or period can be a real challenge and takes up precious internal resources. Moreover, in a constantly evolving market, talent demands can change quickly. The ability to scale up at speed is vital, as success in business hinges on agility.
Organisations in the APAC region are beginning to reassess the traditional ways of talent sourcing and are looking to outsourcing to fill the gaps. However, outsourcing can seem like a big leap, often requiring significant commitment and investment. Many business leaders also express concerns about relinquishing control of their talent function when outsourcing.
Fortunately, that need not be the case. There is a simple, less daunting step businesses can take before committing to outsourcing: Resource Augmentation (RA).
Isn’t RA the same as RPO?
There is a common misconception that RA is the same as Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). While both provide outsourcing support from an external partner and involve resources who become fully immersed in your organization’s talent team and culture, they differ in terms of both resource management and scope.
With RPO, you have the flexibility to outsource either specific elements of your TA function that require support or the entire end-to-end recruitment process to an outsourcing partner. The extent of outsourcing depends on your specific business needs. However, regardless of the scope, an RPO partner takes on the management and accountability of the resources they provide.
With RA, you gain the specific resources needed, whether they are sourcers, recruiters, or other roles. The management of these resources remains with your own team, allowing you to retain control of the project and its direction while benefitting from the additional support. RA is typically deployed for short-term projects, focusing on specific skills and roles that are needed promptly.
Fundamentally, RA offers outsourcing with less commitment and reduced costs, while ensuring organizations can retain full control of their recruitment process.
Why should I consider RA?
Opting for a RA solution offers many benefits, which are driving more and more organizations to take their first step into outsourcing:
Expertise – Gain access to a group of talent professionals with deep knowledge of the market.
Scalability – Adapt quickly to fluctuating demands in the ever-changing market conditions while avoiding high talent attrition rates, which can negatively impact employer brand.
Control – Seamlessly integrate external talent with your existing TA function, while retaining control over the whole process.
Convenience – Require less commitment than a more holistic, multi-faceted RPO service, and is ideal for short-term needs.
Gain access to the best recruiting talent
The benefits of RA extend beyond businesses.
In today’s job market, many candidates are not merely looking for roles, they are searching for security. This can pose challenges in attracting top recruiting talent when offering short-term contracts.
That is where RA can make a difference. Most RA partner organizations provide future job opportunities for candidates when their initial contract comes to an end. This added job security enables them to attract the best people for your needs.
Resource Augmentation that goes further
While choosing RA to address your talent needs is a significant step, selecting the right partner to deliver it will truly set you on the right path.
AMS’ unmatched expertise enables us to provide resources that are tailored to your business needs. Partnering with AMS means having access to our deep knowledge bank built on decades of experience in the APAC talent market. We have worked with a wide range of organizations and industries, ensuring that we can meet your unique needs effectively.
Furthermore, our talent pool is constantly evolving.
AMS sets itself apart as a RA service provider by equipping its teams with exclusive access to our proprietary expert learning models. This innovative approach ensures that our teams are continually upskilled, enabling them to stay at the forefront of industry trends and advancements. Unlike traditional staffing organizations, AMS prioritizes ongoing learning and development, empowering our partners with the specialized skills necessary to effectively address and overcome the complex challenges of today’s dynamic business environment.
Our RA solution offers a simple, cost-effective, and convenient way to meet your short-term recruitment needs.
Take your first steps toward outsourcing today. Speak to AMS.
The conversations at Workday’s FY26 SKO in Las Vegas made one thing evident: AI is no longer just a tool for optimization—it is becoming an autonomous force reshaping the enterprise.
While artificial intelligence has been embedded in HR technology for years, the discussion has evolved. The focus is shifting from AI as a support mechanism to AI as an independent agent capable of executing tasks, making decisions, and orchestrating workflows.
At the center of this transformation is Agentic AI, a departure from traditional automation. Rather than augmenting human effort, Agentic AI fundamentally redefines roles, workflows, and decision-making structures.
The Shifting Landscape of Hiring
Talent acquisition has long been characterized by inefficiencies. Recruiters manage administrative burdens, hiring managers navigate approval bottlenecks, and candidates expect seamless, personalized experiences that many organizations struggle to deliver. AI-powered automation has addressed some of these pain points. Agentic AI introduces a different paradigm.
By deploying autonomous AI agents, organizations can move beyond task automation to true orchestration of the hiring process. These agents do not wait for human input, rather they can:
Identify what needs to be done
Make decisions based on real-time data
Execute tasks across multiple systems
Learn and adapt over time
This represents a shift from AI as a passive assistant to AI as an active agent capable of managing hiring workflows with reduced human intervention. The implications are significant. Instead of recruiters focusing on process execution, their roles can evolve to emphasize strategy, relationship-building, and candidate engagement. Hiring managers can spend less time navigating approvals and more time making informed talent decisions.
