COVID-19’s resultant effect on the economy has made it necessary for growth-oriented firms to reconsider and restructure their business models, processes as well as offerings. The time has come for HR leaders to take charge and enable Employers to continue functioning while the changes are being made.
At the core of this management process are people, and Employers are taking some tough decisions on hiring, retaining, and work from home productivity tracking. The current scenario also brought the onset of Employers checking their digital readiness. Some corporate organisations are better prepared than others but, there’s an ubiquitous understanding from the entire scenario. In order to manage the future economy the leadership style needs to differ from the current. A leadership that is ready to respond to oncoming threats and uprising opportunities will take the organisations ahead in this time of crisis. But how digitally strong are the Employers?
In a recent Aon’s 2020 Global Digital Readiness Survey that had about 1550 respondents across various industries, there two important insights. First, more than 59% of HR leaders from multiple organisations say that there isn’t a defined set of skills that are necessary for Digital Transformation. Second, 62% of the respondents stated that their organisation was unaware about how to spot digital potential. Another survey by Aon revealed that about 41% Employers were assessing leaders for digital readiness.
There are numerous digital technologies that can have a transformative impact in the HR domain but are not yet mainstream. Due to COVID-19, there would be a significant advantage for Employers and HR to adopt them.
For instance, analytics tools & AI are being implemented in various processes and functions. In such times, decision-making can become smart and swift with the help of these tolls which will not just save capital but also help to build the workforce with smart resourcing and right realignment of the resource retained. These tools can prove to be beneficial for upskilling as well as cross skilling the employees based on their competencies.
With the new norm of work from home, HR managers and IT managers will have to work in tandem in areas such as data security, data compliances, and confidentiality.
Most organisations are encouraging their employees to enhance their knowledge via online courses.The market is filled with smart AI tools by startups like Ahura that are being implemented to check the precise time spent on the course material vs other activities such as social media or TV while the employees are on it. It monitors their eye movement and provides meaningful feedback to the Employers as well as the employees themselves. Such tools can help track the efficacy of learning as well as attention span of the employees.
Remote learning is here to stay and this gives an opportunity to Employers for identifying the learning platforms that not only host content but also deliver content customised to the employees’ individual needs based on the skill requirements. Employers are interested in deploying a talent pool that comprises employees as well as gig economy workers, HR & Business Managers will benefit by utilising learning and HR systems that can offer real-time status and enable planning based on the provided information.
It is also a good time for Employers to invest in people analytics platforms that can enable them to capture essential employee data such as health, productivity, and insights into employees who have the most effective positive customer experience while they are working from home. Even in the case of frontline employees, it becomes easier to monitor those who are at a greater risk of being infected, and its impact on the rest of the workforce. People analytics platform also incorporates public health data and can empower HR professionals with the information they require to make informed decisions about the workforce. Such platforms also help with legal matters linked to compliance and data storage.
COVID-19 has brought about a change in the work norms, the need for new business models, and the emergence of new methods to assess people, not just by their experience but based on their talent and abilities. For the longest time, the HR industry has been deprived of the much needed Digital transformation. But, now, the Digital overhaul has become a necessity and many digital technologies will be seen getting assimilated and becoming a part of the processes and functions.
