Technology has increased our ability to interoperate, globally connect, and work at speeds only dreamt of in the past. HR departments are beginning to take full advantage of the way technology, particularly the internet, is making it easier to find the best candidates, evaluate prospective hires, engage with employee needs, and effectively communicate between employees and departments.
As technology changes and improves, it’s being implemented in many different ways to benefit HR departments. People analytics, cloud-based storage, video chatting systems, and wearables are just some of the technologies that are helping to improve HR workflows, talent recruiting, personnel engagement, and intraoffice communication.
Some of HR’s more painstaking tasks have been moved in recent years to digital platforms that allow manual operations to be performed much more accurately and quickly. Time-consuming, meticulous tasks such as payroll, time-clocking, employee feedback, and other people management are now much more easily managed with automation enabled by digital tools. As a single department may use many of these tools to perform individual tasks, technology is now enabling interoperability between these programs. There are also all-in-one solutions – many cloud-based – that make running everyday HR tasks even less complex and more convenient.
People analytics is an emerging science that has great potential for Human Capital Management. Predictive algorithms can analyze data and recommend employee training needs, predict where fraud or other security risks are likely to happen, identify problems in time management, and even look for changes in employee voice timbre to gauge stress. As analytics become more capable, practical and cost-effective, they look to be a serious trend in HR.
Wearable technology, which includes fitness trackers and smart watches, has become extremely popular over the past several years. Some organizations are already seeing the benefits of using wearables to support employee wellness initiatives. Used by consumers to track their own heartrate, movement, and other heath data, these devices can also be used to help employees manage worktime stress and encourage physical activity.
HR departments have benefited from the technology boom to improve both employee performance and employee contentment. With so many platforms, programs and systems to choose from, you can decide exactly what works best for you to optimize operations at your own organization.