Challenges of Scaling Agentic AI
The adoption of Agentic AI presents challenges that organizations must address to ensure effective deployments.
Key considerations include:
Accountability: As AI agents take on decision-making responsibilities, defining ownership and oversight becomes critical.
Transparency: Organizations must establish mechanisms for tracking and auditing AI-driven actions to maintain compliance and trust.
Integration: Many HR technology ecosystems remain fragmented, raising questions about how AI agents will operate across disconnected systems.
EthicalConsiderations: AI-driven decision-making introduces risks related to bias, fairness, and regulatory compliance.
Governance: The spread of AI agents requires organizations to establish frameworks for monitoring their scope, actions, and impact.
Striking the right balance between innovation and control will determine the success of Agentic AI adoption.
Workday’s Vision: The Agent System of Record
A key takeaway from Workday’s SKO was its strategic commitment to an enterprise-wide AI, with the Agent System of Record at the core. This concept is designed to provide organizations with visibility, governance, and control over autonomous AI agents as they become embedded in business operations.
Just as Workday redefined how companies manage financial and workforce data, the Agent System of Record will serve as the foundation for managing, deploying, orchestrating, and measuring AI-driven agents across the enterprise.
Closing Thoughts
AI agents represent a new category of enterprise resource. Organizations must manage, track, and optimize to fully realize its value. As businesses integrate these autonomous systems, governance and strategic oversight will be essential.
Workday has positioned itself at the center of this transformation, envisioning a future where AI agents operate alongside human employees and financial systems to drive business outcomes. This shift is not just about automation—it is about fundamentally redefining how work gets done. Organizations that embrace this new model will be better equipped to navigate the evolving AI landscape and unlock new levels of efficiency, decision-making, and innovation.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of talent acquisition, digital orchestration is emerging as critical to optimize and conduct frontline hiring at scale. This approach involves meticulously designing and managing system workflows to ensure every step of the hiring process is efficient, compliant, and tailored to the needs of all end users.
Let’s explore digital orchestration in recruiting and the dedicated roles necessary to make it a reality.
Digital orchestration in recruiting refers to the integration and coordination of various digital tools and processes to create a seamless, highly personalized, efficient, and scalable hiring workflow.
Key components of digital orchestration include:
Intricate workflow design goes beyond the days of steps and statuses and focuses on detailed elements of automation. This includes push notifications, SMS based calls to action, in system prompts, dashboard refreshes, and content delivery that is tailored by role, location, and manager.
Multi-channel communication isn’t a one size fits all as we know from our day-to-day consumer lives. Directly within the workflows and experiences, enable multi-channel communication that includes SMS, WhatsApp, AI based conversational interfaces, and email across the entire lifecycle. The channel options should span candidates, managers, and recruiters and configuration should be aligned to personas and individual preferences.
Dynamic content that gets delivered based upon what we know about the individual candidate and role. Historically content development and refresh for the purposes of recruitment has been done as a project or initiative once or twice a year with ad hoc attraction campaigns. Here we are talking about leveraging both AI based experiences combined with purposefully designed videos, photos, and written snippets that may be refreshed and linked to workflow automation as often as weekly.
Deep integrations that go well beyond the years ago approach of one- and two-way feeds happening every few hours. A well-designed TA technology ecosystem leverages a real-time API based approach with digital experience roles also working with integration experts as the various system configurations evolve.
System workflows are the backbone of digital orchestration. They ensure that every action in the recruitment process is predefined and automated where possible. Digital experience experts leverage data, insights, and sentiment from lifecycle listening to refine and improve workflows continuously.
With this comes responsibility to work very closely with compliance teams on regulations to ensure fair hiring processes are maintained. When there are significant experience re-designs or changes, adverse impact analyses should also be considered.
Organizations that embrace a highly digital driven experiences typically find the need for further specialisms that include brand strategists, automation gurus, and technical consultants. The outcomes of this approach and having these capabilities include increased scalability, amazing candidate experiences, increase in manager satisfaction, decrease in time to fill, and more time available to spend in meaningful conversations with candidates and managers.
Digital orchestration is transforming the way organizations approach recruiting.
As the hiring expectations for frontline talent continues to grow, the roles dedicated to digital orchestration within TA teams will become increasingly vital in ensuring successful volume hiring.
The outcomes of this approach and having these capabilities include increased scalability, amazing candidate experiences, increase in manager satisfaction, decrease in time to fill, and more time available to spend in meaningful conversations with candidates and managers.
