Algorithms are gradually finding their way into human resources. Whether for the purposes of recruitment or career development, decisions are being made based on analysing and cross-referencing data from an ever-increasing number of sources.

Saint-Gobain, a major economic operator in the building materials sector, has invested heavily in algorithms (1) with an eye to, in an initial phase, check the relevance of its hiring processes.

Teams of HR managers, IT specialists and legal experts were set up. Using an iterative process, they worked to improve the quality of the data.

The team built several models, which were applied to the company's strategy for finding and keeping talent. Simulations have shown that almost 90% of the employees identified correspond to more than 70% of the profile sought for a position. The company also has a good track record when it comes to identifying potential departures.

Buoyed by these encouraging results, the company is planning on harnessing the power of AI to combat discrimination bias.

Responding to legitimate concerns, Saint-Gobain's HR Department has made it clear that it does not want to become more selective. Decisions are not delegated to algorithms, and only HR staff has access to candidates' names, via a conversion table.

¹ The HR Analytics application is described in detail in the white paper "Towards Augmented Human Resources" published in October 2020.