by Leontien | Jan 27, 2023
… the Textmetrics smart AI software offers a simple solution to a difficult task
Artificial Intelligence: there has been a lot going on lately. This is, of course, due to the arrival of ChatGPT. Because what does the arrival of this chatbot – which really everyone is talking about – mean for the future? What to make of methods that allow machines to perform tasks that require intelligence anyway?
AI is already all around you in your daily life. Think of the facial recognition on your phone, and the route you have calculated in Google Maps. Or apps like Spotify, Amazon Prime and Netflix. These are all platforms with AI at the core that make your life just that little bit more fun and easier. Let that be exactly what AI can do for professionals as well.
As Textmetrics’ CTO, Kyrill Poelmans is constantly innovating our smart AI writing software. In order to do so, he listens to both the market and the customer. In addition, he is an AI expert and therefore the right person to tell you more about this topic.
How do you look at AI trends such as ChatGPT?
“ChatGPT is an AI tool for text generation. A very exciting topic, and text generation is very useful for specific defined applications. But there are some big challenges. Consider the degree of control over the texts that, in this case, ChatGPT generates. That’s super important, but also very complex,” Kyrill says.
“Looking at AI in general, it is increasingly important to explain where the information comes from. The EU is legislating for a reason. For example, you can deploy AI in the form of ‘machine-learning’. The computer then learns from data and thus becomes smarter and smarter. Think of training a computer to become the best at chess. So it can now do the same for producing texts based on information online, as with ChatGPT, or for coming up with facts on its own, as with Google’s Bard. But to what extent can you rely on this information? Is it ethical to invite someone for a job interview based on AI or not? Fortunately, this legal and ethical side of AI is getting more and more attention,” says Kyrill.
Where do you see Textmetrics within current AI trends?
“ChatGPT helps you generate texts that are quite coherent. That way, you quickly have a text on paper, which makes your working life even easier. But what if you want to have a text written within the frameworks that are already there? For example, when writing a job posting, think about the company you are recruiting for, the terms of employment and the specific skills and abilities. Then you are asking for something quite complex. That’s where Textmetrics complements an AI tool like ChatGPT. We set up Textmetrics’ smart AI writing software completely to our clients’ requirements. With the frameworks, branding and communication guidelines that are important to you,” Kyrill explains.
He continues, “With Textmetrics, you make the step towards a personalized text of the best quality. The smart AI writing software thereby takes work off your hands because you don’t have to think about things like branding, inclusive language and SEO yourself. You always get a text that appeals to your target audience, whether you write it yourself or have ChatGPT do it for you.”
How can Textmetrics’ AI assistance help you with day-to-day tasks?
“Textmetrics’ smart AI writing software is a great example of how AI makes your working life more fun and easier. It doesn’t take over your work, but it does help you write even better texts. You can do that with the text optimizer in our platform for text improvement. It gives you suggestions and advice on the language level and gender neutrality of your texts. And for optimizing your text for SEO. The result? You write good, inclusive texts in understandable language that appeal to your entire target group,” says Kyrill.
by Leontien | Nov 21, 2022
As you may have noticed, it’s not that easy to build a diverse and inclusive workplace. Many initiatives look good on paper but lead to disappointing results. For many organizations, reaching their diversity and inclusion goals proves to be quite the challenge. Perhaps your current D&I strategy is incomplete or outdated. You might need to approach diversity and inclusion from a different perspective to really make a change.
Have you heard of DEIB yet? DEIB means:
Diversity
The differences between one individual and another, including demographic differences, different ideas, backgrounds, and opinions.
Equity
The fair and equal treatment of everyone in the organization.
Inclusion
Creating a cultural and environmental feeling of belonging.
Belonging
Creating a place where everyone can thrive and feels accepted and welcome.
In today’s workplace, a DEIB strategy is an important prerequisite to really creating change. Not just because it’s the right thing to do. But also because it brings along many benefits for business.
Why a DEIB strategy is a must
A DEIB strategy helps you create a workplace that welcomes and respects everyone. Such a workplace is one where people can thrive. It goes without saying that this is good for business. And there are more important benefits that should motivate you to work on your DEIB strategy. For starters, diverse companies are 35 percent more likely to outperform less diverse competitors.
