In what feels like a headline from a George Orwell book, technology has become more advanced over recent years but, for many, the question of it replacing all of our jobs remains an interesting and open one. None more so than for HR professionals who are faced with an ever developing market.
HR Tech is now worth billions, if not hundreds of billions, and is helping businesses and hiring manager find candidates and future leaders. It has become an integral part of the business world.
This article will cover the latest developments in HR Tech, benefits of automation in HR, ask the question if AI will replace HR roles, examine HR Tech and hybrid workforces, and look at digital workforce management.
Latest Developments in HR Tech
HR Tech has developed over recent years to be not only something that helps make things easier but also form part of a wider strategic role in your organisation. Some of the latest developments include:
- Cloud-based HR platforms
From communicating with remote teams to updating on assessment tools and carrying out evaluations.
- Employee wellness and mental health apps
Checking on the mental wellbeing of your staff. Promoting guided meditations and health checks.
- Candidate experience platforms
From ongoing assessments to one-to-one meetings, tracking and recording different requirements for individuals.
- Employee training, learning and development tools.
As part of ongoing learning and development, store and refer back to training tools to help develop the team.
- AI-powered analytics tools
Tracking how employees and teams are performing, helping with virtual recruitment and giving solid data to help address weaknesses.
- Automation tools.
Helping screen new recruits, finding past ones suitable for a role or delivering key information to all employees.
Benefits of Automation in HR
HR Automation is about freeing up staff from repetitive manual tasks and letting them focus on complex problems and strategic issues facing the business. There are, of course, associated benefits in properly setting up automation in your HR roles, these include:
- Improve productivity thanks to quick processing and sharing of data
- Improve employee engagement and in turn, reduce staff turnover
- Stay compliant with the latest laws and regulations
- Remove the need for storage spaces as it’s cloud based
- Make better business decisions based on data
- Better collaboration between departments, stakeholders and employees
- Highlight skills gaps and put together bespoke training plans
Will AI Replace HR Roles?
Much has been written about AI replacing HR roles in recent years. With the technology getting better over time, many of the more processing aspects which were employee led have been replaced with automation and artificial intelligence.
This however, doesn’t mean that every HR role or function is being lost. HR is about employee welfare. Some of the roles or, better described, tasks which AI will replace include the following:
- Recruitment checks for entry roles
Previously all done by hand, AI can sift through information in a C.V. and identify the right candidates in a fraction of the time.
- Employee engagement surveys
Chatbots can conduct the surveys, record the answers and even process the data. Humans can take that information, analyse it and come up with suitable solutions.
- Passive candidate hiring
You may hire internally for a role. AI can help identify the right person for the job, look at historical data and see what can work for the candidate. The human can get onboarding and integration organised.
HR Tech and the Hybrid Workforce
We have seen organisations develop more hybrid workforces in the last year following the global pandemic. This is where half (more or less in some cases) of your team is remote working and the other is office based. These digital workspaces combined with physical presence makes the task of monitoring teams and individuals harder.
However, HR Tech has opened the door to do this with greater accuracy and efficiency. Being able to check on staff, provide assessments, have meetings and bring workflows together through HR Tech platforms is easily achievable with hybrid workforces.
Digital Workforce Management
Digital Workforce Management is a way to help manage your teams helped by technology so that you can communicate more effectively with teams in the field.
The main advantage of digital workforce management is developing smart analytics. This is a way to help manage your teams with greater efficiency, accuracy and help prepare you and your teams for future changes. Because your staff are remote (usually) they will have devices that you can reach them on throughout the day, this in turn helps provide data and information that can be used to help everyone in the team.
Improving operations such as managing resources, identifying inefficiencies and updating processes. This data combines to help you identify future opportunities, help save money and increase productivity.
Finally, you can limit risk with Digital Workforce Management before the issue even begins. This could be on the job safety or security issues.
The role of HR Tech in the workplace provides an opportunity for businesses to better develop their workforce, their internal operations and make for a better overall workplace environment. By selecting the right candidates, helping develop others and removing heavy data processing tasks, staff can focus on the things that matter most.
We’re seeing huge changes in the working environment, and HR Tech is there to help businesses and individuals do better, it’s an exciting time in the HR world, so it’s time to embrace it!
