0:00:01 – Announcer

You are listening to the National University Podcast.

0:00:09 – Kimberly King

Hello, I’m Kimberly King. Welcome to the National University Podcast, where we offer a holistic approach to student support, well-being and success the whole human education. We put passion into practice by offering accessible, achievable higher education to lifelong learners. Today we are talking about how AI is impacting human resources and such a fascinating conversation coming up, but according to a recent article in Forbes magazine, AI is seeing significant changes, using help with hiring and recruitment, especially for organizations that have constant jobs to fill, such as warehouses and logistics or seasonal jobs.

But even beyond these industries, AI is now a core part of many firms’ recruiting and hiring processes. AI is automating and streamlining many of the necessary HR processes, such as screening resumes, matching candidates with job openings and even conducting initial interviews. Stay tuned for today’s conversation.

On today’s episode, we’re talking about how AI is impacting human resources, and joining us is Dr. Chris Agada. Dr. Agada is an executive career coach, educator and talent strategist specializing in helping seasoned professionals navigate career transitions and secure leadership roles. As the academic program director and associate professor for the PhD in human resource management program at National University, he also leads the business specialization area of industrial-organizational psychology.

With a background in HR leadership, executive coaching and higher education, Dr. Agada has guided countless professionals in crafting compelling career narratives, mastering interviews and positioning themselves as top candidates in competitive industries. His industry experience includes HR leadership and consulting roles with major organizations such as GE, HSBC banking Corp, LinkedIn, and others. Beyond career coaching, he is an advocate for ethical hiring, workforce strategy and leadership growth. His expertise in talent acquisition, organizational design, and employee retention makes him a much sought-after speaker on topics related to career development, HR strategy, and leadership effectiveness. Wow, that is impressive. Thank you so much for joining us today. How are you?

0:02:42 – Doctor Chris Agada

I’m doing well. I’m very excited to be here with you.

0:02:45 – Kimberly King

Excellent. Well, this is such a relevant and very timely. I know there’s a lot of layoffs happening and you know it’s just good practice, good knowledge, to have you on here, so why don’t you fill our audience a little bit on your mission and your work before we get to today’s topic?

0:03:02 – Doctor Chris Agada

Absolutely no, I really appreciate it. And you know, I think the biggest thing in terms of why I do what I do is that you know so many people are in opportunities that they’re not very happy with, or maybe they are happy in their role but, as you can see in our current environment, you know they maybe find themselves now looking for their next opportunity.

They don’t know how to do so, and so, you know, this is where we kind of come in and we help navigate that senior professional, that executive to do that, because sometimes we have some folks who come to us and they’re like oh, I haven’t had to look for a job in the last, you know, 15, 20 years. I’ve been putting my head down and just excelling in my role and now I find myself looking for my next opportunity. I understand that, you know.

I remember years and years ago. You know my, even my own parents. You know seeing that with them and that happening and us, you know, dealing with some hardships because of that. And so now, now that I’m a lot older now and I’m able to help others in this space, and I thought you know what, let’s see how we can help people here, and it’s been a joy to be able to do that, so that’s why I do what I do.

0:04:08 – Kimberly King

I love that. I can hear your passion and you have real life experience with that, and you know I see diversity comes in all different. You know shapes, sizes, forms, colors, but also age too, and so the fact that you mentioned your parents in that, I love that. I think that’s wonderful and you’re right where you need to be in helping others. Today, we’re talking about how AI is impacting human resources and so, doctor, how is AI transforming the HR landscape, and then what are the biggest opportunities that it presents for HR leaders?

0:04:43 – Doctor Chris Agada

So AI is really touching so many different facets of not only just, of course, business, but, of course, specific tasks within business or realms within business. And, of course, as you mentioned, human resources. And one of the spaces or one of the places where AI is impacting HR is around repetitive tasks. So some of your automated tasks or things that used to be more repetitive and we’ll probably get into some more of this a little bit later but, for example, say, in the talent space, in terms of processing candidates and things of that nature, AI can be very helpful with the help of chatbots and other things and tools that can help with that.

Also, where AI is very impactful within HR is around data-driven decision-making, especially around, for example, succession planning. So, of course, AI the data that’s being fed to AI could be used to help make some of those decisions. So, looking you know out, the next five, 10 years on, who’s going to be the next leader for, for, let’s say, a business unit or even the entire organization?

