The digital revolution is changing how people engage with others and go about our day-to-day tasks. As employees, individuals carry the expectations of a seamless, tech-enabled experience to the workplace, too. The future of HR will require new technologies to improve the employee experience and keep the organization competitive and nimble.
Here are 6 trends that will have an impact on the future of HR technology.
1. Prescriptive and Predictive Analytics
Think about all the data you have at your fingertips when it comes to employees: recruitment, salary, performance, onboarding, training, and more. Unfortunately, all of that data is likely stored in disparate repositories in a variety of formats. But imagine the ability to aggregate and analyze that data to gain actionable insights!
With improvements in analytics programs, HR will have the ability to assess the impact that training programs have on employee retention. Management will be able to spot behaviors that indicate a long-time employee may be leaving. With insights like these, HR can act to improve the company to attain better business results and deliver a better employee engagement experience.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Natural Language Processing – i.e. the language technology used in automated chatbots – is quickly becoming one of the leading AI technologies in the HR industry. Highly advanced chatbots can automate a number of internal tasks, trainings, and communications typically performed by HR employees, thereby increasing the efficiency of HR departments as a whole.
Going forward into 2019 and beyond, NLP technology is poised to help Human Resources teams on a variety of fronts, by:
- Reducing administrative burdens
- Improving employee onboarding
- Increasing employee self-service options
- Providing efficient recruitment experiences
3. Mobile-friendly Experiences
With more people adopting smartphones as their primary or only “computer” experience at home, the demand for mobile-friendly HR applications and approaches will grow. Already businesses are leveraging responsive websites and apps to attract customers who use mobile. Why not attract your target talent with mobile-friendly recruitment pages, too? While mobile-friendly experiences have an obvious appeal when it comes to recruiting, businesses are finding new ways to incorporate smartphones for building a better corporate culture and improve employee engagement.
Two additional mobile-related trends to monitor include:
- HR as app builders. Human resources teams may take a page out of the L’Oréal playbook and begin to think like developers and user experience experts.