Human Resources are among the areas with the greatest impact from digital transformation. How digital HR is replacing traditional HR?
Digital transformation in human resources: where are we?
The macroeconomic and social scenario of recent years has taken out the topic of smart-working and the work organization focused on work life balance: HR are certainly the organizational area that was first forced to review its objectives and its logic adapting to the ongoing change. Smart-working - and its implementation still awaiting a legislation that regulates it in a universal way, keeping the necessary local and sectoral differences, represents in fact the most evident sample of the cultural change which is happening in work organization and human resources management: digital HR is the future of a human- centered approach for human resources.In fact, this is only the tip of an iceberg made of processes and dynamics in the HR world that are rapidly evolving in terms of digitalization and technological innovation, aimed at enhancing the employeeexperience by placing the employee, and no longer the results, at the core of the HR logic.
The first area where new digital tools and Artificial Intelligence technologies have been successfully introduced is recruiting: let’s think about Social recruiting, or the use of automatic text generators to support human resources in the drafting of job descriptions, which today are the reality in many companies pioneers of digital transformation.
Another area with very high improvement margins is education and training: e-learning evolves into digital learning, thanks to the opportunities offered by virtual learning such as forums, user communities, blogs where interacting and building relationships within and outside the company, in a way of continuous learning made simple and fluent by the adoption of cutting-edge digital tools and constantly updated and stimulating content platforms. Digitalskills are now an essential requirement at all levels: if the issue does not even arise for Millennials or GenZ, companies who are sensitive to the needs of their employees have to guarantee to the senior ones the opportunity to acquire and improve IT and digital skills.
The number of HR processes that can be optimized and improved through HR digital transformation is incredibly wide: let's think, for example, to employee onboarding, which moves from the traditional "paper" process to a lean and effective digital onboarding, a tailored process for a new hire such as Millennials or GenZ, digital natives by definition. Let’s think about attendance and Payroll management software, or even about performance management, thanks to customizable workflows easy to use and accessible from any device, or to the implementation of Welfare and Wellbeing plans through platforms where independently manage your own wallet of assets and services.
Digital transformation offers the opportunity to improve business processes even using less known but equally performing tools: Organizational Network Analysis is an excellent example of People Analytics that allows to identify "hidden" relationships within teams and between different working groups, and at the same time, to constantly monitor the sentiment of the organization to promptly intervene by resolving conflicts or preventing situations that can generate stress in the corporate climate.Another figure that is fast spreading is the Mobility Manager, which is mandatory in Italy for companies and institutions that are among those identified by a specific Government Decree: it is a professional figure whose task is to manage sustainable mobility for the company.
The ultimate goal is to rationalize employees’ movements, with the creation of a home-work travel plan (aka PSCL) which is carried out through the combination of staff needs (collected through surveys) and a workplace accessibility analysis, using geocoding tools and statistical data, as well as an in-depth knowledge of the territory.
The Mobility Manageractively contributes to the creation of a sustainability-oriented corporate culture, applied to the travel management, smart-working and contributing to CSR.
HR Digital Transformation: changing sustainably
The employee, in each one of the digitalHR applications that we analysed, is the centre of a model in which the digital transition moves along with the enhancement of the person and his/her needs, in a shared value system promoting inclusion, diversity, psycho-physical well-being and sustainability: the perfect mix to become the ideal employer.
In this digital HR perspective, we are getting closer and closer to the concept of sustainable HR management, thanks to the implementation of optimized processes, which minimize the waste of time and resources, promoting the authentic value of people and principles of collaboration and loyalty into companies: sustainability is a goal that passes through digitalization, and HR is driving this digital transformation in all business sectors.
