Essential Technical Tools for HR Departments
The Human Resources landscape has undergone tremendous changes over the last few decades, with organizations adopting trends toward target-driven advertising, artificial intelligence assistance and digital tools to help companies keep track of remote employees.
If an organization wants to compete for skilled employees, especially with the low employment rate and tight market, it must stay informed, implement efficient platforms and adopt trends like those listed below.
Digital Tools for Remote Workers
According to Global Workplace Analytics, telecommuting has seen a 115 percent increase since 2005. In fact, telecommuting in more than half of the top U.S. cities exceeds public transportation as the preferred way of commuting. These workers average 46 years, so it’s critical to have platform processes in place to hire and retain these skilled and experienced individuals.
Organizations can include audio and video calls for meetings and collaboration tools for communicating with all team members as a means to keep remote workers engaged. They can also consider platforms to manage employees across different time zones. This also makes it easier to schedule meetings and phone calls. Processes should be in place to organize projects, assign tasks, and manage documents and spreadsheets.
AI Assistance
Artificial intelligence has the ability to free up time for HR staff so they can focus on building stronger relationships with personnel or implementing well-being policies. AI can combine with user interaction to make suggestions based on entered information, and to provide quick responses to queries and questions.
Organizations can also use AI to provide solutions, improve data-based decision making, and analyze workforce metrics such as disengagement.
When searching for candidates, HR personnel typically use a simple keyword search. With AI that uses natural language processing by expanding keywords to synonyms, the search becomes faster and more efficient.
Consider these revealing statistics on how recruiters feel about AI:
96 percent of senior HR professionals believe AI has the potential to greatly enhance talent acquisition and retention.
55 percent of HR managers see evidence of AI becoming a regular part of HR within the next five years.
35 percent of HR managers say not fully automating manual processes has led to higher costs.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement should be at the top of the list for an HR department. Positive employee engagement affects productivity, customer service and, inevitably, an organization’s bottom line.
Continuous learning for workers ensures that organizations have a continuous supply of innovation for their products and services. Since training improves employee retention, loyalty and workplace satisfaction, it should be available on-demand through multiple platforms and devices.
Performance assessments are an excellent way to reward workers, but assessments that use old methods like performance evaluation forms are not as effective as those that use newer methods. These include real-time feedback tools and data-driven processes such as attendance, and data from social media, email, telephone and other communication pathways.
Diversity and inclusion also improve employee engagement by providing a culture where creativity flourishes. Creativity and innovation improve productivity and put companies at a competitive advantage. They also improve the company’s reputation, which is an excellent enticement for candidates.
Conclusion
This article only touches the surface on important tools for an HR department. Further research and education will be necessary before preparing an organization’s strategic plan to implement some of these tools. Remember to build a strong culture that will allow for hiring, retaining and keeping employees happy!
