The future of your organisation is paperless, executed completely online by the grace of digital advancements.
While HR’s focus must remain people-centered though, is it possible to go completely digital while remaining personal?
Most of our talent acquisition is done online, and a growing proportion of interviews are being conducted over the internet too. We do not even have to physically speak to talent before hiring them if we do not want to, choosing online remote workers and freelancers over the traditional, sometimes expensive process of bringing talent into our offices.
Emerging markets have produced a wider pool of candidates, spoiling us with choices when it comes to filling open positions. Digital technology has allowed us to connect with talent far and wide – recruitment is already heavily computerized, with most applications sent via the internet, and online staffing solutions are dissolving the need for us to scour talent via the web ourselves.
In a recent Gallup poll, it was revealed that 35% of respondents agreed they frequently read and posted messages on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. The heavy presence of a hirable workforce on these sites is a double-edged sword, as many potential or current employees use their profiles as a professional platform, while some talent that may have at first being desired unknowingly ruin their candidate image by posting inappropriate media and messages. If HR does go completely digital, it is likely that this issue will continue.
A report into digital HR challenges (by Mashable) stressed the importance of:
being able to recognize the need for a technology solution will be a significant business advantage.
Problems can likely arise if HR fails to consider how digitizing their services can affect their communication and connection with talent. Heavy use of online and computerized interactions can destroy the people-centered approach that professionals have taken so long to build up.
Not seeing or speaking to a real person can severely affect engagement.
The task for human resources when taking on board the opportunity for pure and total technological advancement is to remain personal while being digital.
With more training being conducted online, HR can personalize these strategies by holding organization webinars, question and answer sessions and discussions that aim to inform and engage simultaneously. This technique goes for remaining in contact with telecommuters too, and is useful in uniting a team that is based in numerous locations.
At the same time, HR should continue to keep some physical presence on the office floor. Your workforce needs do not to see you sometimes to feel valued by you, and they need to feel valued to bring results.
In this sense many ‘traditional’ HR experts believe that it is almost impossible for HR to go completely digital, and it might be the only department within your organization that would suffer greatly if it adopted a totally computerized approach.
While your workforce can communicate with you and each other online, it is harder and more time-consuming to engage with your staff this way, and many believe HR is robbing themselves of the close relationships that provide them with an inside view into general employee wellness.
We must remember to balance the digital with the personal, and stay connected physically – while still developing computerized ways to better perform the traditional HR functions.
New To HR does believe each organisation can go a lot more digital and technology is allowing us to complete tasks quicker, easier and from remote locations, but we should not let it destroy employee engagement, but find new ways of integrating technology into a fully functioning digital HR team/organisation.
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