Meena Sinha, VP & Head, HR, RRD GO Creative, APAC
Isn’t it a bit of an irony that whenever we have technology enabling something, invariably, there will be discussions and debates on technology versus that very thing? In the world of IT, subjects of change management and seamless transition have been perennially discussed. So, it’s natural that in our world of Human Resources too, questions are asked within and from outside, whether or when technology becomes too much of a good thing. I am happy that this is being discussed, and ideas are coming in from many directions. It is through assimilating multiple viewpoints, including those from outside, that an organisation can find the optimal place, scale, and time for technology in its people practices. Here are my thoughts on some fundamentals, or guiding principles, if you will, on technology in HR.
If I had to say it all in one sentence, it’d simply be, stay true to your intent, and let technology follow. At the very outset, we need to establish the desired end-goals in clear terms, with numbers where applicable. HR leaders, technology providers and consultants, IT, and certainly business stakeholders (where they have a role to play), all have to be on the proverbial same page. So long as the technology being introduced makes it easier, faster or more efficient to reach those goals, it’s all good. If at any point it begins to look like there’s some misalignment, it’s time to ask if the technology is right for the goal, whether the implementation is aligned to your unique structure or not, and so on. Fail fast, fail forward, fail cheap. At this point, I urge you to pause and to think about the overarching theme or commonality of intent. It’s very likely that it would revolve around people, in most cases. We are human resources, after all!
The next logical question will be on how exactly technology can and should assist in our goal pursuit. Out of the myriad ways in which technology helps, I will focus on two. The first being the ability to unlock the full potential of the HR professional. By offloading routine and repetitive tasks, reducing or eliminating non-value-adding tasks from the everyday job of the HR team, technology can free up the human’s mental space. Making and mailing reports vs real time dashboards, sending dozens of mails to candidates vs automated email triggers in the applicant tracking system, you get the picture. The time and mental space freed up can be devoted to any of the several change-inducing projects and problem-solving tasks. If there’s a task that can be automated, so be it! How often have we heard someone say “I wish I had time to pilot this new idea that everyone actually liked”? Let technology do its thing, so HR people can do their thing – connecting with and understanding people, and think creatively.
The other major benefit technology brings to HR is in the data it provides and the actionable insights that can be derived out of it. Never have we had access to the kind of data about people, and about nearly everything that impacts people, like we do now. Data is indeed the new gold for us in HR. If you had a gut feeling that employee motivation or sentiment is impacted by certain factors, but you couldn’t prove it, now, with the right tools in place, it’s possible to do so,. More importantly, data driven interventions and decision-making builds greater trust with the business, greatly reducing the inherent skepticism that comes with my gut feel over your gut feel.
Take for example how sentiment analysis has transformed over the last few years. Today, an organization with thousands of employees with diverse job profiles can deploy a cloud-based AI-enabled survey in just a few clicks. The application can help understand what employees in specific pockets, or with certain years of experience, or skill level or rating, or any combination, are feeling about their work. Correlations and trends are identified by the application, indicating which cohort is feeling great, which isn’t, and possibly why. Has technology replaced human touch? Quite the contrary, in fact. Now, armed with such insights, HR is far more empowered to impart the human touch to enable every employee to be their best at work. Insights may be technology driven, but it’s us – humans – who need to act and undertake interventions, effect change. When insights cover more employees, the scale of the positive impact we can make is also greater.
These are but a few examples. I am confident that in other areas in HR too, it is people, who are in the position to act to make things better for other people, while increasing the value delivered to business.
It is not technology versus human. Rather, it is technology plus human.