So there’s just so many different aspects of in terms of where AI is being implemented as we speak, and it just continues to grow, and one of the things some people I guess a lot of people realize too. If you think about it right now, AI is the worst that it’s ever going to be right now, because it goes off of what we call machine learning, so it’s learning on itself. It’s getting better and better, and better and better, and at a fast rate, so it’s just fascinating. There’s so many things we could talk about there, but that’s kind of just a real high level in terms of how AI is transforming HR.

0:06:28 – Kimberly King

I think, and what you mean is that because we’re feeding it all of this information, because it’s still so new, so it’s catching up and it’s learning as we are feeding it. Is that kind of what you mean?

0:06:39 – Doctor Chris Agada

Yeah, yeah, that’s part of it. That’s part of it, right. So, now that we are able to analyze vast data sets and, of course, with AI, you know, being implemented in that, and there’s different types of AI, right. So we have learning language models, we have different analysis models, we have so many different models around AI and, of course, all of it’s being used inside of the business landscape and also within HR, and HR is very open to adopting it.

But I think also, you know, a common maybe fear or misconception there is that, you know, are we going to be losing the human element? Because it’s called human resources, not AI resources, so are we missing that? And so those are just some things there. But, yeah, you’re absolutely right, you know you have, you know, large data sets now that we’re working with and that can be, you know, quickly analyzed. And this is why we look at the whole thing around the hardware piece of AI, with the chips and all those things, and having these very strong chips like NVIDIA and some of those other chips that are very, very powerful to help process all of that data very quickly are very, very powerful to help process all of that data very quickly.

0:07:51 – Kimberly King

Wow, well, again, we’re so relevant right now with this. What are some of the biggest misconceptions about AI HR? And then how can organizations navigate through these challenges?

0:07:58 – Doctor Chris Agada

One of the biggest misconceptions with AI within HR is that AI is going to replace HR professionals, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Just like you see, with the advent of any type of new technology, there was always some type of scare- that something was not going to work or people were going to be replaced. We had the Y2K thing going on back in the day. For those of you who I may be dating some, but every time it only made things better because, yes, it will replace some jobs, so maybe some of your very low level task type of roles, where AI can literally do a very good job and you just have a tool, an app for it, and it can literally, you know, take care of those things where maybe someone or a coordinator may have done it in the past, and so AI can be a very cheap solution to that. So, yes, that could possibly be there, but also it’s going to create some new roles. It’s going to allow, you know, human resources to become even more strategic.

So, for example, with HR, in the past it used to be a very administrative type of role, but then you know, because you know, for some of you probably remember working in corporate you had people who, for example, if you needed to get you know your benefits changed or something like that you go to the HR department to go talk to them physically and they go into their file cabinet and they pull out their information and they work through it.

But now, with technology and all of these new software systems, like you know, you’ve got like Workday, you’ve got other things that are out there- Oracle, and all those things- that they have allowed HR to basically become more efficient and more strategic in their dealings with employees in their workforce. But now AI just takes that to another level. So now you have a lot of these systems that are also AI infused, and so it just takes it to a whole other level where now HR can continue to be even more strategic in their workings and dealings with their workforce, from that executive level all the way down to the front line. So yeah, those are just some of the misconceptions that AI is going to be something that’s going to replace-

Another thing, too, is that basically- another misconception is that AI is perfect in its analysis, but AI is only good as the data that it’s fed, and so that’s the thing that we have to make sure that you know the data that’s being fed, that it’s accurate, it’s as close as you need it to be to make the right decisions, but also how that data is being fed, because then there’s privacy concerns around that. Where are we getting this data and how, and how is it being used? And being very transparent with your workforce on how that data is being used. So yeah, so there’s a whole lot, we can go into so much, but that’s- That’s one of the one of the two top misconceptions that I’ve run into in some of my talks.

0:11:00 – Kimberly King

And you did bring up the Y2K, and it’s true, I think, when we transition from typewriters to computers too, like everything that we’ve done, you know, it’s just, it is the wild, wild west right now. So it’s fascinating to be on this side of it and see all of these changes. How can AI be leveraged, then, to enhance talent acquisition and then improve hiring decisions?

0:11:22 – Doctor Chris Agada

So I’ll kind of give a couple of examples. So one of them is to basically screen resumes at scale, for example. So today, in today’s job market, it’s not uncommon and I think those of you who are listening you probably have seen it where, let’s say, for example, you’re currently on the job search right now and you’re looking for a job, you go and apply for a role. Let’s say you jump on a LinkedIn or Indeed or particular LinkedIn. You jump on there, you apply for a role and then within half an hour, an hour, you already see 200 applicants.

