In the 1970s, it was envisioned that by 2020, computers would be doing everything. Today, we have more computing power in our hands than was in the computer that sent the first rocket to the moon! Yet, technology is still failing to effectively disrupt HR. Mark Dickinson of DONE! Hospitality Training Solutions examines why and what we can do to right this wrong.
A recent survey of 2 million people (www. surveymonkey.com/curiosity/cnbcworkplace- happiness-index/) showed that only 47 percent of people were very satisfied in their work. The same survey revealed that 60 percent of people felt able to keep up with technology and almost nobody felt threatened by it. These numbers are highly significant. People are not that satisfied in their work; they are aware of technology, but not afraid of it and it is not being used to improve the workplace. It’s time to bring HR into the present – to use technology to manage our HR processes. S, to stop wasting time doing work that machines can easily do, and concentrate on improving the lives of the workforce.
5 Areas of HR where Tech can make a Difference:
Recruitment: Linkedin Recruiter is the global leading app for hiring people. It will not solve your problems, but it will do some serious heavy lifting for you. You can identify better quality and more focused candidates and you have better eyes on the hiree from an external perspective before hiring. However it is fakable. Thereafter, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of apps offering recruitment services. Let’s be honest, finding the right talent is the hardest of challenges and it will not get easier. Every candidate considers themselves to be the best qualified person for the job and every interviewer is looking for perfection. Somewhere in the process there is a compromise; that is the human element of recruitment. Along the way, the apps will help you identify better candidates from a wider pool; search Google top recruitment apps to get the latest list, then sample until you find what works for you.
Onboarding:
E-onboarding is a thing. Again, there are myriad solutions online that will help you do this work digitally. Do you need a person to physically onboard new starts? Probably not. It has been proven that you can learn pretty much anything through e-learning, so why not learn about your new company and your job online? Again, go to your online search engine and you will find thousands of solutions. We obviously recommend ours!
Learning and Development:
HR must use online learning and development tools. From university degrees to learning how to make a pot of coffee, it is all out there. Why-ever would we want to duplicate these processes when they already exist? Find a great platform and use it. Get all your people on board with using it. Make it mandatory rather than optional. Funnel all your learning through one app so that you can track the progress and growth of your people. Collect the learnings of one and share it with all. Make information-sharing a central core of your business. Allocate time for learning for everyone. It is essential that everyone is learning. You cannot track their learning on bits of paper, you must do it online. It must be organized and measurable, so that you can encourage greater growth.
Performance Management:
You must manage the growth of your people, if only to see how to improve their salaries through a system. No matter what anyone says, salary improvement still ranks as one of the most important elements of an employee’s journey. It is twice as important to the employee that their salary grows as it is to get learning and development opportunities. Which app will do the job? It’s very hard to say and depends who you ask. Anyone who is still managing key performance indicators (KPIs) through a manual system is behind the curve. Let technology drive your results and let the software take care of the reminders and measures.
Statistics and Data:
According to the World Economic Forum, data stored globally has reached 44 ettabytes and this data is available for use, not for storage. Businesses today must make effective use of data. The more data you collect, the better informed will be your decision-making and the more powerful will be your ability to determine strategy. So collect data: How long did an employee stay in a particular job? Why did they leave? What were the contributing factors? Understand as much as you can, collect as much information as you can and then use data to predict future behavior and improve results. Technology is not the future, it is the present. Use the tools that are already around you to improve and propel your business forward.