Besides that, a DEIB strategy also helps you attract more job seekers. Now more than ever, job seekers actively look for diverse companies. 76 percent of job seekers say diversity in a company is important to them. And around 35 percent actively research to understand a company’s diversity. Don’t forget that in the current job market, talent is scarce. Everything that makes you a more attractive employer to work for is a big plus.
Use Textmetrics for your DEIB strategy
At Textmetrics, we offer a platform that you can use as part of your DEIB strategy. Think about your job ads. Are they free of bias? Do they appeal to everyone in your target group? Do they have a gender-neutral tone of voice? The Textmetrics platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that empower you to improve all your written communication. You can use it to highlight how diverse your company is by writing job ads that appeal to everyone. But you can also use it to create content that you distribute amongst people who already work for you. To create a culture of true belonging.
Want to try Textmetrics? Click here for a free trial!
by Leontien | Oct 22, 2022
This is probably not the first time you’ve heard of workplace diversity. You might even have already formulated diversity and inclusion goals. But have you managed to reach those goals yet? Don’t be embarrassed if the answer is ‘no.’ Achieving diversity in the workplace isn’t easy; maybe you need to know more about it to be successful. It’s worth the effort – the benefits of workplace diversity are numerous. What if we told you that 76% of job seekers say that workplace diversity is important in their job search? That’s a lot of potential candidates you might miss out on if you don’t focus on diversity. Other benefits of a diverse workplace include a reduction in staff turnover, increased innovation and improved problem-solving skills.
So, it’s time to find out more about workplace diversity, right? Read on to discover all you need to know.
What is diversity in the workplace?
When we discuss workplace diversity, we refer to the demographic diversity of the employees within an organization. Simply put, it means you hire people from a variety of demographic groups and backgrounds. This goes beyond the most common demographic categories like race and gender. These are the first differences between people you might think of, but there are so many more.
Workplace diversity also means taking the following demographic categories into account:
- Age
- Citizenship and nationality
- Class
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Language and accent
- Race
- Religion
- Sexual orientation.
The list is long, and we haven’t even mentioned all the possible aspects that people differ on. You can, for example, distinguish people by their family structure. Some employees have children, while others live alone or take care of an elderly relative.
It’s not these differences that matter most, though. Although striving for a diverse workforce is important for workplace diversity, it’s not the most important thing. You need to truly value the diversity of your employees. Everyone needs to feel welcome and that they are treated fairly. No matter what their background is, all employees must be treated the same and have equal opportunities.
Use Textmetrics for workplace diversity
As you now know, workplace diversity starts with hiring people from a variety of demographic groups and backgrounds. But how do you go about that? At Textmetrics, we have a platform to help you. It uses artificial intelligence algorithms to read and analyze your job descriptions. And then gives you real-time suggestions for ways to improve them.
You can use the platform to write job descriptions that are free of bias. By implementing the suggestions the platform offers, your job descriptions will appeal to everyone in your target group. You’ll write job ads that attract people from a wide variety of demographic groups and backgrounds. And you’ll be one step closer to achieving workplace diversity.
Want to try Textmetrics? Click here for a free trial!
by Leontien | Sep 17, 2022
Gender bias is a tricky thing. Especially in recruitment, where it can lead to unfairly ignoring the best potential candidates. We’re talking about female candidates here, because gender bias mostly affects women. And not just women in certain industries, but all women. In most jobs, it’s harder for a woman to get an interview or be hired. This applies even when the recruiter is a woman too. Female employees who are pregnant or have young children are less likely to be promoted or receive bonuses. Sometimes they even feel pressured to take a step back. Their employers believe that they are less committed because they will soon be mothers. This is an assumption men never have to deal with.
What is gender bias?
A bias is something that comes naturally to us. Remaining impartial is something our brains find difficult to do. We are programmed to automatically make associations between two concepts. This allows us to process information quickly. Something we automatically do is categorize people based on things like gender, age and skin color. We then associate the categorizations with a number of assumptions. For example, some assumptions affecting women are:
- Women are more emotional than men, so they are less fit for decision-making roles.
- Women who paint their nails and wear make-up and high heels are less good with money.
- Women are less motivated and committed once they start a family.
