6 Drastic Changes That Technology Has Brought In The HR Domain
The Human Resource industry has embraced the technological juggernaut like most other business sectors. The HR teams of the past mainly focussed on recruiting, determining the compensation and other benefits. This involved a lot of paperwork and also required a large workforce to manage.
The advent of technology has automated most of the operations and reduce manual work. This has enabled HR teams to focus more on strategic human resource management. As a result, the HR domain has undergone massive changes, some of which have been described below:
Smart Recruitment
If we remember back to 2006, searching for a job was not easy. There were a handful of websites that posted job vacancies, and most of them were not trustworthy. We relied on newspaper ads that used to appear weekly. The recruitment process was not as efficient as it is today.
Nowadays, there is a myriad of websites that post vacancies. LinkedIn, in particular, is a highly efficient app for hiring candidates using the connections. There is a feature of recommendations from peers, professors, managers and tech leaders that boosts a candidate’s profile. With this, it has become easier to shortlist and approach candidates.
Moreover, the HR team of today gets a lot of information on the candidates with the help of social media profiles. People are expressive on social media apps like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which enables HRs to analyze the behavior, choices, likes and dislikes of candidates before meeting them. All these helps them to make a proper assessment of the candidate.
Employee Engagement
According to the Gallup survey, only 31.7% of employees are engaged at work. This means only 31 out of 100 employees are happy at work.
There can be several reasons for any employee not being happy at work. The HR team has to first understand each employee’s expectations. Then, they have to devise plans to engage employees at work.
Realizing the value of highly engaged employees, the current recruitment experts are coming up with many ways to engage employees.
For instance, some of them are introducing Flexi hours. This concept emphasizes more on the quality of work rather than strict working hours. Other steps taken are encouraging employees to showcase their ideas via some exhibitions, hackathon programs, and so on.
Another concept that is gaining popularity is BYOD. Bring Your Own Devices.
Employees are motivated to bring the devices of their choice. The reason is that some employees are very specific about the specifications of their device. There are some who like a particular color or aesthetic of their device. Others want a specific screen size. Therefore, encouraging employees to bring their own devices is a great way to keep them motivated at work.
Performance Management
Periodical and effective performance assessment are crucial for any HR team. This process is what defines the promotions and compensation rise. Since the evaluation has to be fair and transparent, technology has started playing a significant role in this process.
Performance management solutions help HR conduct a structured assessment of employees. The data collected allows managers to evaluate employees against their key performance parameters or goals.
Continuous Learning Process
Upskilling employees are a top priority for HR in the rapidly changing tech industry. For this purpose, online portals have been launched that enable customized training sessions for each individual. The short and engaging training sessions help employees to stay updated with their skills without affecting their usual schedule.
Some companies even link up-skilling programs to performance engagement and make it a goal for the employee.
Strategic Resource Management
The adoption of technology in the HR domain has brought about a paradigm shift in the way HR works. The usual administrative tasks are taken over by technology. Database management systems and cloud computing have increased efficiency in the working HR team.
HR can focus more on coupling business goals and strategies to employee development. They are now able to focus more on bringing a competitive advantage to the company. The inclusion of technology has enabled recruiters to effectively implement employee engagement ideas such as Flexi hours, cross-domain training and so on.
Strengthening Work Culture
Diversity and culture define how inspiring and collaborative working environment is. Lots of studies have shown that gender and ethnically diverse work environment improves employee productivity. Since analytics has helped to bridge the salary gaps among employees, it has led to greater inclusion of women in tasks that were previously limited to men.
Moreover, many technological solutions that help to monitor employee satisfaction and address their challenges constantly.
Final Note
As said by great Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “The only constant in life is change”. The HR domain has to keep adapting to the new technologies to add value to their organization. With the help of technology, HR teams can now create an efficient workforce and build an environment that balances work and personal life.
The unprecedented advancement of technology has enabled HR teams to escape traditional thinking which has been deeply embedded since the post-industrial revolution. They are now able to challenge the old school practices with data-driven insights and bring in radical changes needed to suit the next-generation workforce.