Technology is making it easier to streamline messy, time-consuming human resources processes, which affects HR teams as well as other organizations within the company.
Ryan Higginson-Scott can speak to the fallout – which is mostly good. He is a long-time HR professional with experience in spanning business partnerships, shared services, and strategic program design.
He and Forbes analyst, brand strategist and TalentCulture chief executive officer Meghan M. Biro talked about how to take advantage of tech to improve everyone’s life on the job.
“The way we work is totally changing,” Biro said. “I’ve adapted to working remotely and on the go.
“The digital world is changing fast, so we all have to stay on our toes,” she said. “It’s important to keep up with your customers and employees and stay ahead of changing tech and best practices.”
She really doesn’t see much choice.
“Change is the new normal,” Biro said. “Adjust or perish. Tech can set HR free to do the most important, people-focused work. When it’s done right, HR tech stretches way beyond just HR.”
Higginson-Scott is all in on the near-future shock.
“It’s all about the tech, baby,” he said. “HR has pivoted and embraces tech at every level, enabling bigger, better, faster processes and meaningful employee experiences on the fly.
“Transparency is the name of the game these days,” Higginson-Scott said. “In the digital world of today’s workforce, secrets and hiding info from employees is dangerous.”
Resistance is futile as tech penetrates every business process.
“How haven’t we used tech?” Higginson-Scott said. “There are engagement points along the entire employee lifecycle. The key is determining which are most impactful at your organization.
“I love to introduce HRV tech wherever we can make the employee experience easier and help HR engage more directly,” he said. “Get rid of the scary idea that tech separates HR from employees. Find ways to use it to enhance the relationship.”
It’s important to never settle for the status quo.
“I love this,” Higginson-Scott said. “Continuous improvement is key.”
Biro explained how the TalentCulture team has rolled out new tech to help the whole company work smarter.
“That means using more cloud-based tools to manage our internal projects, marketing, and sales,” she said. “Learning new tech can be a challenge, but the improved speed and collaboration make the change so worth it.
“Collaboration and social tools enable me to be human along with all the tech changes,” Biro said. “Using tech for human engagement is the best of both worlds.”
Tomorrow’s skills are today’s HR skills. Get comfortable with the latest in technology, and be willing to anticipate and accept changes as they’re introduced.
“I see a huge change coming to the basic way HR teams work,” Biro said. “Instead of supporting employees as an administrative function, HR has the exciting opportunity to lead the conversation about talent. That’s a very good thing.
“That means the next-generation HR pro will need to have critical thinking and analytical skills plus those core people skills that have always been so important,” she said. “They will need to speak the language of the business.”
Those factors will eventually tilt organizations toward youth.
“I predict more young professionals will take an interest in HR as HR becomes a leader in the business instead of a support function,” Biro said. “People in every discipline have to be more flexible and open to learning all kinds of new skills.”
Acceptance in boardrooms is already a reality.
“HR is no longer fighting for its place in the organization,” Higginson-Scott said. “It’s leading the organization. Key skills for the future of HR are leadership, strategy, design thinking and technology.
“With the development of those skills, we pave our own path to driving it toward reality,” he said. “HR is gaining momentum as an information hub, and solving a more diverse range of problems and questions for employees.”
He agreed with Biro that the injection of more young professionals will be a game changer.
“Today’s challenge of bridging the soft skills traditionally seen as HR — with the tech and analytical skills needed today — is one of the biggest challenges at hand,” he said.
