Technology Is Just An Enabler; Time To Evolve HR’s Role

It wasn’t long back that HR as a fraternity wasn’t perceived to be a group of hardworking humans running and catering to an organisation’s daily needs. It has always been more of a ‘portal’ for all. But, apart from a digital work shift, well what has come into everyone’s understanding with the onset of COVID-19 is that how important is the role of an HR department in running any start-up or a multi-national.

It won’t be wrong to claim that traditionally, HR has always been viewed as a paper-intensive, non-innovative area, where salary decisions are made, people get hired or fired and where team building sessions are organised. What’s more enthralling is to see that how this industry today is changing and incorporating technology at a rapid pace, even if it wasn’t designed for HR to start with.

Let Technology Be The Driving Force

In today's knowledge driven networked organizations, digital disruptions have transformed the way we do business, where technology has been leveraged as a ‘Force Multiplier’ to scale up human intelligence and productivity.

When asked Prabir Jha, Founder and CEO, PRABIR JHA PEOPLE ADVISORY he was of a very crystal clear view that, “going forward technology will continue to be an enabler for smarter HR insights and interventions. This way greater digital penetration will help employees serve themselves better, freeing HR of much of its transactional burden. This in turn will allow HR to evolve into a more strategy shaper and talent evangelist including shaping organisational frameworks and culture to be more agile.”

Experts believe state that usage of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will continue to be an enabler for smarter HR insights and interventions. Greater digital penetration will help employees serve themselves better, freeing HR of much of its transactional burden. 

This in turn will allow HR to evolve into a more strategy shaper and talent evangelist including shaping organisational frameworks and culture to be more agile. The opportunity is there. How will the HR fraternity, individually and collectively, will respond to it will depend on them and the ecosystems they work.

Adapting Into The Rapidly Changing Scenario

“A connected world is changing the way we work. As virtual devices enable workplace interactions and communication to happen anywhere, at any time, job roles and careers become increasingly redefined to fit into these boundary-less models. We need to quickly adapt to rapid technological change, be it Artificial intelligence, Robotics, Autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things, which is reshaping the world of work,” believes Amit Das, Director-HR & CHRO, Bennett Coleman.

Today’s ecosystem demands a workforce who can handle uncertainty, adapt to frequent changes, engage with automation and constantly develop their knowledge, while on the move. People analytics is moving from being an operational tool to a more strategic lever, which can be leveraged to derive significant ROI through better hiring decisions, increased Talent retention, process transformation, improved employee experience, & of course more productive workforce.

“As big data, analytics, and AI take over work that was previously performed by humans, new job roles will start to emerge. HR professionals will be more focused on building specialized skills such as monitoring, creating, operating, or designing automated and online process, which will be enabled by People analytics, that will keep adding value to the business outcome,” states Das.

Jha believes that technology today has become very intuitive. One doesn’t need to be a geek to leverage technology for business. The mindset, the interest, the strategic intent of leveraging technology is what is more critical. As long as CHROs have those, they will do fine and adopt at a decent phase.”

Towards A Ray Of Hope

Today HR teams totally consumed by the near-term business continuity pressures and some concomitant welfare and policy moves. More and more companies are demonstrating empathy and progressive inclinations. 

Das concludes that, “every disruption also throws up an opportunity, as long as we are agile enough to spot it and adapt it for the better. Workplace itself has been Digital for a long time, where employees across global geographies were connected virtually across offices using technology. But the current situation has thrown up an opportunity to build a Digital Workforce. We all know that the biggest barrier for any transformation is the resistance to change and the current pandemic, even though inadvertently, has brought the urgency for that much needed change in organizations.”

But HR still is falling short on adequately pushing its strategic agenda - leadership, talent, culture, rewards and engagement, enterprise risk. “To me the issue is less about training. It is about expecting more from HR. Every company and leadership team gets the HR it deserves. HR leaders survive more for convenience than impact. They in turn allow mediocrity to fester in their ranks. I would advise sharper thinking, courage of conviction and the honesty to influence more emphatically. This is where the ball in many cases is getting dropped,” advises Jha.

Organizations who can successfully navigate technology and maintain human touch while being agile, will emerge as winners.