Photo CreditAdvancements in technology have helped to boost and streamline every area of business. The digital age has well and truly torn up the traditional rulebook. Software can now be harnessed to revolutionise your business, and this includes your HR department. In the past, HR may have seemed distant from the rest of your business, and employees may even not have a full understanding of its role within the business, but new technology has helped it become more integrated with the rest of your company.
Top HR technology includes a number of functions that are more accessible to all of the business, rather than a few highly trained HR staff. We are moving towards a world where HR is less centralised, and activities can be completed on the go, but it seems that it is still behind the times for many companies.
Recruitment is a good example of how HR is currently lagging behind other areas of business. Job seekers are increasingly finding work online, with over a billion searches made on mobile devices per month. They are also expressing their opinions through websites such as Glassdoor, with users from across 190 companies commenting on over 200,000 businesses. However, 75% of companies are still relying on traditional HR and branding techniques, while the vast majority of companies still do not offer a mobile optimised job application process.
Another example is your employee directory. Many may ask: what’s in your employee directory? Traditionally, this has been done on spreadsheets listing just the most basic information of each employee, but as technology has advanced, so too have directories which can now be harnessed as multi-functional tools that can help employee interaction.
Training is another areas that can be optimised through the use of technology. Each new employee can go through a standardised programme that gets them up to speed with the company, its culture and expectations. The creation and completion of this ‘checklist’ is vitally important to ensure that every employee understands their role within the company. E-learning courses are much more efficient than having an HR professional dedicate a large amount of time to personally training each new member of staff.
The path ahead involves a number of steps. Firstly, the building of top management consensuses to drive digitisation across HR. Next, an upgrade to a more flexible HR IT system which delivers a seamless multi-channel experience. This technology makes it easier to measure employee engagement and find out ways to improve the overall communication of your team. Finally, rolling this technology out across your business, making sure the HR team are leading the charge and involving all areas of the business.
With the digital world advancing at such a rapid place, it is important that all areas of your business keep up with the breakneck speed of this change and this includes your HR department. The idea is that recruiting, hiring, succession planning, learning and shaping career paths will all be made simpler and this can only be a positive thing for your business.
