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The use of robots in job interviews
Abstract
In the wake of robotics and the extensive use of IT for critical HR tasks such as personnel selection, the adoption of robots seems to be the next logical step for future e-HRM practices. Based on state-of-the-art literature in the field of human-robot interaction (HRI), two types of robots are discussed: (i) embodied physical agents and (ii) embodied virtual agents. Particular attention is directed towards the advantages and disadvantages of using physical versus virtual presence of artificial agents in job interviews by integrating HRM research with HRI research. The article also focuses on the potential of robots to remedy the problem of discrimination in relation to the job interview.
... Chichester & Giffen, 2019), RPA also mimics deciding. Finally, if an attended RPA application also involves communications between a robot and employees, applicants, or line managers, for instance when performing a job interview (e.g., Nørskov & Ulhøi, 2020), also communicating and perceiving are mimicked NI functions. Finally, if robots include affective computing, such as emotion recognition based on video (e.g., Saxena et al., 2020;Ng et al., 2021), RPA also mimics empathizing. ...
... Initially, suggestions of use cases spread over all operational HR functions and refer for instance to recruiting (e.g., Garimella & Paruchuri, 2015), selection (e.g., Nørskov, S., & Ulhøi, 2020), compensation (e.g., Papageorgiou, 2018), learning (e.g., Kryon, 2020), performance management (e.g., Balasundaram & Venkatagiri, 2020), or HR reporting (e.g., BluePrism, 2020), among others. Beyond automating the internal execution of HR processes, it is emphasized that RPA is particularly well suited for automating external execution of HR processes by shared service centres (SSC) or business process outsourcing (BPO) providers (e.g., BluePrism, 2020; Hallikainen et al., 2018). ...
... Beyond automating the internal execution of HR processes, it is emphasized that RPA is particularly well suited for automating external execution of HR processes by shared service centres (SSC) or business process outsourcing (BPO) providers (e.g., BluePrism, 2020; Hallikainen et al., 2018). Beyond rather simple processes, such as transferring data from one HR system to another (e.g., Taulli, 2020), uses cases also refer to rather complex processes such as conducting job interviews (e.g., Nørskov, S., & Ulhøi, 2020), offboarding employees (e.g., PeopleDoc, 2020), or identifying career aspirations of employees (e.g., Malik et al., 2020). ...
... The goal is to test the potential of robots to increase objectivity and fairness in job interviews by using them as a fair proxy communication (FPC) device to "remove perceptual cues of implicit biases in order to increase the perceived fairness of decision-related communications" (Seibt and Vestergaard, 2018, p. 1). By eliminating some of the known triggers of implicit biases, such as visual cues that reveal physical appearance, age, ethnicity, gender, and even emotional states, a robotic proxy may hold the potential to create a fairer situation for applicants compared with a traditional face-to-face job interview (Nørskov and Ulhøi, 2020). While research shows that job interviews conducted via video conference or telephone are perceived as less fair than face-to-face interviews (Sears et al., 2013), the unique characteristics of a physically present robot may affect communication diferently when compared to a video conference and/or a telephone conference. ...
... The design of a robotic agent for personnel selection is not only pertinent because of the way the robot itself may be perceived by applicants, but also because the robot's design is likely to have consequences for the way the organization is perceived. This is because the robot is, in a way, an organizational representative (Nørskov and Ulhøi, 2020), and thus may influence the applicant's perceptions of the organizational attraction (Turban and Dougherty, 1992). This may in turn have consequences for organizational reputation (McCarthy et al., 2017) and its ability to attract applicants (Ryan and Huth, 2008). ...