We all want the best person for the job. In recent years, a new acronym has emerged – MEI, which stands for Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence. Proponents of MEI argue that organizations should focus on hiring the best candidates based solely on their talent and qualifications, with a view that diversity will naturally happen as a by-product when decisions are based purely on merit.
Some see Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) as a performative exercise, with tokenistic representation as an ‘overcorrection’ to historic underrepresentation. And understandably, no underrepresented person wants to feel like the ‘diversity hire’, advancing in their career purely because of their gender, skin color, or other characteristic.
To summarize the perceived differences:
Merit-based:
Assumes we live in a meritocracy, where humans make objective, bias-free decisions; a society where people are able to progress or find success purely based on skills, ability and talent
Focuses on individual performance and achievements
Removes consideration of demographic factors
DEI-based:
Strives to make workforces representative of the communities they operate in
Works to level the playing field, recognizing that systemic barriers might prevent equally qualified individuals from certain groups from reaching the same level of opportunity
May involve strategies like targeted outreach, bias or conscious inclusion training, and creating fair selection criteria to address historical inequalities
These diverging viewpoints are at the heart of the ongoing debate that pits DEI against MEI. But arguing that DEI and MEI are in opposition creates a false dichotomy; it isn’t about choosing one over the other. It’s about recognizing that diversity and merit are not mutually exclusive—they’re mutually reinforcing.
For merit-based approaches to work, we need to live in a meritocracy. Unfortunately, without taking positive action to address systemic inequalities, we don’t.
We cannot have a meritocracy without fair opportunity, or overlook that there are structural reasons some groups are more likely to outperform others. A meritocratic system reflects the status quo, and therefore, it can perpetuate existing inequalities by continuously favoring those who already have advantages.
Diversity doesn’t simply happen; the goal of constructing a workforce based on merit requires a thoughtful approach to DEI.
Casting a wide net for talent and making objective hiring decisions that do not disadvantage candidates based on identity is exactly what DEI work seeks to do. At its heart, it’s about fairness of opportunity. True meritocracy can only be achieved when we recognize and actively work to remove the barriers that have historically excluded talented individuals from certain backgrounds.
Organizations that assume meritocracy is inherent and not something to be achieved actually run the risk of increased bias – where, for example, hiring managers do not feel they need to exert any significant effort to be fair and objective in their decision-making.
The sticking point is perhaps the ‘equity’ part, which has been the subject of considerable debate and misunderstanding. Equity is about promoting fairness based on individual needs to level the playing field, recognizing that not everyone starts from the same place.
For instance, workplace adjustments aren’t about giving disabled people an unfair advantage, but are about removing barriers that wouldn’t exist if environments, processes, and systems were designed inclusively in the first place.
Consider:
A screen reader isn’t a luxury for a blind employee; it’s essential for accessing information that others can see
Flexible working hours aren’t a privilege for working parents who can’t afford childcare
Not everyone has equal access to quality education, mentorship, or professional networks, which are often essential for developing skills and demonstrating merit
The perceived differences between DEI and merit-based approaches likely stem from how these concepts are interpreted – and in the current climate, politicized and weaponized – rather than their original intent.
Rather than tying ourselves up in knots over polarizing and divisive rhetoric, we should be focusing on what we all want: the opportunity to get a job for which we are qualified, and to progress in our careers based on good performance.
Trust, Social Proof, and the Future of Hiring
The way hiring works is changing rapidly. At the heart of this shift? Trust.
In today’s market, trust is no longer just an advantage—it is a necessity. Candidates, like consumers, rely on social proof—the psychological principle that people look to others to validate their decisions. This is why employee referrals, alumni rehires, and internal mobility are becoming the most effective hiring strategies.
The evidence supports this. Referred candidates are not only hired faster—they stay longer as well (LinkedIn Talent Trends). When someone recommends an organisation, new hires already have a level of trust in the culture and expectations.
There is also a growing boomerang effect, where former employees are returning in record numbers. Organisations are recognising that when an individual chooses to come back, it is a strong endorsement of the company’s credibility (Gartner Research). A great workplace is not just one that attracts new talent—it is one that people actively want to return to.
Industry thought leaders, including Josh Bersin, have noted this trend. The most effective hiring teams are no longer solely focused on sourcing external candidates—they are investing in high-trust networks because referrals, alumni hires, and internal mobility lead to stronger hiring outcomes at a lower cost.
What is driving this shift? Two key factors: the power of social proof and a declining trust in traditional hiring methods.
