Human resources management is constantly evolving, and in the last few decades it has changed its focus from personnel management to strategic human resource planning. New technological advances have allowed for an increase in affordability, simplicity and accessibility of HR automation and artificial intelligence services for organizations of all sizes. A new survey from CareerBuilder shows that more than 1 in 10 HR managers are already seeing evidence of AI becoming a regular part of HR, and 55 percent say it will be in the next five years.
According to the survey, HR managers who do not fully automate say they lose an average of 14 hours a week manually completing tasks that could be automated; more than a quarter waste 20 hours or more; and 1 in 10 spend 30 hours or more. Since everyone is pressed for time these days, finding ways to save time and increase efficiency is like finding money on the ground: the more time- and labor-saving techniques you can implement, the more time you have to add to the bottom line.
What could you do with an extra 14 hours a week if you start automating your HR processes? Here are a few suggestions:
Focus on new trends: A number of converging issues are driving the need for HR to constantly “rewrite the rules,” but time doesn’t always allow for that. With evolving HR technology, an increasingly diverse and transient workforce and emerging social and collaborative tools, now is the time to focus on innovation to make a strong business impact.
Plan for the future instead of reacting to the present: The day-to-day responsibilities of managing the workforce can leave little time for long-range planning. But now, more than ever, companies must rely on strategic workforce planning to get ahead of staffing challenges and skills shortages in the workforce.
Spend time connecting with the business, with employees: Human resource professionals recognize the importance of practicing strategic HR — applying HR practices and principles to their organization’s overall business strategy — but not enough have the opportunity to practice it. They also know this intuitively: Quality time makes people feel more engaged. But too often there is no time to devote to the human element. Time spent on manual processes could be spent building relationship if tactical tasks were automated.
Automating HR processes through tools such as AI will give you a significant amount of time back in your day — time that can be spent on the human element of HR. Start by defining your human resource management goals and look for opportunities where the right systems could help increase efficiencies in HR productivity. Each investment can yield a meaningful return on investment in terms of both cost savings and regained time and productivity.
