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The way we do work is changing. Artificial intelligence and automation will accelerate this transition in the same way that mechanization did in previous generations of agriculture and industrial. While some occupations will be lost and many new ones will be created, nearly all will change. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated existing trends and forced businesses to rethink many elements of their business.
No one is in a safe zone with digitalization and automation peeking around the corner. As this progressively takes over human workplaces, it forces organisations to embrace it and think of a way on how they can maximize and make collaboration between humans and robots, and the Human Resource industry is no exception.
Not only is technology a factor driving a shift in workplaces, but so is the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on everyone. Organisations have, for the most part, risen to the challenges of the current crisis-era with the constant unforeseen developments, businesses are pushed to be innovative, adaptive, and resilient.
Integrating technology will be the new norm
Automation comes in a lot of forms. It isn’t just about inventing a speaking robot that wanders around the workplace, it could be as simple as a set of tools housed within common business software programs. At its core, automation is about implementing a system to complete repetitive, easily replicated tasks without the need for human labour. Therefore, automation is not just about robots and it shouldn’t be scary.
As we approach the coming years and automation is inevitable, It’s time to stop accepting HR as a department that is full of manual processes, mind-numbing repetition, piles of paperwork, and other stressors, and start enjoying the benefits of HR Automation, thus the rise of demand for HR Tech.
HR Tech or HR Technology is the application of technology to redefine fundamental HR processes like recruitment, talent management, compliance, payroll, performance management and employee engagement. According to PWC, 74% of companies are planning to increase their budget solely for HR Tech. It primarily aims to make work more efficient and faster through using these intelligent technologies in doing repeatable tasks.
As HR Tech can feel like it’s been stealing the spotlight for the human work opportunities, we should also consider how many new job opportunities are created with the help of technology. We shouldn’t look at automation as something that takes over human work but as a tool.
Embracing HR Tech as soon as possible will help your firm become future-proof. Tasks like managing benefits and payroll may be done more efficiently and effectively, freeing up your core workforce for more cognitively demanding tasks. HR technology, ironically, has the potential to make the workforce more humane by allowing professionals to better understand their employees.
Look closely with talents
We all know that automation will happen at some time in our lives, but no one really knows how to deal with it until it comes their way. To remain relevant in the future of work, automation will necessitate a significant amount of unlearning and learning processes. However, not everyone has the luxury of gaining access to the knowledge required to succeed in the future of work resulting in a skills gap.
Skills gap or the mismatch happens between employers’ expectations and employees’ ability to deliver. This raises the risk of disrupted productivity, company culture, and profitability. The skills gap is also a direct result of the rising trend of using HR Technologies in the work landscape. According to the KPMG HR Pulse Survey, 3 out of 10 will reskill, 39% will work remotely, and 2 out 10 jobs will be redundant.
However, the skills gap isn’t just regarding technological skills. It is more on developing adaptability and turning people into more flexible workers, and most especially on developing their various complex cognitive skills like people management, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence.
Identifying the skills gaps in your company can be one effective way of guiding you as to how the programs should be made, thus a higher need for a diverse and expanded talent pool of human resources. As for the jobseekers, they should also consider reskilling towards more complex cognitive skills as repeatable jobs would become obsolete in the long run.
Working from home is here to stay
Everyone experienced how disastrous the pandemic, the virus hit fast, sending much of the world into lockdown just months after it was first detected. Businesses reacted rapidly, reorganizing supply chains, adopting remote-work models, and speeding up decision making with surprising velocity.
This pandemic has given people a chance to see what it’s like to work remotely, and most of them, if not all, definitely prefer having control of their work time and it shows better productivity results compared to an in-house set-up.
Millennials are looking for meaningful work and are demanding more freedom in the workplace to pursue their passions. While it may seem to manifest with the rise of the gig economy, shared resources and remote work mobility, flexibility is expected to impact more evolved work practices beyond time, location, and remuneration.
According to Harvard Business Review, 88% of today’s knowledge workers are doing their jobs remotely. This trend is expected to continue in the succeeding years, especially since the primary human resources would be millennials in the future.
We can witness less time is spent in the office because people work at their own speed. Without a strict schedule, they can work around it as long as the output is provided on time, a critical role of employee satisfaction in attracting new employees and the value of the brand image that goes beyond the company’s mission and goals.