Now, one of the things that you know you’re finding there is a huge influx of talent that’s inside of the marketplace, both employed and unemployed, looking for work for a whole host of different reasons. But, with that being said, you have now a lot of companies and this is what I’m hearing just on the front lines where they’re inundated with many, many resumes. But AI has been very helpful in terms of sifting through those resumes very quickly, even though a lot of these applicant tracking systems, which is a database that a company would use to basically track or receive applicants and applicant resumes, and then track them and continue to kind of stay in touch with those candidates.

So now these applicant tracking systems are also AI infused and so basically, they can help give some recommendations on who should be considered to, in terms of who to talk to and all of that, and give some really solid recommendations just based on the data that’s being fed and the criteria that the organization is looking for. And it can be customized, and so, you know, that type of tool also helps that organization to really sift through, let’s say, five or six hundred resumes in one, in one job requisition, very, very quickly and then help them get through the hiring process fast. And so that’s one way.

Another way is through chatbots, and I actually have real life experience with this one. So when I was the executive talent acquisition principal for GE Healthcare – This was prior to the whole AI craze. This was back in 2016, I remember, and I was tasked with the opportunity to explore certain AI chatbots, and so AI has been around for a while, but it’s not as prolific as it is now. It’s been around for a while, but at that time I remember, in the recruitment space, it was somewhat experiential and so people were kind of experimenting with it here and there. So there was a tool and it’s not around anymore. I think another company bought it out and now made it into something bigger.

But this tool the name of the tool is called Mia and the way that they spelled it was M spelled it was M-AI and it stood for mobile AI. And the way that it worked was that when a position was posted um, you would have um, uh, and this was mainly for more of a high value role. So these were positions that were maybe like field engineers and things like that, where you would get a huge influx of candidates in one requisition. You can see 500 to 1,000 resumes at one setting. So basically the way that it worked was that we would connect this Mia tool or application to our applicant tracking system, when a person actually applied for a role.

Basically it would scan their resume very, very quickly. If they are a fit based on our criteria, it would actively reach out to them via text. This is why it’s called mobile AI, Mia, the way that they said it, and basically it would tell them hey, we saw your resume, we’re very interested, we would love to speak with you and then we’ll kind of have a dialogue with them and tell them hey, what are you looking for? The person will respond back and it seems like they’re having a dynamic, real dialogue and at the end it basically asked them to schedule a call with them. And of course, this MIA tool will basically schedule that actual interview.

And then we will go on into the next step and use another AI-infused tool to interview that candidate. So it’d be like a one-sided interview and we would use a tool called HireView and so then they would go through, they would do their interview and then, basically, after that interview happened or when that interview is happening, they would also use AI to basically, you know, look at, you know facial inflections and voice inflections and all those different things, and they will use different data points to say, okay, this is, this is a candidate you want to talk to, or maybe not, and give some recommendations.

So, after they’ve gone through a period of talking to, let’s say, five or six candidates, they’ll make the recommendation of two or three and then that’s when it’s handed off to an actual recruiter and they will look at all of the history of what’s happened with that candidate and then move and proceed with further conversations. And so, if you think about it, all those tasks kind of the front end tasks that a recruiter typically would have done in the past, is already kind of taken care of. And so basically we’re just getting to the point where we’re having more of a dialogue with this candidate on, you know, their interests and the role, and then we move them through the whole the regular interviewing process. So those are just some examples from a talent acquisition perspective.

0:16:18 – Kimberly King

And I mean just listening to you can this work in the hands of the applicant? For you know, on the other side, for using AI to help with the resume when you see the job description and looking for those keywords, is that kind of a trick of the trade to get in there I guess?

0:16:32 – Doctor Chris Agada

Yeah Kim, you’re are spot on, your spot on, so absolutely. There are a lot of tools are out there that are also AI-infused to help candidates, job seekers, look for roles. And so, like I was mentioning earlier, it’s not uncommon to jump on a website, look for a role and then apply for it and then within, let’s say, the role’s only been posted for an hour but already has, let’s say, 500 applicants or 1,000 applicants. You’re like how does that happen? That many people couldn’t have done that? Well, there’s, there’s a lot of things involved.

I mean, now that we have, you know, different, you know types of technologies that are being used, such as, like you know, job alerts and things like that, so people are quickly alerted to to opportunities they apply. But also there are companies out there that will help job candidates look for a role. So you pay a subscription, let’s say it’s like a subscription model. You pay something like $50, $60 a month or something like that, and then it will literally search the web for you in terms of opportunities based on the criteria that you feed it, and, of course, you give it job alerts and all those different things, and then it will go ahead and apply on your behalf. And so this is why you see a lot of these things, and AI is doing all of this stuff in the background.