The Social Proof Effect: Why People Trust People More Than Brands
We are living in an age of influence, but not in the way social media suggests. Influence today is not just about follower counts or carefully curated employer branding campaigns—it is about authentic, human credibility.
People trust people, not brands – A referral from a trusted colleague is not just a recommendation; it is proof that an organisation is worth considering.
Referrals reduce uncertainty – Changing jobs is a major decision. When someone you respect endorses an opportunity, it immediately feels more credible.
Boomerang hires strengthen employer reputation – When former employees return, it sends a strong signal: this is an organisation worth working for. Gartner research shows that organisations investing in alumni engagement achieve higher rehire rates and stronger reputations.
AI-generated outreach lacks social proof – Candidates can easily identify when a LinkedIn message has been rinsed and repeated by a bot after receiving the same template 10 times. Without human connection, it feels impersonal and unconvincing.
And this is not just theory—organisations are seeing tangible results.
One global technology company recently overhauled its alumni hiring strategy and experienced a 40% increase in rehires over two years. Why? Because trust was already established. These former employees were not taking a risk—they had direct experience with the culture, leadership, and business operations. That trust led to faster onboarding, higher engagement, and a stronger commitment to success.
This is the power of social proof—it builds trust, accelerates hiring, and improves retention.
Why Offboarding and Redeployment Are Essential to a Strong Talent Ecosystem
However, alumni networks and boomerang hiring only succeed if organisations handle offboarding and redeployment effectively.
Poor offboarding damages brand loyalty – If an employee has a negative departure experience, they are unlikely to refer others or return. Research from Workday shows that organisations with structured, positive offboarding programmes are twice as likely to rehire former employees.
Negative offboarding experiences harm employer brand – A poorly managed exit process often results in negative Glassdoor reviews and reputational damage, which discourages future referrals.
Redeployment prevents unnecessary talent loss – Organisations that actively support employees in transitioning to new internal roles rather than defaulting to redundancies retain institutional knowledge and sustain trust.
Best and Worst Practices in Offboarding
Some organisations treat offboarding as a transaction rather than an opportunity. Impersonal redundancies, delivered through mass emails or pre-recorded video messages, with no transition support or career assistance, leave departing employees feeling undervalued. This approach damages trust, erodes employer reputation, and often leads top talent to join competitors instead of returning later.
In contrast, leading organisations take a long-term view of offboarding. Rather than severing ties completely, they provide structured alumni programmes, networking events, and even career coaching for departing employees, ensuring that relationships remain strong. Organisations that adopt well-managed exit strategies experience higher alumni engagement, stronger employer branding, and an increase in boomerang hires.
Organisations investing in structured offboarding and alumni engagement see up to a 20% increase in rehires (Harvard Business Review).
Redeployment strategies that prioritise internal mobility reduce turnover by 41% and strengthen employee trust (LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report).
The Pitfalls of High-Trust Networks: The Risk of Reinforcing Bias
While referrals and alumni hiring can be highly effective, there is an important risk to address: they can reduce diversity and reinforce bias if not actively managed.
The “Like-Me” Effect – Research shows that employees tend to refer individuals who share similar backgrounds, education, and demographics (Harvard Business Review). If organisations are not intentional, referral programmes can result in homogeneous talent pools.
Alumni Networks Reflect Past Hiring Gaps – If an organisation’s workforce lacked diversity in previous years, its alumni pool will mirror those representation gaps. Over-reliance on alumni hiring can reinforce historical imbalances.
Over-Reliance on Known Talent Can Limit Innovation – While trust is crucial, excessive dependence on referrals and alumni hires can reduce fresh perspectives and new ideas.
AI Bias in Referral Matching – If AI-driven talent recommendations are not designed with diversity safeguards, they can replicate existing hiring patterns rather than broaden talent pools (Gartner).
How to Mitigate These Risks
Forward-thinking organisations are already implementing solutions to ensure high-trust hiring networks remain inclusive and diverse:
Diversifying Referral Incentives – Some organisations now offer increased referral bonuses for underrepresented candidates, ensuring that referrals contribute to a broader talent pool (LinkedIn Hiring Trends).
Expanding Alumni Networks Beyond Full-Time Employees – Progressive organisations include former interns, contractors, and contingent workers in alumni networks, widening the scope of potential rehires.
Balancing Referrals with Inclusive Hiring Strategies – Industry leaders have embedded structured diversity hiring initiatives alongside referral programmes to create more balanced sourcing strategies.
The Bottom Line: The Social Proof Revolution Is Here
Hiring in 2025 will not be about volume-based recruiting or relying solely on AI-generated outreach. The most successful organisations will strike the right balance—using technology to enhance trust-driven hiring, not replace human relationships.
