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A person or artificial intelligence, point solutions or ecosystems – what has changed in the HR function and what changes can be expected in the industry in the next ten years, says Andrey Krylov
About the expert: Andrey Krylov is the founder and CEO of Skillaz, a platform for automating HR processes.
In 2019, researchers from KPMG surveyed more than 1,3 HR directors and found that three out of five respondents believe that their function will quickly become irrelevant if they do not change the way they plan for future workforce needs. Many of them see the solution in technologies that accompany an employee today at all stages – from onboarding to dismissal.
Artificial intelligence won?
HR departments are already actively using technology to improve the efficiency of employees. For example, “Robot Vera” can find suitable resumes and conduct initial interviews, taking on routine HR tasks: in the case of Coca-Cola HBC, the audio bot called 1,5 thousand applications for mass positions in a day and transferred them to “live” HR only those who passed the formal criteria. There are more advanced technologies that can do more than just scripting. They flexibly evaluate the answers to questions and the qualities of respondents and act as HR assistants not only in the recruitment process.
A separate trend is predictive analytics, which allows you to predict the departure of an employee of your own free will or prevent burnout. For example, Rostelecom has developed a mechanism that analyzes about 50 factors: changes in the behavior of an employee in corporate systems, his mood, interest in motivational programs, career track, education, compliance with market income, length of stay in the office, and so on. The results are published on an internal platform for HR, who are already working with employees at risk. Based on the results of testing the system, 70% of key employees were retained.
The use of AI to evaluate candidates has become so widespread that it is causing concern among unions around the world. In the UK, for example, they are calling for gaps in the country’s labor laws to be addressed as AI makes high-risk decisions for people about hiring, downsizing, and also monitors productivity, distributes shifts and workload. And if live HR explains its logic, then a system trained on an array of data – not always.
Another difficulty is that learning algorithms can be biased by their creator, and the data the system learned from can contain gender stereotypes and other types of discrimination. There are no racist algorithms, but there are wrong samples – as a result, AI will not only not eliminate bias, but will exacerbate it, and the company will not notice it.
Businesses will inevitably use big data more and rely on quantitative metrics in the selection and evaluation of personnel.
But it can also be predicted that in the near future legislation will be formed that will limit AI in the work of HR specialists. This will balance the trend towards the use of artificial intelligence.
Point Solutions
AI-enabled solutions – a story for innovators. But for conservatives who do not want to lose the “manual” business management, there are suitable products.
you have something on your head
HR specialists actively use VR in the process of recruiting, onboarding and training. For example, Talespin has developed a VR platform that can be used to recreate different scenarios, work out typical tasks, simulate trade negotiations, or prepare managers to handle employee layoffs.
VR is actively used in hazardous industrial facilities, where lessons not learned can cost lives, so it is a cross-functional assistant for HR and occupational safety specialists. For example, using the Varjo VR-1 headset, Fortum, the largest nuclear power producer in Northern Europe, trains employees on how to deal with critical situations that may occur in the control room.
We see you
But there are also more controversial decisions. So, during the pandemic, there was a “boom” of interest in monitoring systems for remote workers: in April 2020, the number of requests on the topic “How to monitor employees at home?” increased by 1705%, and in May – by another 652%. Sales of such software increased by 55%. It allows you to see the screens of employees and themselves on a webcam, analyze their actions, the number and duration of breaks, mouse and eye movements, and so on. At a distance, employers install such software on personal computers of subordinates.
The situation of total surveillance in the spirit of George Orwell’s novel “1984” is not only unpleasant and tinged with distrust, but also makes people feel vulnerable – uncomfortable to work when your bosses are watching your entire home “kitchen” in real time. Moreover, the problem of declining productivity turned out to be far-fetched: as a result of a survey of 1,5 thousand HR managers as part of the Upwork study, only 22,5% of hiring specialists noted a decrease in employee performance, while 32,2% of respondents reported on the contrary, about its increase.
Your personal task manager
There are alternatives that seem more logical than total surveillance: this is the provision of tools for organizing work and time management, protecting corporate and personal data on remote devices. For example, Mordor Intelligence, an analytical company engaged in the preparation of studies of energy markets in various countries, predicts the growth of the software segment for task management from $2,35 billion in 2020 to $4,72 billion in 2026, the average annual growth will be 12,3%.
The demand for such software is also confirmed by the results of the Accenture survey: only 20% of respondents reported that the HR department significantly supports them and improves productivity. Provided that for a number of companies the remote work format will become the norm, and the more conservative ones will sooner or later switch to a hybrid format that combines remote work and an office, such business software will definitely come in handy.
