By Sumit Sabharwal, CEO, TeamLease HRtech
Over the years there has been a significant shift in the role of HR from a reactive and need-based disjointed intervention to a more proactive one which is more strategic and exhibits a significant focus on target setting and planning to help the organization achieve its long-term goals. As the HR function was caught up in a quagmire of following organizational processes and protocol, somewhere along the line, the basic connection with employees and their well-being was diminishing. HR technology will enable HR professionals to regain focus on their primary responsibility to drive, sustain and hone the people within the organization by automating repetitive tasks such as candidate screening, onboarding, document management, payroll services, and compliance.
The key role of HR must revolve around building a positive culture and encouraging continuous learning and skill development to minimize the problems of talent crunch, attrition and skill deficit. A thorough understanding of the organization’s and its employees’ needs can facilitate HR to implement timely interventions that can help meet the growth expectations of the business as well as the employees.
Automated performance metrics
There is a growing trend to invest in technology to improve and automate HR processes with the adoption of AI, RPA, and data analytics. These technologies are expected to drive growth and innovation in the HR Tech industry in the coming years. Research firm IDC estimates that 80% of about 2,000 global giants will start using algorithms for processes such as hiring, firing and training workers by 2024. This is already happening in the gig economy. Algorithms are increasingly rewarding, rating, and mapping the productivity of employees. Many companies are using some form of AI in HR alone. This will help in talent retention, expansion of the candidate pool, and ensure a faster and more efficient hiring process that will save cost, resources and deliver better candidate experience. Due to evident benefits, the HR Tech market in India reached a value of approximately $940 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.5% between 2023 and 2028, reaching a value of around $1,640 million by 2028.
Keeping on top of Technology
Employee self-service portals can improve employee engagement, efficiency and experience while also cutting HR costs by streamlining processes and providing a centralized knowledge center for company information. HR technology also improves transparency and communication within an organization and also provides a competitive advantage. However, HR professionals must be wary of delegating the entire responsibility to automation. The system is unable to make subjective accommodations for factors that are not within the control of the employee or candidate leading to faulty decisions such as terminating people for reasons beyond their control or hiring people who don’t fit into the organizational culture.
The ability to override the system must remain with HR professionals and they must take full ownership of the algorithms, choose where they work best, and ensure the process is efficient. They must undertake measures to eliminate existing biases embedded in historical HR data. This will help to create smooth systems that can process large quantities of data, communicate clearly, and help make better-informed decisions.
Focus on Employee experience
The long-term impact of remote working along with the added pressures of a looming recession are factors that can lead to anxiety, exhaustion, and even self doubt among employees. The redressal of such issues is important to prevent attrition and a dip in productivity. HR professionals need to develop a warm and rewarding environment where there is flexibility in terms of work schedules and people feel validated and appreciated for their work. In addition, the implementation of learning and development programs based on the future needs of the organization will help to retain employees for the long term. HR needs to develop a career progression plan for each employee so that they can foresee their growth within the organization. HR must utilize tech tools to address training issues and skill gaps and foster a high-performance work culture to align with the overall goals of the organization. This will help establish a win-win scenario for all the stakeholders and lay the foundation for a future-ready workforce.
HR Outlook 2023
The year 2023 will be of great significance for HR as it will allow them to consolidate the learning derived from the turbulent years of the pandemic. Data-driven HR tech is a boon that must be leveraged for the benefits of employees as well as the organization. It will enable HR to focus on its primary role of aligning the needs of the organization with those of the employee to
build a strong, efficient, productive and mutually profitable relationship. It can lead to effective talent management and create a framework to mitigate several workplace issues such as high attrition, skill deficit, and talent shortage. The role of HR is of paramount importance for in the words of Lawrence Bossidy, CEO of AlliedSignal which was later christened by Honeywell, “Nothing we do is more important than hiring people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.”