Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are revolutionising how we recruit, manage talent and drive success in the workplace. Being able to balance the efficiency of this technology with the need for human support and intervention is crucial to maintain a positive employer brand that is core to HR. This article looks at how companies can implement automation thoughtfully and responsibly without devaluing your company’s most important asset – your people.
What is automation in HR?
HR automation refers to the use of technology to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks that HR are responsible for.
How to blend HR automated tasks with human intervention
There’s a lot of manual work and repetitive tasks that go with running a successful HR team. Embracing automation and AI will help to free up more time and focus on more strategic and value-added activities.
Here are some examples where you can embrace automation and still retain that all-important human element.
Applicant screening
Use AI to: Filter resumes based on keywords, skills, qualifications, number of years’ experience that are relevant for the role. This is particularly relevant where a company gets a lot of applications and needs to shortlist using certain factors that are relevant to the role.
Use people to: Retrospectively review the decisions made by AI and ensure they align with your own judgement and preferences.
Onboarding
Use AI to: Reduce some of the heavy paperwork required by onboarding such as:
- Scheduling orientation meetings with relevant team leaders
- Organising and distributing all the onboarding documents that need to be reviewed and signed
- Pairing them with a mentor or buddy
- Delivering a survey to gather feedback on the onboarding process
Use people to: Mentor new team members and make sure the culture of the company is communicated and ‘felt’ by having that all-important human intervention during the onboarding process.
Leave Requests
Use AI to: Manage leave requests and minimise employee dissatisfaction and make payroll processing easier.
Use people to: Make informed decision-making before leave approval, particularly during busy seasonal periods for your business. HR Managers should also be mindful where leave requests may be required on the grounds of mental health and to keep an “open door” policy for employees to talk about their leave requests with their manager.
Performance Management
Use AI to: Track and deliver relevant insights relating to individual and team goals. Use it to send alerts to managers if an employee is lacking skills or support and how they can improve.
Use people to: Create more time for meaningful conversations about an individual’s performance to keep employees engaged and to encourage them to always achieve their best.
Offboarding
Use AI to: Obtain actionable data between the departing employee and the successor of the job role to help in smooth transitioning and get invaluable feedback about how you can improve to attract the right candidate in the future.
Use people to: Conduct exit interviews. AI should never replace this, but act as the ‘data collector’ for key metrics. Managers should focus on building interpersonal relationships to understand the needs of the departing employee and promote a positive work culture throughout the offboarding process.
HR now has access to so many powerful AI-powered tools, and it’s set to be a top workplace trend for 2024. Automation isn’t about replacing people. It’s about helping them focus more on strategic, creative tasks by taking over repetitive and laborious ones.
Have you successfully implemented automation into your business? Or do you need support to navigate transitions like this? 1850 are here to help. Simply book a free consultation with us or call to speak to our friendly team.