So you do find a lot of people also looking for roles even though they haven’t actually applied for it. So some of the common things I’m actually even hearing from employers is that you’ve got a lot of people, we’ve got a lot of- We have no shortage of applicants, but some of these applicants are not necessarily maybe the best fit, because some of these algorithms are not. I mean, some of these companies when they do these things, they start started off very quickly and their algorithms are not really really meshing with what maybe an organization is actually looking for. And then you’ve got these, these positions where you have a lot of people who may not necessarily be a fit, but then on the back end, the companies are using AI to sift through these candidates. So I call it the battle of the bots, right? So, on both ends. Right, the battle of the bots on both ends. Yeah, they’re both at it.

0:18:35 – Kimberly King

One is outsmarting the other, I guess, right.

0:18:38 – Doctor Chris Agada

Exactly, exactly.

0:18:40 – Kimberly King

What ethical concerns should HR professionals keep in mind when implementing AI-driven HR tools?

0:18:48 – Doctor Chris Agada

Yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest pieces around data and how data is being managed, um, how it’s being acquired, how it’s being used, um, because that’s how AI runs, I mean that is so data is literally the, the fuel to AI. I mean data, I mean that’s what you need. You need the data for it to be able to do what it needs to do, uh, to get the outcomes that you need, and so, uh and so meaning, meaning you need to acquire that data from somewhere.

And typically, especially when it comes to, let’s say, HR and your workforce, you’re basically acquiring it from your workforce, and so I think the biggest thing is around how the data is being managed, how it’s being acquired, how it’s being used, and then communicating that to your workforce so that they are clear on how data is being retrieved, how it’s being used, and they’re comfortable with that. Because, especially here in the United States, you know we value our privacy, we value our data, we value the things that we do, even at work, even at work, and so I guess another bigger concern would be okay. Well, if data is being retrieved from me, you know, is there more scrutiny in terms of my work and am I being scrutinized a little bit more, and I guess that’s more of a cultural question, in terms of, hey it’s not necessarily about scrutinizing your work. It’s more or less basically collecting data so that you know we can get to the outcomes that we need using AI. And so, again, it’s just more about communication to that workforce and ensuring that their concerns are appeased on how that data is being managed.

0:20:29 – Kimberly King

Yeah, yeah, well, again, you’re at the front end of all of this, seeing this and even working through what could potentially be an ethical concern on this, but I feel like you’re on the forefront, seeing it live in real time. How do you see AI influencing employee engagement, retention, and career development in the future?

0:20:54 – Doctor Chris Agada

So some of the things that I am actually seeing were there are some companies who are experimenting with this, but basically utilizing AI to develop talent internally. And what I mean by that is, for example, let’s say, someone gets hired by a new company, and that new company has some type of internal portal, like many companies typically do, that you only have access to, and inside of that portal, you’ve got a number of different tools that are available to you, and one of them could be a chatbot that you use when you’re, let’s say, going through onboarding, so if you have questions about something, you can actually send notes to this chatbot, I think.

Matter of fact, I believe National was actually looking at doing something like that. So the university that I work with- I don’t know if that’s been implemented because obviously, I’m not a new hire, but I remember that was something that they were looking at a couple of years ago, but I do know that there are companies who do use something like that.

So, for example, you know all of us know what it feels like to start a new job, and it feels like you’re drinking through a fire hose, and so with someone by your side that can you know, answer your questions, tell you where things are at, tell you who to reach out to, who can be very comforting and very helpful. It can also help with that retention right, because if you feel like you can’t get your job done or maybe you feel like you’re, you know you’re set up to fail. You know, this AI chatbot can help appease that and leave some of those things at the door, because now you have someone here that you can reach out to anytime.

Because, especially with the proliferation of all these remote work I know there’s a lot, there’s a big push for return to office or RTL, but you do have also you know a lot of companies- I know National is one of them- where you know huge, a massive amount of their workforce works remote and also many other organizations, which they’re okay with that, and so it can somewhat feel like a lonely experience, especially if you’re the new person and you don’t know where to go, who to contact and all of that.

