Human Resources is all about managing people. Though it is all about managing the human, the role of technology in managing functions of HR, cannot be ruled out. Automation and inclusion of Artificial Intelligence in HR is just a small function of the role technology plays in Human Resource Management.
There are number of software which ease out the process of HRM, right from recruitment to team management to performance appraisal to payroll management, technology has been involved at various stages. Technology in HR has not only enabled managing large number of employees, maintaining records, maintaining training records to managing yearly compensations and rewards.
Finding talent with close geographical areas is not the ideal way and therefore the traditional newspaper advertisements are not the solution. The recruitment process is driven by technology and involves recruitment through talent websites, automated profile scrutiny. Recruitment through robots and using artificial intelligence is also on rise nowadays.
The platforms like Honeypot are enabling technology in HR for easing out recruitment. The platform has reversed the traditional process wherein candidate browse listed job postings and apply to most suitable opening. The platform enables the employers take the initiative and contact candidates registered in the app with the best-fitted offer. The employers and candidates are able to get desired results quicker and easier which cost and time apart from sourcing the right resource.
To simply the screening process and save the cost on travel and allowances, more and more employers are undertaking web-based video interview. The video job interview can be conducted for job interviews for candidates from all over the world. The use of skype which is most common for video interviews is very popular, it not only saves time and efforts of screening but also saves cost. A lot of organizations go for video interview rounds after screening rounds are successful.
Using cloud-based HR software is becoming the need of the hour and much needed for globally distributed teams. Where it allows HR professionals to work with real-time data, it also enables handling large scale teams which are working remotely.
For years, the HR departments have been using traditional HR software to complete tasks and/or store information. With the teams getting to sit and work in different geographical locations, a lot of team members working from home, a much more advanced storage system with real time data and performance management is required. This is where, the need of advanced HR platforms in the cloud, with usage of AI for resource management come into picture. Fortunately, there are multiple all-in-one HR platforms are in use, including software that integrate a lot of separate, core aspects of HR management, login – logout time management, payroll, onboarding, and collaborative software.
In case of remote working the employee self-service management tools, gives access to employees to control their data, benefits, and tasks. The tool also helps organizations and employees more effective tools to evaluate their engagement and productivity.
In one of the research reports of an International Working Group (IWG), the latest trend in HR that is booming is Remote working. As per the report, remote work is no longer an exception, but is an widely accepted across countries and industries.
The remote work culture comes with lot of administrative challenges. The ability to work remotely is acts like perks to employee but involves lot of stress on HR management. The organizations have to be ready to connect employees in different time zones and ensure that they all have equal learning and development opportunities. The role of technology is multifold with solutions on hand in bringing distributed teams together.
With the ease of collaborative project management and messaging suites like Slack or Trello, and cloud-based HR platforms, different geographic locations of employees is no longer a challenge. However, the challenge for technology is to tackle keep the distributed teams connected and productive. Software tools namely PukkaTeam and Focusmate are built to create virtual coworking spaces, enabling employees to use their soft skills and make the remote working experience more social and connected.
With the increase in remote work culture, employee training is also moving from offline to online mode. Online employee training is growing with usage of training mobile applications, video tutorials, webinars and it is developing with more personalized, self-paced courses that fit employees’ individual learning needs. On the other hand, the HR Technology is using gamification, AI, and AR/VR for training.
With availability of HR tech tools like PathSavvy or Talent Guard, a lot of possibilities have opened for individualized career progression, building multiple career options based on individual employee potential, individual skill gaps, and reviewing job competencies.
When the technology is generating data and tools of data management, the need of data management in human resources is on high demand, especially when the teams are large and work remotely. Technology has enabled tools available to HR professionals from simple surveys and employee feedback tools to complex analytics tools. Platforms like Peakon, which is one of the leading platform for measuring and improving Employee Engagement are helping hand to HR professionals to help managers analyze the data to understand the most desirable employee engagement activity and what engages them more.
The various HR technology software, tools and platforms are the not limited to above mentioned functions. There are multiple platforms which helps in real time data management of thousands of employees working in different geographical locations. The employers are able to manage the employees work hours, performance management, learning and development and payroll management using HR technology enabled tools. The HR technology tools are one of the most adopted methods of cost cutting. The organizations which employ a large pool of delivery guys, sales team are able to track movement of employees with the usage of these platforms which keeps the employees in better control and helps in improving productivity.