The future belongs to companies that integrate AI intelligently—leveraging automation for efficiency, predictive analytics for smarter decision-making, and digital platforms to scale high-trust networks—while ensuring that human engagement remains at the centre of hiring.
Some organisations are already ahead of the curve. They are moving beyond transactional recruitment models and instead building dynamic, trust-based talent ecosystems where AI supports, rather than substitutes, authentic human connections. These companies are strengthening employee advocacy, deepening alumni engagement, and expanding high-trust hiring channels to secure the best talent.
The real question is: Will your organisation use technology to reinforce trust—or allow automation to dilute it?
In the future of hiring, social proof will be the strongest currency—trust built through referrals, alumni networks, and human connections will outperform cold outreach and AI-driven automation on its own
By John Callaghan — Employer Brand Strategist, AMS Employer Brand Advisory
Employee advocacy has been around for longer than you might think—long before social media was even a glimmer in anyone’s eye. Imagine the early days when employees chatted to friends, cousins, and the occasional barista about how cool their company was.
Fast forward a bit, and we had companies recognising this as untapped gold. Employees bring out that word-of-mouth magic, pulling followers in with a dose of authenticity. In a recent report Clearview stated employee posts can get up to 8x more engagement than regular company posts.
Today, employer brand advocacy has split into two major, slightly confusing paths: brand ambassadorships and employee advocacy. Both sound similar—after all, both involve employees waving the company flag—but they’re actually quite different.
The Dynamic Duo: Brand Ambassadorships & Employee Advocacy
Brand ambassadorships are about selecting a few charismatic employees to represent the brand as official champions. They’re the face of the company and can be used in a number of ways such as across social media, speaking gigs, and campaigns. Ambassadors are often trained to deliver polished content that aligns with the company’s message.
This doesn’t mean you only choose employees who look like they belong on the front cover of Vogue or Men’s Health. Authenticity matters, but ambassadorship is more of a formal relationship between company and employee and they can actively play a role in both marketing and HR strategies.
Employee advocacy, is a broader, more democratic approach. Every employee can participate by sharing company news and stories on their personal social media profiles. The content is less scripted, more authentic, and relies on personal connections to create trust. Think of it as indie filmmaking versus Hollywood blockbusters.
Employee advocates can reach their own networks with more personal posts, creating that “friend-of-a-friend” trust.
Brand Ambassadors vs. Employee Advocacy: The Choice
So how do you choose between these two? Or do you need both? Good question. Here’s a couple of things to consider:
1) Budget: Employee advocacy is budget-friendly. It’s driven by employees sharing authentic content with minimal investment. Ambassadorships require more resources, like training, content creation, and often paid media to go with it.
2) Control: Want polished, on-brand messaging? Brand ambassadors are your stars. This doesn’t mean your ambassadors are pushed through hair and make-up for every social post. They need to remain authentic but the content can be highly directed behind the scenes. Employee advocacy is more informal and the output is often harder to control. They will need tighter restrictions and not just be let loose on social media with nothing more than a permissions slip and the company’s logo.
3) Audience Reach: Employee advocacy can reach an extensive network with more voices, but it’s typically organic reach so all depends on the number of engaged employees you actually have. Brand ambassadors offer depth and consistency, and are often accompanied with a paid media campaign, allowing them to strategically reach markets and locations organic activity can’t get to.
For a balanced approach, organisations often find a combination works best: a few star players backed by an enthusiastic cast.
What can it look like in practice?
IBM’s “IBM Voices” program empowered employees to share their stories, resulting in increased job applications and social engagement. Adobe’s advocacy program created genuine brand love among employees and applicants. At AMS, we helped MSD build a creative brand ambassadorship program called “MSD’s Got Talent,” which found engaged employees who became powerful brand ambassadors, reaching millions across EMEA.
In Conclusion: Pick Your Players
No matter which route you choose, using your employees to promote your brand adds credibility, authenticity, and a touch of that “genuine” touch we all look for. It’s about showing potential hires that your company is more than just a logo—it’s a place where real, engaged people work. And that might just be your best recruiting asset.
Not sure where to start? Speak to the experts. We all know what makes a good movie, but actually making a good movie is something entirely different and easy to get wrong. If you want to know more, then speak to the Employer Brand Advisory team at AMS.
Think about the last time you applied for a job. What stood out? Was it the polished Job description or the company’s website company’s, or was it the follow-up email that felt genuine, the recruiter who made a well-researched outreach message, or the thoughtful feedback after an interview?
For most of us, it’s the little things—those small, thoughtful interactions—that stick in our memory. These micro-moments define how candidates feel about a company, whether they’re hired or not.
