The world’s dependence on technology is growing. Alongside this, HR tech investment is increasing as well. Data shows that business investments in HR tech have risen 57% since 2021, with a heavy focus on learning and development, recruiting, retention, wellness, and benefits. IT budgets are expected to grow by 3.6% in 2022, representing the fastest year-over-year growth in over a decade.
Unfortunately, this growth still isn’t enough. Many HR leaders report difficulties in securing adequate budgets for HR technology because upper management tends not to understand the value of the investment. Let’s take a closer look at the importance of technology’s role in HR below.
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The Function of Technology in Human Resource Management
Employee engagement
HRM concerns itself with maintaining positive relations between people in an organization. The Internet or new media and many other forms of information and communication technology can contribute greatly to the fulfillment of personnel policies of an organization.
Take global hospitality company Hilton Worldwide, which has utilized an HR IT tool from SuccessFactors Solutions since 2014. The SaaS solution sends out online performance management forms to employees while using dashboards to monitor completion. This sets employees’ pay increases in line with Hilton’s pay-for-performance policies and has since reflected a 95% participation rate and a 37% increase in employee satisfaction with the process.
The recruitment process
Recruitment is a key function of HRM. Here, organizations search, find and hire the most competent candidates for various job positions. Done properly, a successful recruitment process will increase cost-efficiency and reduce hiring times.
The right technology has been proven to streamline this process. Manually scouring through LinkedIn is repetitive and can take as long as 45 days to find the right candidate. However, using hiring trends like data-driven recruiting can help companies quickly and accurately identify the right people for the right jobs. Companies can invest in applicant tracking software (ATS) to collect and screen thousands of resumes based on inputted preferences and keep track of all the activities in the recruiting department.
Pinterest and Airbnb use Greenhouse to track the real-time performance of key recruiting channels, whereas Hyatt and Fagron use CornerstoneOnDemand Recruiting to focus on automatically posting job ads to career sites, job boards, and social networks. There are various ATS platforms available depending on your organization’s budget and needs.
Training and development
HRM uses online training sessions and webinars — with key formats like simulations, tutorials, and motivational videos — for employee development. This includes orientation, in-house, mentorship, and external training.
The use of technology in training employees has been key for remote or hybrid workforces. A digital learning management system can empower companies to provide impactful and engaging training in whichever way works best for an employee’s schedule while simultaneously tracking and confirming training compliance to adjust the focus of future training materials. The ExpertusONE platform used by Siemens or BBBS can even integrate with commonly used workplace apps like Slack, Salesforce, and Microsoft Teams so that team members can engage with training within the apps they are already using for other work tasks.
Documentation
HR technology can make use of cloud-based systems to store important employee data. This improves transparency and security, ensuring that the information is safeguarded even in the case of a physical disaster. Senior Director Aman Desouza of Oracle says the advanced HCM controls of the HRMS can even offer anomaly detection and alerts. This helps HR functions and data security teams respond to threats from suspicious employee activity, phishing attacks, and attempts to steal data.
The many different applications of technology can make HRM more productive. This tech must be easily integrated and customizable to the current operations of an organization. Proper training to use this technology has to be provided to all staff members as well in order to ensure that investing in technology in HRM provides great returns.