By
Sushil Ghorpade
“Change is the only constant and hanging on is the only sin." - Denise McCluggage
The human resource industry, like all industries, has been progressing steadily using technology as the main driver. Better the tech, better the human resource solutions. HR, today, is at a stage where the technology is available but mass adoption is still a problem. Only a handful of companies are spearheading their way into technologically advanced HR solutions. So, what are these companies looking at? How are they formulating their long-term strategies? And why are they so invested in the research and development of their products and services? Let us have a look.
DATA IS KING
A LinkedIn study recently confirmed that almost half of all human resource professionals acknowledge that “data” is the top trend to look at in the recruitment process yet only 9% of hiring decision-makers admit to having good enough tech to process data and get the job done. This concludes that there is indeed a major technological gap and awareness problem that needs to be addressed first.
Today, a majority of the businesses in the human resource domain understand that they need to work on data because most of them lack the technological prowess to process it. This makes them dependent on 3rd party data mining and warehousing companies that help them process and interpret that data. Once the data is processed and interpreted, only then can these businesses create a meaningful story, anticipate future needs, and try new growth strategies for their business.
But this dependency on 3rd party data companies can sometimes do more damage than good. With such an arrangement, companies often lose control or have very little say in “how” the data is processed and analyzed. Questions are asked, data is processed, answers are given. This is how it works. But when research and development are done in-house, companies are free to do all sorts of permutations and combinations with their data. Human resource teams gain a holistic understanding by having a 360° view of their data. This enables them to further inspect, analyze, and attack the problem from various different angles in order to get to the truth. Such companies, that do in-house analytics, then have access to much more valuable data than their competitors who might have used 3rd party data processing services.
BUILDING TECH THE RIGHT WAY
Most people, when they hear about advanced automation technologies, like machine learning, artificial intelligence, neural networks, natural language processing, etc. they think about machines working round the clock, doing all the work for us. But this expectation is not pragmatic in the real world. In reality, most companies prefer a healthy mix of machines and human contributions. The first step of integrating advanced tech into your company is to optimize your workflow in accordance with the tech stack. Then carefully identify areas that can be automated or partially automated. Once this is done, humans can be trained on the new process. This is how tech should be built and optimized around human workflows. While you do all the creative parts that involve critical thinking and decision-making, software robots can make your life easier by doing all your grunt work like crawling through tens of thousands of web pages, shortlisting potential candidates, going through their resumes, extracting contact information, sending them the initial contact email, creating reports for you, and then sending the human resource department those reports via email. All this robotic process automation can happen in the off hours while you sleep.
You can also build talent pools using this type of automation. Ready talent pools can give you instant access to talent when you need it, cutting down the cost and time of hiring people. Some companies take up to 4 months to fill in a vacancy. With your advanced hiring optimization and ready talent pool, your human resource department can hire within 2 to 4 weeks and open up the possibility to surpass your competition effortlessly.
A SHIFT IN APPROACH
Approaching potential candidates has not been the same as before. With the advent of social media, “grabbing attention” has become the meta of the game. Traditional hiring techniques, therefore, seldom work as they are intended to. Talented individuals do not experience a dearth of offers which is why you, as a human resource manager, cannot fully rely on traditional hiring methods. You have to introduce modern, guerilla techniques to grab the attention of highly sought-after individuals.
The first step is to collect and analyze data. This data may include: average demographic of the people who might fill your vacancy, what social media platforms are they most active on, do they prefer email or chat, what type of media (video, blog, image) do they mostly respond to, what is your market reputation and what is the sentiment of these potential candidates towards your company or human resource department, are they frequently active or passive or both, etc.
Once all this information is known, you can start formulating strategies to attract top talent for your vacancies. Keeping a marketing mindset to approach this problem, with the help of data, can work wonders for your hiring efforts.
Also read: How to Spot Great Talent?
VIRTUAL HIRING
Google Trends data clearly shows explosive growth in remote virtual hiring after the pandemic. It has become one of the most important priorities of hiring departments and because of this sudden shift, virtual hiring tech like video interviewing and team collaboration applications saw a rise of more than 500% in March of 2020 in just one week!
The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst that resulted in the development and release of advanced remote working technological infrastructure. With no other option other than virtual interviews, companies rushed to create an ecosystem that could comfortably support remote work and hiring. All preconceived notions of remote working were tested rigorously and the results surprised the human resource departments. Productivity, in most areas, did not take a hit. With this conclusion, human resource departments have become serious about including remote work and virtual activities full time into their organizational structure because of the competitive advantage it provides.
Exela Technologies is a world leader in human resource process outsourcing. HR is what we do — day in and day out. We have a team of experienced HR professionals, each an expert, dedicated to their slice of the HR pie to make sure all your HR tasks are carried out correctly and on time. Not only do we bring the best HR practices and advanced human resource technology to your company, but we also minimize employment-related risks and help you take even better care of your employees.
- Fast and Efficient Talent Acquisition Process: Our well-built networks over the years allow us to find the right talent for your business as quickly as possible. This includes requisition management, sourcing and applicant tracking, interview assessments, offer management, onboarding management, and more.
- Global Payroll Processing & Full Employee Benefits Administration: Our powerful HR technology that will back your organization, has the ability to deliver payouts globally and on time. We also manage employee benefits like variable-component, hazard pay, overtime, etc. so your employees never get less than what they deserve.
- HR & Business Partner Services: Dedicated HRBPs for your employees to make sure every issue or concern of theirs is addressed effectively and on time. This includes grievance management, leave management, engagement activities and surveys, travel and expense management, rewards and recognition management, workshops, coaching and mentoring, virtual focus and open house meeting management, and more.
Speak with us today!
Sources: google.com | en.wikipedia.com | recruitingblogs.com | theguardian.com | linkedin.com | icslearn.co.uk
DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for general information purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Laws governing the subject matter may change quickly, and Exela cannot guarantee that all the information on this site is current or correct. Should you have specific legal questions about any of the information on this site, you should consult with a licensed attorney in your area.