In 2022, we stand at the helm of automation
and its relevance to HR processes. With time at a premium and targets
looming large, emerging technologies are being progressively used to automate
and improve basic HR processes like recruitment, onboarding, data collection,
updating and maintaining currency of personal records.
Artificial intelligence is also being used for critical repeatable tasks that
require reminders, follow ups, discovery, cadence, or standardized responses
to queries on communication and information platforms.
An effective use of AI in recruitment is using the emtech to
screen and shortlist candidates that match the selection criteria for a job role in
a fraction of the time as against the traditional approach.
One example is when Schneider launched its Open Talent Market in 2020—an innovative
application of AI in HR helped place the company’s considerable internal
expertise where it is most needed. The platform currently performs three
functions:
• matching employees to vacant roles • helping them find a mentor • connecting them to side projects.
Conspicuously, it puts employees in control
of their own careers. People are free to share whatever personal information
they feel is relevant to their career aspirations and goals, such as competencies,
skills and goals, which is then matched by the system's algorithms to the new job
requirements of the company.
38,000 of the company's 75,000 white-collar workers
have already enrolled and there's a plan to make it available to the blue-collar
workforce via on-site kiosks.1
Another example is the AI-powered decision support
tool designed by IBM. The tool assists a critical function like
compensation planning.
This helps line managers avoid underweighting or overweighting critical data points.
The application reviews dozens of data points before making its recommendations,
integrating both information from external sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics
while calibrating internal decision points such as the cost of replacement.
The application is currently being deployed for tens of thousands of first-line
managers to assist with their compensation planning, following the successful early
trials in some geographies that have a large employee base.
IBM also emphasizes transparency in AI-based compensation support. Employees can see where they sit
relative to the market, because the low and the high range of compensation for
workers with their skills is provided, in addition to their personal salaries.2
Chatbot conversations too can be set up to deeply analyze and study a potential
candidate's technical skillset and EQ. With AI, one can interpret a candidate's
social media presence by crawling through interactions in the public domain and
highlight key relevant attributes. This, naturally, gives an insight into the work
style, ethics, and other relevant attributes. HR practitioners can therefore easily
use these tools to pick and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce where gender,
race, ethnicity, ability etc. will be treated equally without bias.
Learning and Development programs are fast becoming one of the go-to recommended applications
of artificial intelligence. These platforms not only add value to the individual
at a professional level but also help speed up the knowledge capital and skill base
of the organization leading the growth and development. This clearly helps create a
digital space within the organization that augments and elevates the career trajectory
of employees according to their individual needs leading to retention and higher
motivation levels.
IBM, for example, provides high quality career guidance to all
employees, regardless of level, with their personal advisor, Watson Career Coach
(WCC)-an AI assistant that brings the benefits of career coaching to all of IBM.
The personal advisor interacts with employees who are thinking about future
opportunities. It gets to know the current mindset of the employee by asking and
answering questions with natural language while integrating with historical
information available with the company.3
Employees can also collaborate with peers and distant colleagues using these emerging technologies to host meetings, interviews,
discussions, and other forms of engagement in real time, sitting next to each other
without travelling. This further improves the ability of organizations to control
travel costs while retaining an immersive experience of a physical meeting or a
social interaction in the virtual world.
That said, companies are finding ways to use these pathbreaking and disruptive
technology with the careful calibration.The metaverse, for example, can be used to gamify team building engagements and
social interactions.
