Modernizing the HR department: Put AI tools to use
Modernization is the next crucial step for businesses worldwide, and investing in HR technology is an essential part of it.
Despite AI’s apparent promise and application in various fields, the technology has only seen adoption in established AI tools such as chatbots rather than HR-specific applications. This is because there are too many systems being used in HR that have not been modernized. And while there are vast amounts of data available, they aren’t adequately harnessed and instead end up lost in countless spreadsheets, emails, and other files from legacy systems
Another factor that has halted widespread adoption is public trust in the technology, although this is certainly improving. Businesses relying on AI today increasingly recognize that solid AI ethics can increase brand equity and confidence, ultimately enhancing employee retention and attracting new customers. Putting AI to use in improving productivity and decision-making speed, for example, would help consumers trust the technology, according to 56% of survey respondents.
Related: Technology’s role on the modern benefits team: A Q&A with Tim Kulp
Modernization is the next crucial step for businesses worldwide, and investing in HR technology is an essential part of it. Luckily, it seems as though company leaders are broadly in agreement here – 74% of companies plan to increase spending on HR tech to address pressing talent needs.
Let’s look at some of the fundamental use cases of AI that businesses can adopt with a basic AI toolkit before examining how more advanced predictive models can be used to measure more difficult metrics.
Foundational AI applications
Recruiting
Artificial Intelligence has gone a long way towards making the recruitment process faster and more straightforward, even though the process is yet to be entirely automated.
Today, 52% of recruiters say screening candidates from a large applicant pool is the most challenging part of recruitment. An AI-enabled program comes in handy when the recruiters and HR professionals need to go through and filter candidates out from a stack of hundreds of resumes. One useful acquisition tool is XOR, which screens candidates and schedules interviews with an AI chatbot, although multiple AI recruiting tools are available.
Learning management systems
With a functional AI-based and user-friendly Learning Management System, any business can productively solve various tasks. The technology leverages algorithms to predict the user’s next steps. It learns the user’s behavior and then enables personalized utilization of learning material. Learning Management Systems can assign tasks, control the time of studying materials, fulfill tasks by trainees, and assess the competence of employees.
HR helpdesks
HR helpdesk software gives HR staff a single place to manage inquiries, identify recurring problems, and resolve them transparently. Team members can use the HR helpdesk to ask about benefits, payroll, medical or disability leave, and any other company policy. HR HelpDesks can also use natural language processing to determine if employees’ answers can be acquired with a faster, more automated method.
The beauty of AI is that it enables queries to be solved based on predefined business rules and insights gathered from previous interactions. Through a centralized hub that analyzes communication, it’s easier to determine patterns and prevent issues, such as low employee motivation.
Other areas of future AI development in HR
Performance management is one facet of HR where AI can help identify high-performing individuals’ characteristics earlier, based on data instead of opinion. Then, these findings can be used to focus energy on junior members of the workforce who have these similar characteristics and high potential. 15five is an exciting tool that uses real-time feedback and goal setting within their dashboard to track objectives and performance.
Compensation management is another area that needs more attention from companies. Many organizations still use spreadsheets for compensation planning, and they need to move to a systemic approach. Algorithms can determine where compensation may lead to a risk of flight, and can subsequently be used to produce a roadmap to provide greater AI-based insights.
Looking further ahead, companies could gather data with regards to turnover that can then be leveraged to train and generate AI models. One area which can often lead to turnover is employee workload being too high. Just 36% of correspondents in a recent survey said their manager had an accurate understanding of their workload. Additionally, employee retention is a problem for 57% of companies, and implementing AI in their HR functions would surely help the cause to a great extent.
With the widespread availability of modern HR tools out there, companies don’t need to invest heavily into adopting complex algorithms to step up their game. And in today’s dynamic era, there’s simply no excuse not to do it.
Boyd Davis is CEO of Compright, a cloud-based compensation planning tool.
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