What Are Micro-Moments in the Candidate Experience?
Coined initially in the context of consumer behaviour by Google, micro-moments are the brief, highly focused interactions where decisions are made or impressions are formed. In talent Acquisition, these micro-moments are those seemingly minor but highly meaningful actions that show candidates they’re valued.
They don’t require flashy campaigns or big budgets, but they do require intention and care. And in a world where so much communication feels generic, these moments can make all the difference.
A recruiter taking a minute to send a personalized follow-up after an interview.
Keeping candidates in the loop with timely updates instead of making them wonder.
Sending a proactive, personalized video message using tools like Hintro or Odro —a refreshing human touch in an age of mass AI-generated outreach.
Or even providing a thoughtful, constructive rejection that doesn’t just close the door but leaves it ajar for future opportunities via a Talent Community .
These moments, while brief, can shift a candidate’s perception from “just another applicant” to “someone this company values.”
Why Micro-Moments Matter
People remember how you make them feel. And for candidates, the hiring process can be a nerve-wracking experience. Micro-moments are powerful because they tap into emotional connections—a crucial driver of trust. According to Josh Bersin, trust is the cornerstone of any great employee or candidate experience. When candidates feel valued and respected at every step, they’re more likely to trust the organization, even if they don’t land the role.
Research backs this up. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends, 63% of candidates say their experience during the hiring process reflects how a company treats its people (source). And trust me, candidates are paying attention. Every interaction—or lack of one—contributes to the impression they’ll share with their networks or on review sites like Glassdoor.
Even more telling: a survey by CareerArc found that 72% of candidates who had a poor experience shared it online or with friends (source). Think about that ripple effect. A little effort to personalize your process goes a long way in avoiding a wave of negative feedback.
How to Make Micro-Moments Meaningful
Be Proactive with Updates Nobody likes to feel forgotten. A quick message like, “We’re still reviewing applications, and I’ll be in touch by Friday,” can turn silence into reassurance. Setting expectations is an act of respect—and it costs nothing.
Use Personalization to Stand Out Imagine receiving a short video from a recruiter, tailored just for you. They mention your skills or highlight why your background caught their eye. Personalized video outreach not only grabs attention but also feels authentic in a world filled with Mass produced AI generated emails.
Show Empathy Rejection is hard, but it doesn’t have to be cold. Providing feedback—even a brief summary—shows you recognize the effort candidates put into the process. It’s a simple gesture that can build goodwill.
Balance Technology with Humanity Automated tools are great for efficiency, but they’re no substitute for the human touch. Use AI chatbots and automated emails wisely ideally at the top of the funnel, ensuring they enhance—not replace—genuine connection. The more effort the candidate has gone to in the process the more important it is for the organisation to return the favour in closing the loop. For further information on this topic there are two fantastic deeper reads from my colleagues Craig Hunter and Ellen Cobb
Celebrate the Candidate’s Effort A little gratitude goes a long way. Thanking someone for their time and highlighting something specific they did during the process can turn even a rejection into a positive interaction.
The Bigger Picture
According to the latest Greenhouse 2024 State of Job Hunting report—a survey of 2,500 workers across the US, UK, and Germany—nearly half of US workers are actively job hunting. Yet, 79% of them admit to feeling heightened anxiety in today’s job market. One statistic in the report stood out as particularly troubling: 61% of job seekers reported being ghosted after a job interview, a figure that has risen by 9% since April 2024 (source).
Think about what this means in practice. These are individuals who’ve already cleared the initial hurdles of a crowded hiring process. They’ve dedicated time—often taking PTO, traveling, and showing up in person—to attend an interview. For many, it’s not just about answering questions; it’s about investing emotional energy and hope. The absolute minimum they should expect in return is closure, even if the news isn’t favourable.
Creating these moments isn’t about perfection; it’s about showing you care. Candidates understand that hiring is a busy, complicated process. They don’t expect constant communication or endless hand-holding. But they do expect respect and acknowledgment.
And as we have discussed earlier, candidates talk. The candidate who didn’t get the job today might refer their friend tomorrow because they were treated well. Or they might blast their bad experience to their network, or share the experience on growing sub Reddit’s like r/recruitinghell damaging your reputation. It’s in these small, seemingly insignificant moments that reputations are built or broken.
What’s Next?
If you want to stand out in a competitive hiring landscape, don’t just focus on the big stuff. Start small. Think about the touchpoints in your hiring process where you can inject a bit more thoughtfulness. A personalized note, a timely update, or even a short video message can be the difference between a candidate feeling like a number and feeling like they matter.
