We keep hearing, technology has changed the face of HR. AI, robotics, data sciences and various kinds of automation are replacing the human worker and making choices on behalf of human beings. As the technology develops further and becomes accessible to all of us, these tools will become ubiquitous. How will companies targeting the same customer segment differentiate their products and services?
Run Parallel Tracks
In one of our recent blogs on Smart Recruiter, we said that recruiters are going to be smart not because of the tech tools in use but by the way they use their human intelligence. There is a huge amount of research on the subject of ‘future of work’. As we keep recruiting for organizations across industry sectors, we get to observe the way work has transformed over the years and the changes in the offing.
Automation is a reality; companies are exploring various ways of leveraging it. At the same time, there is a growing realisation that human capability has to be utilized meaningfully. We see two parallel tracks running, one is focused on technology to improve productivity, bring in standardization and optimize costs; the other track is focused on team dynamics, human development, social responsibility and organizational alignment.
Read Also: Re-imagining jobs in 2030
Grow HR Asset
Normally assets depreciate over time and there is a need to refurbish them from time to time. Some time, we have to replace them. However, human resources are assets that can appreciate over time. Their productivity can grow if we are able to develop them right and deploy them in the right ways. Only then, companies can differentiate from one another.
Usual methods of human development will have to be repurposed as organizations are looking for greater flexibility, deploying more automation, competing with a wide range of forces and facing many uncertainties. Our education in schools and families does not have answers to the realities that we face at the workplace. Moreover, the social fabric has been evolving at a pace faster than ever before.
Hence, companies have to build an environment that enables its human resources to unlearn a few things, learn new specialties, acquire new skills and change some of their old beliefs. They have to grow these assets by nurturing them.
On one hand, they have to look at the short term results, keep fixed costs low, keep the cost structure linked to the market dynamics and on the other hand, they have to think about long-term sustainability and deploy ways of developing talent.
Read also: Look for Emotional Intelligence while hiring for Leadership Roles
All-rounders needed
In the current times, businesses are changing their equipment, tools – hardware and software, introducing new processes and measures. Human beings need to adapt to these changes. Companies have to lead them into the changes in such a way that they understand the need to change, learn them and follow them. People donning the leadership roles across the organizational pyramid have a crucial role to drive this change.
Machines, tools and software are easy to change, but human beings have their own minds and hence, it is not easy to drive the change. The future of work is surely going to involve lots of automation and at the same time, intelligent human beings who can use the hi-tech systems and engage well with all stakeholders of a business.
Read also: HR’s role in building your company brand
All-rounders and entrepreneurs are needed for the future of work!
Further reading:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/technology-and-the-future-of-work.html
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/what-is-the-future-of-work
https://www.weforum.org/projects/future-of-work
