How can you create HR value with technology?

Digital HR has evolved from mere administrative support to value-creating applications to keep employees satisfied and attract new talent.

In brief

• Technology can help you improve your HR processes, with the help of AI.
• Trust and communication are vital to reconciling technology with hybrid working.
• A digital transformation can only be successful if you involve the employees who have to work with the new tools.

Digital transformations are gaining momentum in HR. Technological applications in HR initially focused on the automation of processes, mainly in 'hard' HR such as payroll and administration. But the HR function has gone through a huge transition in recent years. It evolved from a mere administrative service provider to a department that adds value thanks to information technology.

Employees are the most important asset of a company. That is why it is crucial to keep current employees satisfied, but also to continuously attract new talent. Due to the emerging importance of performance and talent management, more and more organizations are realizing that technology can also offer added value in the 'soft' part of HR, such as identifying, learning and attracting the necessary skills to grow your organization.

What can AI technology contribute to HR services?

While AI is a still a new technology it already offers very interesting use cases. A great example can be found in recruitment, more specifically when screening CVs. Thanks to AI technology, recruiters can filter candidates more efficiently based on objective criteria and free up more time for in-depth conversations with the best candidates from the selection.

AI can also facilitate the management of skills and competencies. Organizations can map the existing and future skills of their teams. By assessing an employee’s skills and competencies and comparing them to the requirements of a position, you draw up a development plan tailored to the employee.

Digitalization is also becoming a weapon in the search for new talent. Instead of instructing recruiters to look for similar profiles in other companies, you can organize that search based on the necessary skills and competencies. AI can help create a larger pool of candidates. Where in the past companies screened on the basis of education and diploma, today they can do so - partly thanks to artificial intelligence - on the basis of skills, competencies and achievements in the past.

AI is based on algorithms, raising concerns about potential mistakes like false assumptions that exclude certain candidates due to factors like ethnicity. There is always some form of bias in hiring, whether in the eyes of the recruiter or in the AI system. Therefore, it is especially important to keep using such technology for what it is: a tool to help you. There must always be a human to validate the process.

It is crucial that you trust the technology. Many people are still skeptical about AI, very often because they do not yet see the added value or because they see it as a threat to their own job. The human aspect and human control are essential when it comes to using AI applications. When people gain insight into the concrete added value, confidence in that technology will automatically grow.

Where to start your digital transformation

Guiding your organization through a digital transformation is an enormous challenge. Digital transformation fails when companies focus too hard on the technological aspect. When the project team develops a system without involving the employees, there is a good chance that a mismatch will arise between the system and the business processes. Making adjustments at that point is no easy task. EY helps companies avoid that hurdle and immediately set the right course.

We approach a digital transformation from three angles:

• The technological aspect
  Which solution is in line with the needs of the organization? What is the business case?
  
  
• The human aspect
  How is digitalization supported in the organization? How can you support employees as best as possible before, during and after implementation?
  
  
• The process aspect:
  How does the organization work and why? Where are the opportunities? How should it be done in the future?
   

How EY makes the difference during three key moments in your transformation:

• Pre-implementation: gain insight into the existing HR architecture to identify the pain points and possible improvements, outline the future architecture and take into account best practices and the ambition level, draw up a roadmap and business case for implementation.
  
  
• Implementation: end-to-end support at the level of project management, change management, testing, process optimization, training and communication, go-live support, hypercare.
  
  
• Post-implementation: optimizing the digital transformation, supporting employees in the new way of working.