How to Balance Human Empathy and AI Efficiency in Hospitality Hiring

Hospitality hiring has reached an inflection point. Across the board, and especially in frontline roles, hospitality workers are hurtling toward a state of burnout. With high turnover for hourly roles putting massive burdens on existing teams, time-pressed hiring professionals are turning to AI automation to meet the need for speed.

But while AI enhances efficiency, it can also alienate candidates who crave a personal touch. The latest research shows that 77% of hospitality candidates believe the majority of hiring should involve human-to-human interaction.

How can TA teams balance these two competing priorities—efficiency and empathy?

Read on for actionable steps you can take, based on data from our recent report: Trust, AI, and Transparency in Hospitality Hiring.

Hospitality hiring teams are facing a competitive hiring market in which 67% of candidates will accept the first offer they receive. Candidates have high expectations, too: 89% expect to be interviewed within one week of applying for a job, and 26% want to be interviewed within 24 to 48 hours. To win the race for top talent, HR professionals must move fast—and AI makes that possible.

Using AI for candidate sourcing, resume screening, ranking, and background checks can drastically slash time-to-contact, especially for high-volume, hourly roles. AI-powered automations can also minimize human bias when evaluating resumes or interviews, or when adjudicating background check results. By integrating AI into their workflows, hiring teams can meet candidates’ expectations, quickly extend offers, and minimize drop-off in the talent funnel.

Given these benefits, it’s not surprising that more than half (51%) of hospitality HR leaders we surveyed are using or piloting AI in hiring. Of these, nearly two-thirds (65%) say AI has improved efficiency and reduced manual work. The AI functions with the biggest impact, HR professionals say, are candidate sourcing and matching, resume screening and ranking, and background check data collection.

Hospitality hiring teams aren’t alone in their embrace of AI. More than half (51%) of hospitality candidates have used AI to write resumes, while 40% use it to match with suitable jobs.

Once they’ve entered the hiring funnel, hospitality candidates appreciate AI’s ability to speed things up. The AI-powered automations candidates appreciate most are automated application confirmation messages, interview scheduling, and status updates—all of which keep them in the loop about the progress of their application.

But AI also raises some red flags for candidates, often in the areas where HR teams use it the most.

What do hospitality candidates want? It’s a delicate balancing act. While they appreciate the speed AI can bring, 34% of candidates we surveyed believe automation makes the hiring process more impersonal, and 77% say they prefer direct human interaction during hiring.

Following five core principles can help hospitality HR professionals build trust with wary candidates without sacrificing AI’s speed.

A whopping 93% of hospitality candidates we surveyed say transparency about how AI-powered tools are used during hiring is important to them when deciding to apply for a job. But half of the candidates say they were never informed whether AI was used.

Just telling candidates that you use AI isn’t enough. Transparency means giving candidates specifics about where, when, and how the tools are used. Unfortunately, only one-third of HR teams say they share detailed information about AI, such as:

It’s also important to emphasize that while AI may be used to expedite some steps of the hiring process, humans always make the final hiring decisions.

To pinpoint areas where integrating AI could be valuable, look for bottlenecks in your hiring processes. AI works best to automate manual, time-consuming tasks, such as resume screening or background check reporting.

For example, Checkr AI works behind the scenes during background checks to detect missing data, alert candidates to provide information, provide ETAs, and classify charges in reports. Other AI-powered hiring solutions, such as mobile-first interview and drug test scheduling, keep candidates moving quickly toward a start date.

Texts or emails that are obviously AI-generated can leave candidates feeling dismissed and undervalued. Your communications with candidates should be as welcoming and genuine as your communications with guests.

Automated messages don’t need to sound robotic. Identify milestone moments in the hiring process (such as before or after an interview) and build in human check-ins with personalized messages from recruiters at these key points.

For example, you could record videos walking candidates through each step of the background check process, video welcome messages from HR team members, or video introductions to managers the candidates would be working with. Creative, engaging communications like these help candidates feel connected to your organization and provide insights into your culture and your people.

Give candidates a chance to clarify information in an application, resume, or background check report, too. Checkr’s candidate stories feature, for example, allows candidates to share additional context around criminal records that could influence your hiring decision. Being able to tell their side of the story helps candidates feel they’re fully seen.

By using data-driven algorithms to objectively assess candidates’ skills, AI can help reduce unintentional bias that can creep in when humans evaluate candidates. However, AI can sometimes proliferate biases against certain classes of employees. This shrinks your hiring pool and exposes your organization to legal risk.

When selecting AI tools, ask what steps the provider takes to mitigate bias and how customizable the solution is for your needs. For example, you’ll want to look for a background check solution that lets you apply your own custom rulesets to adjudication, showing you only relevant, reportable information for each specific position.

Assessing the fairness and effectiveness of AI tools isn’t one-and-done. Regularly reassess your solutions, evaluating factors such as how accurately and impartially AI summarizes or analyzes interviews, sorts resumes based on relevant job skills, and applies your adjudication criteria.

Finally, be transparent about your AI selection and evaluation criteria. Sharing this information with candidates and employees helps build trust.

Just as AI continually improves by learning from experience, so can your HR team. Ask candidates and new hires for feedback at key steps of the hiring process, such as applying for a job, interviewing, or undergoing a background check. Use the data you collect to identify areas where AI is successfully streamlining processes and places where it’s creating unnecessary friction.

Acting on this feedback can help ensure your AI usage aligns with your values and can also help improve candidate conversion rates. Hospitality HR professionals we surveyed say new hire retention strategies and data analytics are among the most impactful uses of AI.

In addition to assessing human feedback, be sure to monitor your AI tools’ efficiency. Look for solutions that offer robust analytics tools to help.

From interviews and background checks to quotas and deadlines, the hospitality hiring process can be stressful for candidates and HR professionals alike. Thoughtful implementation of AI tools can ease the pressure, speed the process, and help qualified candidates find their perfect role.

Working with a hospitality background check partner like Checkr can help you develop a human-first approach that blends efficiency and empathy. Checkr’s advanced screening technology, automations, and 200+ ATS integrations streamline the hiring process. Our intuitive candidate portal, live support options, and transparency into background check progress keep candidates informed and connected. Together, it’s the balance of high-tech and high-touch you need to hire high-quality hospitality candidates.

Get the full report: Trust, AI, and Transparency in Hospitality Hiring

About the author

Karen Axelton writes about business topics and best practices. She has written hundreds of articles on business subjects, including background screening, hiring and employment trends, human resource management, and the use of technology in the workplace. Her work includes educational articles, e-books, white papers, and case studies.