The future of HR is a combination of human and digital entities, working together to create an intuitive, informed, and personal experience. AI is reinventing HR as we know it, with major players in every market integrating the tech into their current HR functions. In fact, the majority of recruiters believe that AI will become a regular part of HR in the next 5 years, with 13% already considering it a norm.
That said, some smaller businesses are still on the fence about implementing AI into their HR department. It’s critical to understand the capabilities of the tech as the industry begins to move towards utilizing it across the board – here are 3 major ways that artificial intelligence could transform your HR strategy in the future.
1. Enhanced Candidate & Employee Experience
Optimizing the candidate and employee experiences has been a huge priority for employers in 2019, and rightfully so. With a consistently low national unemployment rate and rapidly expanding skills shortages in numerous industries, attracting and retaining talent is becoming increasingly difficult, especially for highly skilled positions that are paramount to business success. To improve their hiring processes, as well as lower turnover rates, companies are utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance these experiences and ensure the satisfaction of both potential and current workers.
During the talent acquisition process, AI can be leveraged in various capacities to provide significant, measurable, and prompt solutions, such as reduced time to hire, increased productivity for recruiters, and improved candidate relationships. Many AI-powered hiring tools are able to review resumes, schedule interviews, and extend email or text status updates, allowing hiring professionals additional time to focus on emotionally intelligent tasks. This enables recruiters to develop more meaningful connections with candidates, helping them more accurately determine if a candidate is a good fit for a role.
Managing the employee experience requires more personalized engagement – individualization is slated to be one of the most impactful megatrends shaping the labor market in the coming years. Currently, 80% of executives consider employee experience to be important, yet only a mere 22% believe their organization excels at providing an exceptional experience to their workers. AI may not be able to directly improve company culture, but it can be implemented to augment existing job functions, eliminating repetitive tasks and helping employees perform their work more efficiently. While the technology manages the menial aspects of their work, employees are able to concentrate on functions that require uniquely human skills. The opportunity to partner with AI means professionals can develop their abilities while feeling valued, ultimately improving their overall satisfaction in their role.
2. More Effective Data Collection
Today’s HR technologies have made essential data accessible to HR leaders in real-time. That said, while current programs can collect and organize this information, without the ability to adequately interpret these findings, the majority of the data is meaningless. Artificial intelligence is able to bridge the gap between the initial data collection and drawing actionable insights from that information, executing the entire process from start to finish. The tech is able to analyze data, extract insights, and deliver recommendations in mere minutes. Decisions powered by AI also are less likely to be driven by human biases and can work to eliminate internal inconsistencies due to human error.
In addition, AI tools are able to collect and evaluate significantly larger amounts of data and at a faster rate than pre-existing HR programs. Artificial intelligence technologies store these massive data sets for future use, and, driven by machine learning, these tools become smarter as they gather more information, steadily improving and fine-tuning decision-making abilities.
3. Improved Management & Workforce Planning
The data collected by artificial intelligence can be used in countless ways to enhance companies’ HR initiatives from top to bottom, including improved management and workforce planning. Effective management requires a thorough understanding of individual skills, behavior, and needs – an arduous task for businesses with more than just a few employees. AI’s problem-solving abilities can revolutionize the way that managers make decisions and perform tasks, providing them with a comprehensive view of their workforce and more time to invest in strategic work.
For example, last year an Australian workforce management software introduced an artificial intelligence-powered scheduling module. Auto-Scheduling collects analytics from multiple sources, including sales, foot traffic, reservations, and more. With this information, the function is able to forecast a business’ demand at any given time, align those findings with pre-determined goals, and curate a custom calendar that schedules the best employee for each respective shift. Auto-Scheduling is just one of thousands of AI tools able to complete simple yet time-consuming tasks. HR leaders can delegate responsibilities to AI with confidence.
Is Your HR Department Prepared for the Future of AI?
Artificially intelligent technologies offer businesses the opportunity to make sound, data-driven HR decisions – something that more and more employers are beginning to notice. It’s estimated that by next year, AI-based platforms will be worth $1.2 trillion.
With the implementation of AI, companies will be able to more effectively attract talent, manage their current workforce, and operate as whole – posing an entirely new challenge for HR leaders. It’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence will be a necessity in order to remain competitive and operate a successful HR function.
