Function is at the cusp of new age of automation. Employees at businesses now anticipate “Consumer Grade Digital Services,” and the subscription-based Cloud Talent Solutions that were once part of the Digital Wave in HR are no longer relevant. The next few years will continue to challenge our ability and agility to innovate and continuously reinvent, leverage advanced analytics and social media to drive Employee Experience.
As I see, Cognification, the “act of making something smarter” is going to drive the next revolution and will be the most disruptive trend with Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Blockchain and Internet of Things opening up newer possibilities in the space of HR.
Cognification in my thoughts should create more opportunities than any previous industrial revolution. In his book “The Inevitable,” Kevin Kelly describes cognition as the application of both the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). He elucidates the synergistic impact of artificial intelligence to connected devices, and demonstrates this impact powerfully with inventive practical examples. For example, this could mean using Cognification for determining the people interventions that may be required to enhance productivity and leadership capabilities through understanding the work patterns, assessing meeting effectiveness, people interactions and decisions. The study of critical employee parameters could also be used to determine peak productivity times and people outages to improve organizational efficiencies. Utilizing the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence for Human Resources AI, which represents an area in technology that simplifies the way we do things, is being increasingly adopted while carrying out HR functions.
AI is gradually developing the intelligence that is required to scout for the ideal match, predict the next move, and assist HR professionals in making intelligent decisions, despite the fact that they will never be able to do so. It can be used to screen candidates by analyzing the essential details and success factors of a specific job profile. It could also be put use in onboarding employees through analyzing, engaging and following up with the potential employees to reduce the chance of last-minute offer rejection.
AI also makes it possible for personalized learning programs based on the skills, experiences, behaviors, and learning patterns of employees. It can also provide a customized career path based on the potential, strengths, experience and exposures, career aspiration and learning agility.
I also see a lot of use for IoT in engagement, attendance, and location and health and fitness tracking. In a recently published article on FoxBusiness by Doug Salvemini, there is a mention of Deloitte Canada equipping a set of volunteers with sociometric badges that measured location, movement, and voice tones to measure stress and analyze the positive and negative aspects of their work life. They used their findings to help organize their teams and redesign their offices. Logistics companies that use truck sensors to monitor things like speed, direction, braking, and idle time are another example of how IoT technology is being used. Software for the Internet of Things (IoT) can help plan routes that are more efficient, get rid of idling, and schedule truck maintenance in advance, all of which reduce fuel consumption, operating costs, and carbon footprint. Transformation of the workplace through virtual and augmented reality Before discussing how augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will change the workplace, let’s first discuss the differences between the two. Virtual reality is a completely immersive environment. This means that when you are locked into VR tech, you can’t see what’s going on around you. Augmented reality provides digital details about the real world around you.
Utilizing virtual reality (VR) for interviewing, on-boarding, development processes, talent engagement and collaboration, and virtual meetings are just a few examples of potential workplace applications. This might entail providing candidates with an engaging and immersive workplace experience prior to their decision to accept the position. In on-boarding, this could entail experiencing the multiple workplace locations, encounters with future peers and teams and simulation of the induction modules. This could mean learning at any time and from any location using a virtual reality set to simulate an environment. Employees can use augmented reality (AR) in the workplace to share real-time insights on how to improve workflows, provide background on people who are meeting on a call, and stay informed about significant changes or upgrades to machinery or equipment. Just for an example, AR can provide workmen with Digital Manuals complete with 3D rendering that can be superimposed onto machines and objects that they are working on and can be applied to machining, assembly, maintenance, servicing and so on and so forth.
Is Blockchain going to drive the next wave of disruption in HR Technology landscape?
Blockchain has the potential to reshape the HR technology landscape as a cross-industry disruptor. It has the potential to change some HR practices. Blockchain received high marks in terms of expectations in the August 2016 Gartner report “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2016.” It has indicated that Blockchain technology has the potential to kick-start a platform evolution or revolution within the next few years. It has the potential to disrupt industries and make processes more secure, transparent and effective. In short Blockchain provides a decentralized and secure ledger to the participating parties and a method for validating information related to a transaction thereby speeding up the process and cutting out middlemen involved in transactions.
Bitwage offers a novel approach to investigating payroll transfers across international borders. Bitwage facilitates cross-border payments by utilizing Bitcoin as a payments rail, employees are paid out in their local currency, and Bitwage handles the conversion of Bitcoin to local funds by combining Blockchain with mobile and cloud technology. The verification of information on a candidate’s resume is another process that Blockchain can support. Blockchain can offer solutions to protect frauds that occur in educational, professional credentials, medical history, address changes, criminal and civil suit records and credit history and tax data. A human resources management system can digitally verify the authenticity of this data by storing it in blocks.