Artificial Intelligence and The Future of Human Resources | Aparna Sharma | Consulting Editor | The People Management

It has been dreaded for a while now that many job roles will turn obsolete due to the advent of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. The skill set required for today’s job roles will be transformed due to the changes in technology. 65% of today’s children entering the primary school might end up with jobs that do not even exist yet.

As HR enters an entirely new era of the future of work, our aim is to focus on what the current workforce requires of them. We need to think how the current technology will reinvent the role of human resources professional and how it will future proof the current workforce to drive change. Will usage of artificial intelligence make the human resources less human?

Prima Facie, this may infact seem positive for HR professionals. As a matter of fact, AI is basically used so that the recruitment process can be streamlined. Artificial intelligence helps conducting brief candidate research and it also allows the chatbot technology to decipher the top most questions that can be asked to candidates. However, beyond recruitment, AI can also help highlight performance issues, make changes in employee sentiment, or make a recommendation on termination of an employment and so on.

All these may sound cool and happening, but as an industry that heavily relies on human workforce, could AI really be of help as it promises to be?

The good news is, the future of HR is already in the dependency of artificial intelligence. As we’re progressing through 2021, let us have a glance at how AI and human intelligence are transforming the current workforce.

Enhancement of Candidate Experience

Companies that had their first pilot on AI fall majorly in talent acquisition, since this is the place where organizations find measurable and significant results increasing the productivity rate for recruiters. Besides this, an enhanced candidate experience that is simple, seamless, and intuitive.

Artificial intelligence is set to impact many features of human life. The world of work is no different. The introduction of intelligent technology in staff recruitment, training and career development is already well underway, offering new potential to make companies more efficient, diverse and responsive to employee concerns.

Resume screening

In a typical recruitment process, companies are flooded with resumes for one position. Sifting through those applications is a time-consuming and laborious task for the recruiter. Now, artificial intelligence is helping to screen out clearly unqualified candidates and identifying those who should have a shot at the next stage of the process.

Candidate engagement

As much as a company may have an abundance of resumes, recruiters also do not want to lose that star candidate. The hiring process takes time. However, AI is being used to send out updates on the screening and interview selection process, up until the conclusion of the candidate search. It demonstrates to candidates that the company values their interest and offers an opportunity for that candidate to get in touch with a real person if they wish.

Candidate interviews

Human bias is an ongoing issue for hiring managers and executives who want to put the best individual in a prescribed role. People make judgments, often subconsciously, on factors that have nothing to do with the requirements of the job. Artificial intelligence is helping to overcome this by developing interview questions and other assessment tools that prevent much of this bias from infiltrating the hiring process.

New hire Onboarding

A new employee has much to learn, from the location of the coffee maker to benefits and payroll. AI takes care of much of this onboarding process, leaving the on-site managers to narrow in on the most important aspects of new hire engagement. This way, the new hire is less overwhelmed and has sufficient time to absorb all of the new information with which they are presented.

Employee questions

Even seasoned employees have questions from time to time. Most of these are routine and need not be answered by a human being. Artificial intelligence systems and technologies such as chatbots can ensure that employees get the answers they need quickly, without overburdening HR staff with anything other than the most complex of issues.

Career development

Regular training, education and professional development is essential to keep employees growing in their skill sets and their desire to fulfill their roles. Developing customized career development tracks is another detail-oriented task that can be successfully streamlined with the use of AI. Employees can have a recommended series of development activities given their tenure, background, role and personal objectives.

Scheduling

Meetings are the bane of many employees’ existences, but they never go away. Scheduling times for virtual and in-person meetups often requires a detailed effort to coordinate calendars to find an agreeable time and location for everyone on the invite list. AI makes this task much easier by combining schedule data and recommending times for meetings, seminars, conferences and other essential company events.

For many people, AI is an intimidating prospect, stoking fears of an increasingly impersonal and automated workplace. In fact, many aspects of AI actually promise to make life easier for those engaged in the day-to-day routines of modern business life. For HR professionals, it has made it easier to find, recruit, train and retain team members in order to help the company to find overall success.

AI is here, not to eliminate jobs but to create jobs. According to Gartner, artificial intelligence will create more jobs than it destroys.

However, AI is not going to banish the human resources, although there are professionals who made bets that artificial intelligence is going to transform the entire human resources.

It is unlikely to happen. Therefore, for professionals looking to enhance their skills and get into the HR field, it is the right time to upskill. Further on, it is important for professionals to keep an eye on the latest trends and AI development. Doing so, will help you focus more on developing a career in the most trending technology.