HR Automation is the New Normal
For some time now the move to remote work (aka work from home) has been evolving as the digitization of HR takes hold in the corporate world. But the global pandemic has accelerated that trend forcing employers to adapt to the new way of work. For some this transition has been easy. For others, not so much. Covid has forced working life to change overnight, as teams become distributed resulting in schedules having to become more flexible. HR has had to adapt quickly. The new normal means that to maximize the talent pipeline and keep the employee base supported/engaged, employers need better insight into their workers’ performance. But if you ask HR professionals most say they are not succeeding in the new normal. In fact, a study by Sage People says that only 18% of leaders in HR believe they have been successful in making HR interactions more employee centric. 86% of these leaders also say that it will take 8-10 years to fully achieve that goal! Thankfully HR process automation is here to help. Apps, HR texting software, AI chatbots, and the cloud now allow you to create a more self-serve focused, digital experience for all employees. HR Automation = Speed Now that we are entering into a recovery phase, many employers are beginning to plan for a return to the office and the pace of hiring has picked up a few ticks. But, companies must remain vigilant in case of a surge in COVID-19 cases. Human resources teams are on the frontline of this new landscape and find themselves at the center of an enormous change in how employers manage the workforce. A significant part of this focus is now on the health and well being of employees in order to keep them healthy and productive. But if you have legacy systems and processes in place, they become an impediment to the speed of work. Today’s employees need fast and easy access to data and communicating with each other over distance. Furthermore, if your team can’t extract your human capital data quickly, they won’t be able to help in the transformation to better, more automated HR systems that make their working life easier. People Want Automation The acceleration of HR automation trends means that human resources leaders must quickly learn to maximize productivity for their organizations. If you are still suffering through mundane, repetitive daily tasks, you are losing ground to your competitors and limiting your organizations ability to respond quickly in a crisis. It is wasteful to have a team member approve a vacation request if HR automation software can do it for you more effectively, leaving your team free for higher priorities. HR process automation is the solution and the people want it whenever possible. Adding AI and automation to the employee experience means freeing up valuable HR time and doing more with less resources. Going back to the vacation request example, these types of transactions can be automatically approved through software as long as the employee meets the parameters set by a manager or company HR policy. Or, if you need to collect feedback from workers, automated surveys sent via HR texting software and administered and aggregated by an AI chatbot can be executed with the click of a button. Employee FAQS can and should also be automated using AI chatbots and made available by text message and on the web. A self service approach works well in these circumstances leaving your HR team freed up for more value added activity. Plus HR automation also reduces cost and avoids costly human errors that happen too often. After all, you don’t want your new hire to lose his/her onboarding paperwork when it can be handled & signed digitally. Today’s HR is all about being agile and adapting quickly to a rapidly changing environment. Yet for many, navigating the new normal is challenging if you can’t see the forest for the trees. As an HR professional, you have a tremendous opportunity to leverage the latest in AI and automated HR tools to emerge as a leader in these uncertain times. HR automation is your friend, and can make a real difference in the daily lives of your employees as well as impacting your company’s bottom line.
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