The framing of efficiency vs judgment is super compelling - and I agree with the sentiment that if you have bad judgment, there's only so much gain you can pick up by increasing efficiency (and if your judgement is really bad, being inefficient may be good).
But I hypothesize that the grind of recruiting/HR and the seemingly endless set of stupid tasks that plague the function serve to drive away people who have, or could grow into, good judgment. If I'm interested in work that allows me live and die on judgment, I can't be spending 80% of my time on the knowledge-work equivalent of shoveling snow.
Look at what spreadsheets did for accounting and finance functions: automating away so much of the mathematical snow shoveling, clearing the way for more sophisticated work where judgment and decision making are core skills. If I want to hire smarter recruiters, I need a credible pitch for how the work will let them *be smart.* Bad tooling doesn't facilitate that pitch.
Maybe a hot take, but I think HR/TA function leaders perpetuate the problem. We ask for ways to speed up existing workflows rather than seeking opportunities to blow up bad workflows entirely; instead of asking for jet planes or railroads, we're asking for a faster horse. And so smarter tooling with product theses centering on better judgment don't get built.
Long way of saying: if you want to lean on better judgment, you need efficiency to create the space. If you want efficiency to create the space, you have to know what judgment you need to unlock.
Love what you said about “what recruiting software should we use” is a distraction, and the analogy about spending money on fancy guitars but not practicing! Sending this post to a few colleagues and looking forward to reading more 🙌
The framing of efficiency vs judgment is super compelling - and I agree with the sentiment that if you have bad judgment, there's only so much gain you can pick up by increasing efficiency (and if your judgement is really bad, being inefficient may be good).
But I hypothesize that the grind of recruiting/HR and the seemingly endless set of stupid tasks that plague the function serve to drive away people who have, or could grow into, good judgment. If I'm interested in work that allows me live and die on judgment, I can't be spending 80% of my time on the knowledge-work equivalent of shoveling snow.
Look at what spreadsheets did for accounting and finance functions: automating away so much of the mathematical snow shoveling, clearing the way for more sophisticated work where judgment and decision making are core skills. If I want to hire smarter recruiters, I need a credible pitch for how the work will let them *be smart.* Bad tooling doesn't facilitate that pitch.
Maybe a hot take, but I think HR/TA function leaders perpetuate the problem. We ask for ways to speed up existing workflows rather than seeking opportunities to blow up bad workflows entirely; instead of asking for jet planes or railroads, we're asking for a faster horse. And so smarter tooling with product theses centering on better judgment don't get built.
Long way of saying: if you want to lean on better judgment, you need efficiency to create the space. If you want efficiency to create the space, you have to know what judgment you need to unlock.
Love the article, Jen. So thought provoking.
Love what you said about “what recruiting software should we use” is a distraction, and the analogy about spending money on fancy guitars but not practicing! Sending this post to a few colleagues and looking forward to reading more 🙌