Technology has changed the way we do business, that’s no secret. It’s changed industries, business development focus and how people do their jobs. That also is no secret. Look across each industry sector and one can see the changes. The travel agent has competition from travel sites such as Expedia and Kayak. The real estate agent now has to compete with sites like Zillow, Trulia and Redfin. The daily newspaper now competes with content from ESPN.com, Bleacher Report and fan-focused sites or blogs.
So what’s next then, for human resources? What has technology replaced? What will it change in the future? How has it already reshaped the profession and industry?
“Technology is an enabler – it makes people’s lives easier and that is no different for HR,” says Margaret-Ann Cole, Senior Vice President and Northeast Consulting and Practice Leader for Right Management, a global leader in talent and career management workforce solutions within ManpowerGroup.
For the past 15 years, HR technology has become better and better, especially impacting activities that are repeatable or transactional, says Cole. The areas of recruiting and training have greatly benefited from enhanced technologies.
“Online job boards have revolutionized how individuals connect to jobs and how HR managers and recruiters find individuals with the right skills for open positions,” says Cole.
For example, Right Management now hosts virtual career fairs through its Right CareerExpo Virtual Hiring platform that helps employers interview and connect with jobs seekers across geographies, industries and skill sets. This technology allows candidates, employers and recruiters to interact directly through private messaging, group networking and webcast presentations.
What’s more, training practices have become much more efficient with technologies that allow virtual classroom training, adds Cole. HR leaders can conduct training that reaches a far greater audience than decades ago when training had to be conducted in-person, which was limiting and more costly. For example, Right Management’s Elearning platform offers more than 6,000 courses, including accreditation courses in 19 different languages, to help candidates upskill, reskill and grow their capabilities at their own pace from their online devices and laptops.
That being said, HR can’t replace the human element – and likely never will, says Cole.
“While we will continue to see a push to make HR interactions virtual, human one-on-one coaching and interaction will continue to be a vital part of HR,” says Cole. “The value of the human touch cannot be replaced with technology in certain areas.”
Here is a list of HR facets that can be enhanced with technology, but not replaced, according to Cole:
- Strategy development for anything related to the business strategy: workforce (talent) and rewards (compensation and benefits)
- Counseling on retention issues, separation of services
- Employee/manager interaction/problem resolution
- Executive resourcing
- Conflict and issue resolution: Services related to identifying and analyzing employee problems
- Succession planning
- Coaching managers
- Leadership development
- Organization Design
- Acquisition/merger support
- Change Management and Communication
- Creating Culture
“We will continue to see the proliferation of technology that promotes simultaneous collaboration, real time decision making and aggregating data for trends and recommendations,” says Cole. “However, technology won’t replace activities that require dealing with the human element, especially one-to-one coaching for development and career counseling.”
The role of HR is evolving and technology has, and will continue to have, an impact on the changing way HR drives business outcomes. It has changed and will continue to change the industry. But ultimately, people will create those results, while technology supplements.
“As talent shortages persist, and finding individuals with the right skills to fill open positions becomes harder and harder, HR leaders need to take on new roles of being talent supply and demand experts, marketers to attract and retain the best and brightest, and designers of work models and people practices to accelerate performance for the organization,” says Cole.
