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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 F E B R UA R Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 0 F O C U S WO R K P L A C E T E C H N O L O G Y Treading carefully when moving to the cloud Companies thinking of storing and accessing data programs over the web, often referred to as cloud computing, should look before they leap. at's a suggestion from Meg Fleming, president of Symquest Group Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. with dual headquarters in South Burlington, Vt., and Westbrook. Symquest designs, installs and supports business technologies, including cloud service solutions. "e top risk for employers when it comes to moving to the cloud," Fleming says, "is that their business applications may not be cloud-ready, resulting in a business disruption. My advice would be to fully vet out every application they use to ensure that they are as efficient or more efficient when they cut over." Acing A.I. and keeping the 'human' in human resources For large employers screening large numbers of job applications, automated computer systems or artificial intelli- gence can be a huge time-saver. Other uses include tracking job performance or identifying employees for promotion. While the automated systems are intended to ensure impartial recruit- ing, that's not a guarantee, as Amazon discovered when it found out that its new recruiting tool was biased against women. e flawed computer models had apparently been trained to vet applicants for software developer jobs by observing resumes submitted over a 10-year period that had mostly been submitted by men, so the algorithm was essentially teaching itself to discriminate against women, Reuters reported in October 2018. While the e-commerce giant eventually disbanded its team of machine-learning specialists who had developed the program, the number of automated tools for screening resumes and conducting personality tests is growing—all designed to elimi- nate human error and subjectivity. But without any guarantees, human resources professionals and lawyers alike urge employers to be cautious. "If A.I. can do something to decrease the amount of touches a recruiter needs to make, that would be one argument for it," notes Tara Jenkins, a business consultant who worked in human resources for 25 years at companies including IDEXX Laboratories Inc. and Portland-based law firm Pierce Atwood. But she says that only 14% of employers nationwide are using A.I. in hiring and recommends employers who do so use it strategically, warning: "ere's a huge amount of questions around discrimination and bias within A.I. already, and it opens up employ- ers to a huge amount of liability." She also notes that job search and net- working platforms like LinkedIn have some built-in artificial intelligence capabilities that she never became dependent on as a recruiter. "I don't want a passive candidate that the A.I. has hatched," she says. "I want to look at candidates that have actively applied. at's always been more effective for me." Kim Anania, president of KMA Human Resources Consulting in Falmouth, also believes in keeping the human element in HR and not becom- ing overly reliant on technology. She says that while applicant track- ing tools are great for helping narrow down a pool of applicants, they can also miss a lot of qualified people. "e larger the client, the more it's needed, but our approach doesn't rely on the system sorting through the resumes, even if we get hundreds … We take the time and look at the quality of the candidate." While applicant tracking systems as a "wonderful tool for communica- tion," she sees human interaction as more important. "KMA's approach to everything is that technology can never replace the face-to-face relationship character of people, and that's what HR is all about," she says. Renee Cordes, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at rcordes @ mainebiz.biz For more information, visit efficiencymaine.com or call 866-376-2463 Increase efficiency, boost productivity, and reduce operating costs with incentives available from Efficiency Maine. EFFICIENCY MAINE WORKS WITH BUSINESSES AND INSTITUTIONS OF ALL SIZES P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F S Y M Q U E S T Meg Fleming Meg Fleming, president , president of of Symquest Group Inc. Symquest Group Inc. advises against moving advises against moving to the cloud too quickly. to the cloud too quickly.

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