So that chatbot can be very helpful in keeping you engaged and getting you the information you need quickly and you can continue to move on, on your own. Another thing, too another place where I’m seeing it being used is around talent development, where, for example, you have someone who is basically, in their role, they’ve been in it for, let’s say, a couple of years, and now you have this chat bot that can give recommendations, knowing your history and kind of your, let’s say, your performance reviews over the years and all of the feedback that you’ve gotten whether it’s good or bad and then give you some tips and you can-

You can you’re implementing your work to make you a more efficient employee or a more efficient worker in whatever it is that you do, and it’s someone that you can actually like- It’s a bot that you can actually you know basically communicate with, that also aligns with the organization’s or the division’s departmental goals and all those things, and so I’ve seen some companies use that as well, and so AI is almost like that dynamic individual that you can actually talk to and have a conversation with to get work done. And there’s many other examples on how companies are using it to retain and also to basically help someone’s career, but those are just a few that I know of.

0:24:05 – Kimberly King

I like hearing that and that is true. It’s like we’re in such a fast-paced society any longer. And then just even the whole onboarding process is different for each company, as you know, but sometimes people leave that on the last of their list in order to make new employees feel comfortable and just get ready. And, as you say, having somebody come alongside of you and I especially love the chatbot that you mentioned that kind of knows your own history, so that when you get seated in that new position, that you can recall oh, you know what this person you know, or you have this experience and this would work out here. So that’s great. Good. That gives me a lot of hope for the future. I’d love that. What skills, doctor, should HR professionals develop to stay relevant in an AI driven workplace?

0:24:53 – Doctor Chris Agada

I think number one is around AI ethics, and so I think just how, because that’s a big concern, for especially here you know, here in the United States that’s a big concern, at least around how, again, data is being used and how is it being harvested and all of that. So, just some knowledge and skillset and maybe a little bit of, I would say, just knowledge in terms of the law around just ethics.

But even though this is such a new like you mentioned, wild, wild west it’s still being written as we speak. I mean, there are policymakers that are looking at all these things and just saying, okay, how do we use this? And then I think another way, too, is interpreting HR analytics. I think that’s another skill set. So, basically, with all the data that’s going through and all the analysis that come from AI, making sure that they’re using it in the appropriate way to make the right decisions for their organizations.

I think that is a skill set on using AI and then using it in your own way of interpreting analytics and all of that and making sure that you know, transparency is there when it comes to how it’s being used. Another way too, is around, you know, developing kind of a strategic thought around how AI will be implemented in the workforce and how it will be implemented in terms of just how it will be implemented, like succession planning, talent acquisition, you know, training and all those different pieces. So I think this is where HR professionals can really start to think more strategically on okay, how can we harvest and use this tool to be more efficient in these areas? And so that’s another place.

And then, last but not least, I think is really maybe not necessarily AI driven in terms of how AI should be implemented, but more of like the soft skills, because the more and more we start to rely on technology, right, you may start to feed away or move away from- you know some of these soft skills around. You know empathy and you know empathy-driven leadership and all those different pieces. So, making sure that those soft skills are also there so you can balance it out. So those are just some of my thoughts around that.

0:27:08 – Kimberly King

I like that too and, again, that is a balance. Sometimes just the work dynamic when you come into, you know could be a very caustic work environment, but you don’t know, as the new person, and you come in and you’re like what just happened here? And that’s not necessarily an AI tool, that’s just making sure we read the room and have leadership skills. That can you know, contain that. So, which is also equally important, how can organizations balance an AI automation with a human touch in the HR processes?

0:27:38 – Doctor Chris Agada

So I always say this you know, AI should enhance, not replace, the human connection. So it should enhance and not replace it. And that’s really what AI is there for, I think for companies who are using it correctly, they’re getting that sense. You get that sense and you can do a quick poll around your organization to see if that is the case.

I think, if we can focus like I was mentioning earlier on, also some of the soft skills, because it is not AI resources, it’s human resources. So there has to be a human touch there. There’s definitely a human touch there, and so I think, if we can focus on, AI should allow us to focus even more on the human side of things, as opposed to focusing more on repetitive tasks and all those things. So AI should be more focused on those types of things and the tasks that can be easily done you know, done with technology like AI and also vast, you know, data sets and all those things and working through all of that to make decisions. But then, of course, it needs to be definitely surrounded by that human connection. So it’s got to enhance, not replace, the human connection.

0:28:48 – Kimberly King

And you know what. That’s a good branding thing. You know the H In HR stands for human and we’re not going to forget about that, right? It is that even balance of it. So this is so great and such a nice interview. I really appreciate your expertise in this, doctor. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and if you want more information, you can visit National University’s website at nu.edu. And again, thank you so much for your time and expertise today.

0:29:15 – Doctor Chris Agada

Thank you, it’s been a pleasure.

0:29:19 – Kimberly King

You’ve been listening to the National University Podcast. For updates on future or past guests, visit us at nu.edu. You can also follow us on social media. Thanks for listening.