Automation is transforming the recruitment landscape, offering companies new ways to streamline processes such as CV screening, interview scheduling, job postings, and application management. With growing pressure to deliver efficiency at scale, automation provides significant benefits in speed and accuracy. Yet, even as technology advances, the importance of the human touch remains central to a great candidate experience. At Will International, we believe the most effective recruitment strategies are those that blend automation with empathy and personalised service. One example from within our group is Quay Appointments, which has successfully integrated automation while preserving meaningful human connection.
The Challenge: Balancing Efficiency and Personalisation
Modern recruitment teams are expected to move quickly while managing high volumes of applications. Traditional hiring methods often struggle under this pressure, resulting in longer time-to-hire, inconsistent communication, and challenges in maintaining candidate engagement.
Automation addresses many of these inefficiencies—but it is not without its concerns. An over-reliance on technology can result in a process that feels impersonal or transactional. Candidates still want to feel heard and understood, especially when making important career decisions. The key lies in finding the right balance: using automation to increase efficiency, while ensuring that human interaction remains at the heart of the recruitment journey.
Our Approach to Automation
Since implementing Bullhorn Automation (formerly Herefish) in June 2021, Quay Appointments has used automation to enhance both large-scale project delivery and day-to-day recruitment operations. Initially introduced to support bulk recruitment, automation helped drive consistency, reduce manual effort, and improve turnaround times.
As the system evolved, Quay expanded automation to include timely application acknowledgements, status updates, and task management across recruitment stages. These enhancements have saved the team up to 900 hours per week on major projects and 45–55 hours weekly in business-as-usual operations—time that is now re-invested into meaningful candidate and client interactions.
Maintaining the Human Touch
While automation takes care of repetitive tasks, Quay has intentionally preserved space for what matters most: the human connection. Candidates value empathy, transparent communication, and personalised feedback—elements that technology alone cannot replicate.
Recruiters use automation to manage back-end workflows, freeing them to focus on building relationships, understanding client needs, and ensuring strong cultural alignment. Whether it’s a personal follow-up call or a nuanced candidate assessment, human insight remains essential to Quay’s process.
A Case in Point: NSW State Election Project
During Quay Appointments’ work on the New South Wales State Election, automation enabled them to process over 8,000 applications and successfully fill 1,800 positions within a tight timeframe. It played a key role in streamlining communication and backend processing, which allowed them to maintain candidate transparency and compliance at scale.
Importantly, the automation-supported approach also ensured candidates received prompt updates and consistent feedback. The result was a more efficient yet highly engaging recruitment experience—one that would not have been possible through manual processes alone.
Best Practices for Successful Automation
Quay recommends the following strategies for teams looking to implement or improve recruitment automation:
- Map your process: Understand your end-to-end recruitment workflow and identify stages where automation can drive the most value.
- Start small: Begin with simple, repetitive tasks and scale your automation efforts gradually.
- Involve your team: Gather insights from recruiters on where bottlenecks exist and where automation can help.
- Track and optimise: Continuously measure the impact of automation and adjust workflows to ensure optimal performance.
- Keep the candidate at the centre: Use automation to support—not replace—personalised candidate engagement.
Looking Ahead: AI in Recruitment
The role of automation and AI in recruitment will only grow, with tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini now supporting content creation, interview preparation, and communication workflows. These technologies offer powerful support but must be applied thoughtfully to maintain authenticity and avoid losing the human element.
At Quay Appointments, these tools are seen as enablers—not replacements—for their recruitment team. By combining AI-driven insights with human judgement, they can provide a richer experience for both clients and candidates.
Actionable Takeaways
For organisations seeking to integrate automation into their recruitment strategy while preserving personalisation, consider the following:
- Automate with purpose: Focus on time-consuming, manual tasks to free up recruiters for strategic work.
- Prioritise candidate experience: Ensure every automated touchpoint supports a warm, engaging process.
- Empower your team: Provide training and tools to help recruiters use automation effectively without losing the human element.
- Refine continuously: Regularly review the impact of automation on quality, speed, and satisfaction—then refine accordingly.
Recruitment is evolving rapidly, but its core remains unchanged: it’s about people. Automation offers powerful tools to improve efficiency, but the most successful outcomes arise when technology complements—rather than replaces—the human connection.
At Will International, we’re proud to see our businesses like Quay Appointments leading the way—using automation to elevate service delivery while keeping empathy and personal engagement at the heart of the recruitment process.