Completely different HR
The increasing complexity and digitalization of the HR profession is leading to two parallel trends. The first is the emergence of highly specialized specialists in HR. In the next ten years, the market will be replenished with at least 21 professions. Appear:
- algorithm bias auditor;
- facilitator of communications between people and chatbots;
- VR onboarding consultant;
- employee welfare manager.
The second trend is that an HR specialist is increasingly turning into a manager who does not resolve issues on his own, but correctly uses the services of narrow-profile professionals and the products of software companies. It will simply not be enough for a human resource specialist to have his own human resource to effectively compete in the market.
Gradually increasing number of narrow-profile solutions that automate part of HR processes will give way to ecosystems. Omni-channel technology platforms will make the process of searching for candidates, onboarding, as well as motivation, support and retention of specialists seamless and seamless – it will be possible to accurately trace the relationship between events that occurred throughout the entire career path of an employee, and use this information to train AI.
The advantage of ecosystems is also the possibility of their scalability and flexibility – it will be possible to add new products and tools to the existing IT environment for HR, based on the current goals of the company, using a minimum of effort to refine and debug.
In such platforms, a “golden mean” can be reached between blindly trusting AI in life-changing decisions for people and the use of individual products.
The last word will remain with the person, but he has a sufficient arsenal of tools to cope with the challenges of the market. For example, using the Skillaz system, Pyaterochka was able to reduce the time it takes to hire employees by 1,5 times, the flow of candidates is processed by 100%, and 34% of candidates are employed on the day of application. HR professionals are now working in a new digital environment, using the help of AI and additional features – task managers with prioritization of search and hiring tasks, automatic appointment of interviews and self-collected offers. But they make the key decisions themselves. This is a reasonable symbiosis with a human face, which is not afraid of the prospects of limitations in the use of AI in HR.
Four Scenarios for the Future of Technology in HR
There are many scenarios for the development of the HR industry. Deloitte presented four versions, based on the degree of automation (from low to high) and the quality of the relationship between the employee and the employer (from a situation where the company is just one of many equivalent options, to the format when the company becomes a person’s personal career partner).
Scenario 1: HR 4.0
Introductory: high level of automation, the company is a career partner.
Task automation materialized faster than expected. Many jobs have been replaced by machines, the rest have become more complex. HR departments are using AI and VR to build close and long-term relationships with employees. In their day-to-day work, they have more points of contact with the HR department than ever before. Training and development trajectory are selected individually according to the needs of the person. HR decisions are automated. People are loyal to employers and identify with the company they work for. In general, the company has become the only reliable partner for personal career and development.
Scenario 2: “1984”
Introductory: high level of automation, the company is one of many options.
Competitive pressure has risen strongly and forced companies to refocus on maximizing shareholder value in the short term. Their goal is to get the most out of a person. Employers are investing in technologies with proven and significant savings. They reduced the number of personnel in the human resources departments, leaving only the most talented, all processes are highly standardized. Relationships between employers and employees are weak. Companies prefer to invest in machines rather than people. Employees do not feel appreciated and often change employers so as not to be dependent on them.
Scenario 3: Old school in a new world
Introductory: low level of automation, the company is one of many options.
The hacker attacks revealed the low level of data security in companies, which led to the adoption of strict laws. Together with the lack of economic growth, this did not encourage innovation. Most jobs and tasks have not changed, and demographic shifts have led to an imbalance in supply and demand. HR workers still perform many routine tasks. The personnel policy is determined by the shareholders: HR-specialists do not focus on the person and his development, but on the coordination of supply and demand while minimizing personnel costs, which leads to turnover. Employees perceive companies as places to work that can be easily changed.
Scenario 4: Only the person matters
Introductory: low level of automation, the company is a career partner.
Data is subject to strict rules. Companies easily find talent and focus energy on retaining the best. For most, business remains a business of people, not technology. Companies are reluctant to invest in a technological revolution in the human resources department and rely on a large HR staff that understands the needs of employees – whether it be personalized training or operational solutions. This allows you to establish close relationships and promote the development of everyone. Employees sense this and reward with loyalty and performance. HR processes depend on people.
In general, the rapid growth of the applied elements of AI and technologies in general in everyday life cannot pass by the HR and education industry. The consumption of content, the demand of the audience are changing, so the world of HRTech is no longer on the verge of a technical revolution – it is happening here and now. But I would like such rapid development, new entrepreneurs and huge ecosystems not to limit our choice and not increase control over us, but to more and more successfully answer the main question – what is the vocation of each individual and how to do what you love.