Technology is now an essential part of our lives; we can’t think of our lives without technology. This is why it creates immense importance on every brand and company to stay updated with the changing landscape of technology. H.R. department is no exception. In this blog post, we will learn about the latest technology trends in H.R. that could become an essential function in the coming years.
1. People Analytics
People analytics is the best source to track different patterns of people in the workforce and interpret them to achieve common business goals.
According to recent studies by Deloitte, increasing job offer acceptance rates, reducing H.R. Help tickets, and optimizing compensation are just a few ways people analytics quickly become the new currency of H.R.
Let’s start with some basic questions. What your employees want or feel secure with? How can you motivate them further? The key goal of people analytics is to manage and improve talent acquisition and employee engagement in the company.
People analytics helps human resources managers make legit decisions related to the employment cycle, such as recruitment, training, evaluation of their process, or any other special programs.
Why are people’s analytics so crucial for H.R. function?
People Analytics is one of the latest technology trends in H.R. As we all are aware that “data is a new oil.” Today, every decision-making process is highly dependable on data – H.R. function is no exception. The right set of signals and data helps H.R. to make the right decisions and align company goals to their function.
The following are key usage of people analytics:
- H.R. function and business goal alignment.
- Improved on-boarding process.
- Decreased talent churn
- Improved employee satisfaction
- Improved culture
- Enhanced training and upskilling
KPIs in people analytics:
The collection of data from different resources is meaningless if you don’t interpret it. The whole point of tracking analytics and charts is to interpret those things to some meaningful data. Analysis of data helps everyone in the organization view every employee’s exact growth, which helps in a fair evaluation of candidates for the upcoming promotions and appraisals.
Because no one loves unfair rulings and decisions, the very important metric for any H.R. is employee engagement, this way; it helps improve the metrics.
2. Automation
Every H.R. receives 87+ emails every day, which accounts for more than two work hours per business day. The fun fact is most of them could be just answered automatically.
The primary goal of automation is to save time and money on repetitive tasks.
In the surge of increased workload where we all need to keep ourselves sane and work simultaneously, task automation can be the savior. Automating some of the tasks will help H.R. managers because the waiting time for orders and information reduces.
Let’s put this into an actual work situation.
On-boarding is one of the essential business functions. It also takes considerable time and a budget. But apparently, most of the parts could be put on automation. Be it screening the candidate application, shortlisting, paperwork, or initial guidance.
If the complete process is automated, then the new employee won’t have to wait for anyone to guide them; rather, the person will have the right set of instructions and guides that can be followed.
Key application:
- Payroll
- On-boarding
- Email Automation
- RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
3. Virtual Reality for training.
Technology does magic to life. V.R. (Virtual Reality) is such technology that indeed feels like magic and gives a rich experience. The application of V.R. is widely accepted in Army and Aviation training, reducing the potential hazards and giving a real-life experience to trainees. That’s why no surprise, 97% of learning and development professionals see V.R. as a way to enhance training.
But as we are aware of the events happening in the formal sector and are rapidly shifting our work habits from on-premises to remote – V.R. will be the best training application everyone will be leveraging.
Virtual training is the need for every company now because it will help train the employees in a safe environment. Undoubtedly the safety of employees is of the utmost importance, but in traditional training, you won’t be able to train them more practically. This is why virtual Reality is both safe and practical. The employees can have a more proper understanding of their job descriptions in a more protected environment.
Other critical applications of V.R. in H.R.:
Recruitment and On-boarding.
Recruitment is a crucial H.R. function. When recruiting a candidate, s/he constantly gets influenced by salary offered by the employer, job location, office infrastructure, and culture. Since the pandemic began, most of the recruitment has turned virtual, and it’s where the challenges started.
Virtual recruitment comes with some challenges as it does not give the experience and engagement one sees in on-site hiring. Candidates are keener to experience the office tour, and brief about the culture and V.R. can help them here. It’s possible that with V.R. application, the employer could brief candidates about office, culture, and the key employees. It’s proven to be effective in boosting experience and engagement.
4. Cyber security
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Digital ennoblement is a power. Data is power. New H.R. Tech is power. But as we know, every great thing comes with a potential risk.
As H.R. function is moving toward the digital era, the security risk is rising.
As the circumstances have arisen for every employee to work remotely, it has increased the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches.
Alone, in 2020, the ransomware attacks on small businesses have doubled.
What steps should H.R. take to tackle such incidents?
Decentralize the data storage.
Working from home is more vulnerable than working from the office as employees could oversee the proper use of office hardware and data handling practices. H.R. should ensure that all the data managed and collected is stored in office-approved systems and backed up on a cloud or office server.
Comply with Data Protection Laws such as GDPR.
Cyber attackers always look for the personal data of employees as it’s the best asset for them.
While collecting employees’ data such as health data, personal finance information, and educational background – H.R. should be aware of the use and handle of such data. The breach of any personal data could fail to comply with GDPR or similar data compliances and invite big trouble to the company.
Security training
According to a study by IBM, human error is the leading cause of 95% of cyber security breaches. H.R. needs to train everyone about the usage of data and the potential security threats. It can be done through enforcing Security Awareness Training (SAT)
CONCLUSION
Technology will be a pillar of next-gen H.R. growth.
To make the employee experience a new standard and build a great employee engagement, people Analytics and V.R will have their importance. Still, they will come with a cost like cyber security. So along with effective tech management, H.R would be the center of employee cyber security.
We should be prepared and open to new tech trends.