These assumptions have an undesirable effect on the recruitment process and prevent recruiters from acting in their best interests. The problem is our brain and its natural tendency to hold stereotypes and rely on them. It’s the unconscious gender bias that both male and female recruiters hold. And that stands in the way of building and retaining a diverse workforce.
The effect of gender on an organization
Gender bias is a very problematic unconscious bias. For starters, men and women should get equal chances in life. That is what’s fair. Secondly, as an organization with a biased recruitment process, you miss out on a lot of talented employees. Women that might be the perfect fit for the job end up being ignored because of their gender. On top of that, having a workforce with few women can also damage your company’s reputation. Like most organizations, you probably wish to be very diverse and inclusive. Gender bias is a big obstacle to becoming so.
How do you overcome unconscious gender bias?
Gender bias has no place in the workplace. Still, women in all industries and across all countries have to deal with the consequences of this bias. Like all other forms of discrimination, gender bias needs to become a thing of the past. Especially if you wish to become a more diverse and inclusive company.
Overcoming unconscious gender bias is not easy. But it’s not impossible, either. There are training programs managers and recruiters can follow. They help people acknowledge that gender bias exists. And teach people how to be aware of prejudices and deal with them accordingly.
Another approach you can take to battle gender bias is using the Textmetrics platform.
You can use our platform to eliminate bias from your job descriptions. Because the problem isn’t just recruiters not hiring women or inviting them for an interview. A lot of women don’t apply because the job ad has a masculine tone of voice. This discourages women from even trying to get the job.
The Textmetrics platform analyzes your job descriptions and gives you suggestions for a more gender-neutral tone of voice. It also gives you options for words that appeal to both men and women. So you’ll end up with job ads that appeal to both genders. It’s an important first step towards hiring more women and having a more diverse workforce.
Want to know more about our Smart Writing Assistant? Click here.
by Leontien | Aug 19, 2022
Diversity recruitment is one of those things we’ve heard a lot about in recent years. Why? Well, there are several reasons. For starters, it fits in perfectly with the wish of many organizations to become more inclusive. To build a workforce that reflects society, you need a diversity recruitment strategy. Secondly, successful diversity recruitment has many benefits. A diverse team brings more diverse ideas to the table, helping to drive innovation. On top of that, diverse companies are more competitive and profitable. So, it’s high time to start improving your diversity recruitment strategy!
Three ways to improve your diversity recruitment strategy
Diversity recruitment means building a team of the most skilled and qualified people. Regardless of their gender, background, race, or religion. To improve your diversity recruitment strategy, we advise you to:
- Target diverse candidates
So far, you have probably only posted your jobs on your company website, or a few web recruiting platforms. If this doesn’t lead to a diverse group of candidates, it’s useful to try other channels. Try posting your jobs on social media like LinkedIn, Twitter or even Instagram. There are also communities online for special interest groups operating in certain fields, such as women in technology. It’s worth finding out if you can post your jobs in these kinds of communities.
Bias comes naturally to us. Unconscious bias dictates the way we behave in much of our daily life. In recruitment, bias can get in the way of building a more diverse workforce. Recruiters often unintentionally hire people that they identify with. Or who fit some preconceived idea of who is suitable for the role. It’s important to minimize the impact of bias as much as possible. You can do this by providing unconscious bias training. Or by using blind resumes where all personal information is hidden. Recruiters then base their choice solely on the skills and qualities of each candidate.
- Use inclusive language in job descriptions
Do you want to reach people from different backgrounds? Then your job ads need to appeal to as many people as possible, without alienating certain groups. Using an inclusive tone in your job descriptions is the solution. When people read your job ads, they need to be able to see themselves in the role. For example, job ads often have a “young” tone of voice, which can be off-putting to older people. It’s vital to reduce this effect to attract a wide range of candidates to your roles.
Use Textmetrics to improve your diversity recruitment strategy
The Textmetrics platform can help with your diversity recruitment strategy. Textmetrics uses algorithms to read and analyze your content, then gives you real-time suggestions for improvements. These will help you use more inclusive language in your job description. And find the right tone of voice for every occasion. With Textmetrics, you can build a truly diverse workforce and develop an employer brand that showcases that diversity.
Want to know more about our Smart Writing Assistant? Click here.