It is well-established in the literature that biases (e. g., related to body size, ethnicity, race etc.) can occur during the employment interview and that applicants' fairness perceptions related to selection procedures can influence attitudes, intentions, and behaviors toward the recruiting organization. This study explores how social robotics may affect this situation. Using an online, video vignette-based experimental survey (n = 235), the study examines applicant fairness perceptions of two types of job interviews: a face-to-face and a robot-mediated interview. To reduce the risk of socially desirable responses, desensitize the topic, and detect any inconsistencies in the respondents' reactions to vignette scenarios, the study employs a first-person and a third-person perspective. In the robot-mediated interview, two teleoperated robots are used as fair proxies for the applicant and the interviewer, thus providing symmetrical visual anonymity unlike prior research that relied on asymmetrical anonymity, in which only one party was anonymized. This design is intended to eliminate visual cues that typically cause implicit biases and discrimination of applicants, but also to prevent biasing the interviewer's assessment through impression management tactics typically used by applicants. We hypothesize that fairness perception (i.e., procedural fairness and interactional fairness) and behavioral intentions (i.e., intentions of job acceptance, reapplication intentions, and recommendation intentions) will be higher in a robot-mediated job interview than in a face-to-face job interview, and that this effect will be stronger for introvert applicants. The study shows, contrary to our expectations, that the face-to-face interview is perceived as fairer, and that the applicant's personality (introvert vs. extravert) does not affect this perception. We discuss this finding and its implications, and address avenues for future research.
... For individuals, DT can be perceived as an opportunity to improve those aspects of work that are typically considered desirable: for instance, using digital technologies such as AI, robotics, or virtual collaboration environments to facilitate individual creativity (Kahn et al., 2016), creative collaborations between humans (Amabile, 2019;Kostis and Ritala, 2020), or by relying on AI, automation, and robots in personnel selection to increase fairness (Konradt et al., 2013;Nørskov and Ulhøi, 2020). However, DT can also be perceived as a threat to employees' current jobs (by replacing their skills) and to their social and emotional wellbeing. ...
For better or worse, digital technologies are reshaping everything, from customer behaviors and expectations to organizational and manufacturing systems, business models, markets, and ultimately society. To understand this overarching transformation, this paper extends the previous literature which has focused mostly on the organizational level by developing a multi-level research agenda for digital transformation (DT). In this regard, we propose an extended definition of DT as "a socioeconomic change across individuals, organizations, ecosystems, and societies that are shaped by the adoption and utilization of digital technologies ." We suggest four lenses to interpret the DT phenomenon: individuals (utilizing and adopting digital technologies), organizations (strategizing and coordinating both internal and external transformation), ecosystems (harnessing digital technologies in governance and co-producing value propositions), and geopolitical frameworks (regulating the environments in which individuals and organizations are embedded). Based on these lenses, we build a multi-level research agenda at the intersection between the bright and dark sides of DT and introduce the PIAI framework, which captures a process of perception, interpretation , and action that ultimately leads to possible impact. The PIAI framework identifies a critical research agenda consisting of a non-exhaustive list of topics that can assist researchers to deepen their understanding of the DT phenomenon and provide guidance to managers and policymakers when making strategic decisions that seek to shape and guide the DT.
This report investigates current practice at the interface between the social (human) decision-making process and digital technology. It provides an overview of current learning across various practice contexts, through a unified lens which allows us to assimilate the learning and guide further research.
By cross analysing 13 cases, we identified themes about how to promote the:
• Adoption of the integration of the digital technology in decision-making, in terms of enablers and barriers
• Assessment of the integration of the digital technology in decision-making in terms of effectiveness and appropriateness
• Adaptation of the human systems to integrate digital technologies in decision- making, including inward and outward adaptation
Robotics is currently not only a cutting-edge research area, but is potentially disruptive to all domains of our lives--for better and worse. While legislation is struggling to keep pace with the development of these new artifacts, our intellectual limitations and physical laws seem to present the only hard demarcation lines, when it comes to state-of-the-art R&D. To better understand the possible implications, the paper at hand critically investigates underlying processes and structures of robotics in the context of Heidegger's and Nishitani's accounts of science and technology. Furthermore, the analysis draws on Bauman's theory of modernity in an attempt to assess the potential risk of large-scale robot integration. The paper will highlight undergirding mechanisms and severe challenges imposed upon our socio-cultural lifeworlds by massive robotic integration. Admittedly, presenting a mainly melancholic account, it will, however, also explore the possibility of robotics forcing us to reassess our position and to solve problems, which we seem unable to tackle without facing existential crises.
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