So, next time you interact with a candidate, ask yourself: What small moment of care can I create today?
Imagine walking into a packed bookstore. Instead of wandering the aisles, you’re handed a book personally recommended by someone who knows exactly what you like, no browsing, no guesswork.
That’s what a best in class referral strategy does for hiring. It eliminates the endless search, delivering candidates pre-vetted by people who understand your company’s culture and needs.
Just like that perfect book recommendation, referrals bring you talent that fits right from the start, speeding up the process and ensuring a better outcome. In a sea of options, referrals guide you straight to the best choice.
In 2023, employee referral programs emerged as the second most effective hiring method, reflecting a growing trend where companies leverage the networks of their current workforce to identify top talent (Source) .
Referred candidates not only have a 4x higher conversion rate compared to those sourced through traditional channels (Source), but they also tend to perform better, stay longer, and have more positive job attitudes. However, to truly unlock the potential of referrals, companies need to go beyond offering basic bonuses.
Instead, they must build a best in class Referral strategy, empowering employees as brand ambassadors who proactively promote the organization and its job openings.
This article explores how companies can cultivate a culture of advocacy, turn employees into active participants in talent acquisition, and leverage technology and creative incentives to optimize their referral programs.
Additionally, we will address potential pitfalls, such as the impact of referrals on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and how companies can mitigate these challenges while scaling their referral programs.
Creating a Culture of Advocacy: Employees as Brand Ambassadors
A successful referral strategy hinges on employees who are engaged and motivated to refer candidates that align with the company’s mission, values, and talent needs. When employees feel proud of their workplace, they become natural advocates, eager to share job opportunities with their personal and professional networks. Below are the essentials to consider when building a best in class referral policy
1. Transparent Communication
Best Practice: Clearly define program roles, processes, and expectations for all employees.
Action Steps:
Set clear guidelines on how they can earn incentives. Host workshops for improved engagement levels
Communicate timelines for evaluation and when rewards will be distributed.
Explain how the referral system works, including bonus structures, timelines, and expectations around candidate matching.
Use multiple channels to ensure all employees are aware of how to refer candidates and what success looks like in the program.
Outcome: Enhanced clarity and reduced confusion among employees, resulting in greater engagement and higher-quality referrals.
2. Incentives Aligned with Business Goals
Best Practice: Design incentives that match organizational priorities.
Action Steps:
Implement “Surge Campaigns” offering higher rewards for hard-to-fill or high-priority roles.
Incorporate both monetary and non-monetary rewards (e.g., gift cards, iPads, or charitable donations) to engage a broad range of employees.
Outcome: Higher engagement and focus on critical roles that need filling, ensuring company goals are met more efficiently.
3. Leverage Technology to Improve Referrals
Best Practice: Utilize advanced technology to streamline the referral process and boost effectiveness.
Action Steps:
Use referral platforms (Like Boon, Eqo or Avature Referrals) integrated with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) for easy submission, tracking, and reward distribution.
Ensure mobile accessibility so employees can refer candidates from anywhere.
Drive automation to ensure seamless payment
Outcome: Increased employee participation due to simplified processes and better candidate matches through technology.
4. Enablement: Educating Employees on Referrals
Best Practice: Empower employees by providing the tools and knowledge needed to refer top candidates.
Action Steps:
Regularly train employees on the company’s talent needs, including skills, experience, and cultural fit.
Provide pre-written content and clear instructions for sharing job openings on social media, boosting outreach.
Foster internal discussions that clarify who the company is looking for and how employees can help.
Outcome: Better-informed employees make more targeted and effective referrals, leading to a higher quality talent pipeline.
5. Candidate Experience: Fast-Track Referrals
Best Practice: Prioritize a smooth and efficient candidate experience for referred candidates.
Action Steps:
Create a dedicated referral processing path to prioritize referred candidates without sacrificing hiring standards.
Provide timely, transparent communication with referred candidates, ensuring they feel valued.
Expedite interviews and feedback loops for referred candidates to keep them engaged.
Outcome: A high-quality candidate experience encourages more referrals and builds a positive company reputation among potential hires.
6. Metrics: Measure What Matters
Best Practice: Regularly track and analyse key performance indicators (KPIs) to refine the referral program.
Action Steps:
Track metrics like referral-to-hire ratio, time-to-fill positions, and quality of hire.
Collect feedback from both referrers and referred candidates to understand and improve the process.
Monitor employee engagement and adjust rewards or processes to optimize performance.
Outcome: A data-driven approach ensures continuous improvement in referral effectiveness and alignment with business needs.
7. Promotion: Market the Referral Program Internally
Best Practice: Create ongoing buzz and excitement around the referral program.
