Technology is transforming every conventional segment of the global business ecosystem. When it comes to rapid inclusion of innovative technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are the two segments that have gained maximum traction, everywhere.
Today, modern organizations are looking to optimize their business operations with the help of automation. The HR sector is also keenly looking at the AI technology to transform their traditional workflow from being mundane processes to more intuitive experiences.
According to The Current and Future State of AI in HR survey conducted by HR.com, AI has been seen as a promising technology with lots of applications in improving the HR domain.
Fig. 1: Potential of AI in Improving the HR Function
As per the same survey, 75% of HR professionals consider AI to be the most critical technology for improving the HR domain. Fundamentally, the study concludes that AI will phenomenally impact the following segments of the HR industry:
- Analytics & metrics
- Employee productivity
- Learning & development
- Recruitment and selection
Fig. 2: Which segments will AI impact the most in HR industry?
AI Trends That will Redefine the HR Industry
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to humanize the existing HR processes by giving organizations more power to monitor and analyze employee trends as well as skills of the potential employees. At the same time, AI can assist in the automation of mundane tasks. Here are 10 promising trends that will surely impact the industry, at large:
1. Increase in cognitive decision making
Artificial intelligence will be seen powering cognitive engines, that will help to take useful routine decisions regarding workforce management, training, and hiring processes. Primarily, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will provide valuable knowledge to all the stakeholders in the following areas:
Management of leave requests: AI will keep track of leave requests across the organizations and will inform employees beforehand about the probability of their leave being approved based on the vacation patterns. If a large number of leaves have been approved, AI will advise that the vacation request is unlikely to be accepted, giving heads-on to the leave applicant.
Determining the mood: AI can monitor conversations over emails, calls, IMs, and can suggest employees take a break if it identifies an employee’s mood can lead to wrong work decisions. This will improve work efficiency.
Training: AI can automatically identify the requirement of training for particular employees based on their performance and can inform managers about the training opportunities for each team member.
2.Assisted in hiring decisions for better candidate experience
Talent acquisition is the most important segments where Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation has a lot of potentials. AI can reduce time to hire, increase recruitment productivity, and at the same time, offer better candidate experience.
AI can be used to develop virtual recruitment bots for candidate screening at preliminary levels. Using AI-powered chatbots, recruiters save valuable time on screening thousands of applications. This leaves them with time to engage with promising candidates and take more valuable hiring decisions. In a way, AI can assist recruiters in making informed decisions by automating screening and evaluation from a vast pool.
3. AI will help to hire managers in dealing with biases
Hiring managers subconsciously are inclined towards candidates liked by them despite their commitment towards becoming more inclusive. The phenomenon is known as unconscious bias and can be due to several reasons such as language bias, ethnicity bias, etc.
Such biases impact the job description as well as the selection of candidates during the screening process. With the help of AI, organizations can identify bias by using psychological tools such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and implement AI-based algorithms to remove the hiring bias. Not only will this make organizations more diverse but will ensure that the most deserving candidate gets the position, which will boost efficiency.
4.AI will augment dynamic hiring decisions
According to the Future of Jobs Report, 2018 by World Economic Forum, the global hiring landscape is rapidly transitioning to more refined skills. This means organizations are looking for more evolved individuals with a specific set of skills. The report states that AI would displace 75 million jobs in conventional segments and create 133 million jobs associated with emotional intelligence and technical intelligence skills.
Figure 3: Changing Job Roles in the Future
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will help companies analyze uniquely human skills like empathy, critical thinking, problem-solving, emotional intelligence better than the existing systems. With AI-powered analytics systems, hiring managers will be better equipped to address the changing skill requirements at modern organizations.
5.AI would help in improving job satisfaction and efficiency
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to help employees work better and achieve higher levels of job satisfaction. With the help of AI, conventional job roles will transition to more personalized activities where employees would be required to use the skillsets; they excel in.
Not only this, AI will improve diversity among the employees by hiring from a vast pool of resources without any bias, which will boost employee morale. Better performing employees will be identified faster, and the onboarding and talent mobility experience will be better. All this will improve the efficiency of an employee as well as the on-the-job satisfaction levels.
6. Identifying employees on their way out will be easier
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will even be used by HR managers to discover discontent among employees. Based on computer activity, AI will feed managers with insights about job satisfaction levels of an employee. AI can be used to determine the tone of employee and his/her communications and can predict his future course of action i.e., leaving the organization.
If the AI discovers that someone is on his way out based on his online behavior, email conversations, etc., it can immediately inform the HR managers to take immediate steps to improve the retention rates.
7.AI would create new job roles
There has been increasing concerns about AI reducing the conventional job roles within organizations. But in fact, artificial intelligence would create more job roles in the business ecosystem. According to several leaders and industry experts, as AI penetrates deeper in the organizational structure, new job roles would emerge too.
For example, people would be required to manage AI-driven activities within an organization. Specialists would be needed for data analytics, and C-suite positions would emerge that would deal with employee, customer, and stakeholder’s experience. Already, the change has begun, and new roles in the age of AI have started to impact business decisions, globally.
8. AI-ready workforce will allow a business to stay ahead of competitors
AI would not only streamline HR operations, but the technology will help organizations achieve their organizational goals, too. As the business landscape becomes more competitive, it will become pertinent for organizations to equip their existing workforce with AI-based skills. AI will help employees to derive valuable insights associated with their job roles, which will not only improve their efficiency but a business’ competitiveness in a world of dynamic work cultures and robust competitors.
9.AI would allow organizations to introduce skill-based hiring programs
Skill-based hiring is an innovative hiring practice where companies overlook a candidate’s professional or academic credentials and hire him/her based on skills and competencies for a job. Lately, many Fortune 500 organizations and tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and more are relying on skill-based hiring for their recruitment purposes.
With the introduction of many non-traditional hiring approaches like MOOCs, P-Tech degrees, and industry-specific programs, AI can help organizations to be more agile by adopting a skill-based hiring approach. This will not only broaden the talent pool but also bring freshness to an organization.
AI tools like chatbots can be trained to evaluate a candidate based on their skillsets by analyzing their behavioral patterns, analytical skills, and problem-solving capabilities. This can give impetus to the skill-based hiring programs within an organization.
10.AI will promote job meaningfulness and purpose at work
According to a recent survey, Meaning & Purpose at Work, more and more people are looking for jobs that are more meaningful than jobs that pay more. Modern-day employees try to discover meaning in the work they do. Creating a purpose-driven job role is one of the biggest challenges for modern HR managers. To create an engaging work culture, it is important to promote purposefulness and is essential for business success.
Employees who find engaging in the work they do are more efficient, productive and hardworking. With the help of AI, organizations can analyze a person’s capabilities and skills, which helps in assigning him/her the work they feel more fulfilling. At the same time, organizations can use AI to create purpose-centric training programs, mentoring sessions and coaching targeted at employees who feel a strong need to share a common vision with the company they work at.
Wrapping Up
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a determinant role in the future of the workplace, globally. The trends mentioned above are being increasingly harnessed by companies to evolve their human resource operations. In a dynamic business environment, it is important to keep your workforce agile and ready for challenges.
AI equips your HR operations with the capability to become future-ready and become more focused at the most valuable asset within an organization, i.e., the workforce. Discover how AI can revolutionize your operations by connecting with a professional AI development company like Azilian, today.
