Technology is rapidly evolving with the time. It is even being used increasingly for most aspects of human resource management as well.
Though most organisations make use of technology primarily in relation to payroll. In fact, it can also be increasingly used to enhance the overall human resource experience thus making it that much more simple and engaging. What it has been restricted to though, is more of a once a year activity.
The brisk pace at which technology changes has affected more organisations significantly which requires the human resources team to swiftly adapt to these situations. For HR to anticipate and manage most organisational changes, it needs to swiftly have technology at its core. In fact, as more and more millennials are constituting of more than 50% of the workforce which is also expected to go as high as 75% by 2020, HR may have to build on more technological advancements to meet the expectations of its employees as well as that of the business.
For organisations to become much more competitive, they may have to start using the data available to them and it is here that talent analytics and analytics at workplace may become more common. Some essential aspects of HR underlying every other activity and task includes compliance and risk management. It is due to this that HR has become known for being caught up in several time consuming activities that involves lots of paperwork as well.
Regularly used, technology can give serious impetus to your organisation to measure and improve your productivity, and can also be effectively used for data analytics. In India, there is a greater opportunity for organisations to do things uniquely by first working on what they want to achieve by banking on technology. The big question to ask is, how many organisations are actually successful in using technology and how productive they are.
With the use of tech, data has become much more readily available. However, the way it is being interpreted by organisations is that much more critical. Different technologies exist for dealing with various aspects of HR though consolidating helps simplify the process.
Here are some ways in which technology can be used for various facets of the HR funciton:
- Recruitment and selection
Recruitment is one area in which human resources has been significantly impacted by technology. Before the advent of the Internet, most HR recruiters relied on print publications to post advertisements of jobs and invite applicants. Even networking was used, though HR recruiters were unable to post a job in one or more locations simultaneously and get millions of views at the same time. Technology has thus definitely made the overall recruiting process much more efficient and effective as well. - Training and Development
With technology, human resources professionals can now train new staff members much more efficiently. Trainers are no longer required to work directly with the new hires at all times as most company information and even the training programs can be accessed by the learner from across multiple locations at the same time. Though some interaction is always necessary at some level, training received through virtual classrooms makes it possible to quickly train a large number of employees and also to assess their progress. - Technology for Data Storage and Retrieval
Most HR professionals are usually required to process a large amount of paper work which also stays on file for a considerable period of time. With the use of technology, it is now possible for companies to store and retrieve these files electroically which can also be easily printed when required. This option of printing the documents required helps you to do away with the need to rummage into innumerable files to find what is needed. - Enhanced Performance Management
A much enhanced performance management is a side product of technological improvements in HR. Most HR professionals can make use of technology to assess the overall performance of their employees and also to get feedback for the overall betterment of the organization. Quite a few software programs make it possible for human resources professionals to examine employee performance using certain metrics that ensure most employees are meeting their performance standards. Those employees that do not meet the same can be asked to undergo additional training or could be replaced by those who can do the job competently.Despite the overall impact that such technologies can have, most organisations still have not made the transition. However, the future of technology at the workplace certainly looks bright with HR having a lot to look forward to with option of easier data storage, cloud computing and better insights. Because of this efficiency, it is a given that technology is just too critical to ignore and in fact it is a boon for HR and the organizations as a whole.