Podcast 4 How to make the right HR tech decisions for your business Viewpoint careers advice blog

Podcast 4 How to make the right HR tech decisions for your business Whether it’s Virtual Reality, the IoT or Artificial Intelligence â€" digital change is sweeping through all aspect of our lives, from shopping and leisure to work and personal finance. Therefore it should come as no surprise that technology is impacting the way organisations search for and acquire talent. As such, HR leaders around the world are under increasing pressure to innovate. For this to happen, they need to fully understand the impact of new and emerging technology on HR, and then make the right HR tech decisions for their business. Understandably, this mammoth task is causing sleepless nights for many, and it’s easy to see why. So, in this podcast episode I share my advice to help you make the right HR tech decisions for your business. Podcast notes: In your opinion, which technologies do you think are the most exciting from a HR point of view, and what new opportunities do they present? There are hundreds, if not thousands of new technologies and platforms out there, many of which are very exciting and many of them have the opportunity to be real game changers.  The stand-outs for me are: 1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI-powered technologies such as chatbots, powering job applications and interactions. Chatbot technology enables conversations to happen 24/7. Obviously without that you need to rely on a human being at the other end of the phone, but with an AI chatbot you don’t need to rely on that. We are finding that candidates are using chatbots to apply for jobs at any time of the day or night. It is also being used in some organisations to provide service to existing staff, they could ask the chatbot how much annual leave they have outstanding, or whether or not their colleagues are in the office taking a lot of manual work away from employees, which is definitely a benefit. 2. Blockchain Blockchain has numerous applications in the Staffing and HR industry. Predominately around identity management and how people store and manage data. We all realise that data is very important and we all need to manage this carefully. I think blockchain will start to build trust in its platform as a way to manage identity more securely. 3. Virtual Reality (VR) Employers such as PwC are starting to use VR technology to give jobseekers a glimpse into their workplace environment and culture. We are also seeing video used much more now to give a glimpse into the environment and company culture. You can use this technology to get a view of a workplace or of a candidates portfolio of work, so it can apply in both areas. We are also seeing it used in countries where occupational health and safety rules are important, where an employee can record what they are doing physically to ensure they have had the correct training or that they are operating in safe practice. 4. Augmented Reality (AR) Companies are starting to experiment in the use of AR in terms of providing interactive candidate experiences. AR could allow a candidate to walk through the workplace, participate in a mock client meeting or another relevant activity, perhaps it will start to replace video conferencing where employees can attend meetings without physically being there. Read more:  What IS the next big thing in HR Tech…? A few simple tips to help you figure it out What advice would you give to listeners who have been tasked with innovating their HR department, but they’re simply not sure where to begin? I can completely sympathise, because even though I am immersed in this all the time it is quite daunting and the velocity with which new technology is being launched and developed is quite frightening. This is coupled with a sense of urgency, with wanting to make changes that actually put people under a lot of pressure, I think the worst thing you could do is to rush into this before having thought through what the impact of that change is going to be. My advice is to start by identifying what  the problem is that you’re trying to solve and what it is that you want to achieve at the end of all this. What are your objectives are you looking to enhance what you already do, are you looking to transform a part of your process into a new way of working? From what Ive seen there are lots of fragmented technologies that actually looks at specific parts of the hiring process, as opposed to anything that is end to end. You really need to be able to pick out the thing that is going to have the biggest influence in your organisation rather than trying to boil the ocean. You may have more than one problem, so you may need more than one solution. The hiring journey is a complex one â€" there’s a lot involved, from awareness and brand, to connecting people with the right opportunity at the right time, building a great customer experience, generating the perfect level of engagement and ultimately building relationships. Breaking down the problems to bite size chunks along the hiring journey is more likely to enable you to evaluate the right technology to give you the best outcome. Once the type of technology needed has been identified, are there any other considerations which need to be made? Definitely, there are so many technologies available so having the right questions to ask ready to go, so that you can get a consistent perspective on each of the conversations that