Action Steps:
Regularly promote the program through emails, contests, and physical updates.
Engage leadership to actively participate and set examples by referring candidates or promoting the program in town halls.
Refresh rewards and communication to keep employees motivated and aware of the opportunities available through the referral program.
Outcome: Maintaining top-of-mind awareness leads to sustained participation and excitement around referral opportunities.
8. DEI&B: Promote Diverse Referrals
Best Practice: Leverage the referral program to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) goals.
Action Steps:
Actively engaging ERG’s within your organisation to help drive referral activities
Implement DEI-focused KPIs to ensure the referral program aligns with diversity hiring objectives.
Recognize and reward employees who contribute to diverse hiring by acknowledging their efforts in driving inclusivity.
Outcome: The referral program supports broader DEI&B initiatives, fostering an inclusive hiring process and a diverse workforce.
9. Rewards: Timely and Transparent Distribution
Best Practice: Ensure rewards are timely, clear, and engaging for referrers.
Action Steps:
Distribute rewards promptly after key milestones (e.g., onboarding of referred candidate).
Offer updates throughout the process, keeping referrers engaged from application to reward.
Avoid making referrers responsible for candidate retention, keeping focus on their role in talent acquisition.
Outcome: A transparent reward process increases trust and encourages repeat referrals.
10. Positive Referral Behaviour: Building Good Habits
Best Practice: Encourage a culture of continuous participation in the referral process.
Action Steps:
Reward employees for submitting qualified referrals, not just successful hires, to maintain steady program engagement.
Personalize rewards, offering options like charitable donations or mentorship opportunities to appeal to diverse motivators.
Foster a culture where referrals are seen as a valued contribution to the company’s success, not just an optional task.
Outcome: Employees develop the habit of regularly referring candidates, contributing to a strong, consistent talent pipeline.
The Compounding Value of Referrals
One of the most powerful aspects of referral programs is how they compound over time. Research shows that almost two-thirds of referred employees eventually refer at least one person to their company . This creates a virtuous cycle where referrals continuously feed into the hiring pipeline, progressively improving over time. (Source)
Furthermore, referred employees tend to stay longer than those hired through other channels, with over 45% of referred employees remaining with an organization for more than two years compared to only 25% of those hired through job boards. This longevity not only reduces turnover costs but also builds stronger, more cohesive teams. (Source)
Challenges: Potential Impacts on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
While referral programs offer many advantages, they can unintentionally hinder diversity efforts if not carefully designed. Individuals can tend to associate with others who share similar backgrounds, which can limit the diversity of the referral pool . As a result, referral programs may disproportionately favour certain demographic groups, potentially reinforcing homogeneity within the workforce . (Source)
To address this challenge, companies like Intel have pioneered innovative approaches that align referral programs with DEI goals. Intel offers higher bonuses for referrals from underrepresented groups, thus actively encouraging employees to expand their networks and support diversity initiatives.
Case Studies: Leading Referral-First Strategies
Several companies have successfully adopted referral-first strategies that both scale and support broader business objectives:
Google has built a highly automated referral platform with lucrative bonuses (starting at $4,000), which makes the referral process easy for employees while ensuring high participation rates. (Source)
Salesforce not only gamifies its referral program but also integrates it with the company’s mission, connecting referrals to the broader purpose of building a better company. (Source)
InMobi, for example, runs a referral program with personalized prizes such as Apple products or Harley Davidson bikes . This approach makes the process fun and rewarding, keeping employees engaged throughout the year. (Source)
Accenture combines both monetary and opportunity to donate some of your bonus to a charity of your choice. Accenture will in turn match that donation adding a further feel good factor into driving referrals (Source)
Airbnb’s referral program offers a blend of financial and experiential rewards. Employees who refer successful candidates can receive bonuses between $2,000 and $5,000 in addition to Airbnb travel credits, which can be redeemed for stays on the platform. This approach combines traditional financial incentives with travel perks, creating a more personalized and engaging experience for employees. (Source)
Conclusion: Building a Sustainable Referral-First Strategy
A best in class Referral recruiting strategy has the potential to transform a company’s talent acquisition efforts, turning employees into active recruiters who continually feed high-quality candidates into the hiring pipeline. By investing in user-friendly platforms, offering creative and mission-aligned incentives, and ensuring that referral programs are designed with diversity in mind, companies can unlock the full potential of their workforce’s networks.
As employee referral programs continue to gain traction, companies must evolve their strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and inclusivity. By studying successful programs from companies like Google, Salesforce, and Intel, businesses can create referral-first strategies that not only meet hiring targets but also strengthen the organizational culture and values over time.