youre having is really important: How widely are you planning to scale the technology? If the answer is globally or beyond one country, then remember that English isn’t the same in every country. Taxonomy that accurately reflects your world and that of your customers is critical and, without that, many solutions will not work effectively. For example, “servers” can mean very different things in the US and the UK. Consider the business environment you are operating in and how this might impact on your choice of technology. For example, GDPR has had a massive impact in Europe and the UK this year, and having a supplier who understands the impact and is set up to comply with this is very important. And how should a business leader go about identifying and evaluating suitable technology partners? It’s basically a lot of reading, networking, researching, attending conferences, talking to people who you know and respect in that sector. You do need to be quite ruthless in how you evaluate potential providers. Knowing what you need to ask, so you can talk to two or three providers who might offer the same product but you have a very consistent view of how they operate. And what about once you’ve implemented the new technology within your department, how can a leader go about making sure that the teams using it are fully on board? Firstly, once implementation is under way, thats really where the hard work begins. Fundamentally, its people that make technology successful. Not having your people engaged and not having them excited or committed to ensuring that that technology is successful will really ensure that you dont succeed. There are a few things you can do to make sure that you do succeed: If possible, involve your people in the decision making process, make them feel part of the change. If this isn’t possible, ensure they understand the reasoning behind the change and what youre trying to achieve. This is an exciting time and you need your people to realise this and get excited too. Make sure people understand what an important part they will play in the project. They are key to your success and this should be hugely empowering rather than overwhelming. Explain the bigger picture to the team, what the key objectives are and how they are contributing to that. Next, upskill and reskill. Identify where the skills gaps lie in the existing team. Upskilling and training people can be done via a variety of channels â€" whether its QA sessions, webinars, manuals and so forth. One strategy that we have employed with great success at Hays is identifying change agents within the team and the wider business. These people, who are passionate about digital change and technology can drive that attitude across the business, which makes it much easier to drive technology implementation. Lastly, I would say that you need to be continually assessing engagement and understanding over time how successful that technology has been and what impact it is having, is it solving the problems you want it to solve, what learns could you gain from this implementation and how can you ensure the next implementation is just as successful? Read more:  Managing the “people element” of digitalisation in your business I’m sure, in some cases, new skills will need to be brought into the organisation. Are there any considerations leaders should take into account when recruiting? Sure, hiring contractors is a great way to fill technical skills gaps if you are bringing in a piece of technology which is going to require an intense period of implementation. Once that is done, you may not necessarily want those skills in your team, so hiring contractors gives you a great way to bring that skill in while you need it. I would also say that you need to hire people with the right attitude. You want people who take a positive approach to changing technology, and help your existing workforce to do the same. Soft skills play a very important role too. Try to hire staff with traits such as curiosity, adaptability and a problem-solving attitude. Such soft skills are, ultimately, much more difficult to teach than the technical skills required, but will be key in enabling you to drive change forward within your organisation. Read more:  5 Reasons Every CIO Must Use Contractors to Survive Digital Transformation This is a question we ask all of our podcast guests, what do you think are the top three qualities that make a good leader? Theyre probably not the conventional ones in my case for me the three things that I need to think about constantly are: Vision being prepared to challenge the norm, which is critical when you’re in a role that’s leading innovation. Influencing skills you have to be able to take people on the journey with you, and you have to make believers of them even if they don’t initially trust your judgement. Empathy being able to see things from other perspectives, whether this is colleagues, customers or partners that you work with. Looking for more advice? Listen to our previous Leadership Insights podcast episodes and read our leadership blogs: How can you get the board’s buy-in for a digital change? CIOs: Are you ready for the BIoT? Making sense of blockchain joining the IoT Building an AI-first company are we ready? The Real Challenge for Digital Transformation Is Not Your Technology Did you enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the Hays Worldwide Leadership Insights podcast on SoundCloud and download it on Apple Podcasts.