Synamedia

Mirela Vasile

The rise of technology in the HR space has enabled a steady transformation shifting from a reactive personnel management perceived department, to being seen today a strategic partner to the business. This evolution created opportunities to transform every aspect of HR, from day-to-day operations to culture, talent practices, reward strategies, learning and development by introducing the necessary technology to deliver it.

Moving from an offline, paper driven process to a digital technology enabled approach to handle the majority of HR activities doesn’t come naturally as change is hard, disrupting the current eco-system of the organisation. HR professionals need to navigate all the nuances of implementing HR technology, digitising their activities to enable the premises for digitalisation in their journey to achieve a successful digital transformation.

Digitisation is the first step when implementing any HR technology, allowing the organisations to optimise and streamline their core operational activities to start with. Digitisation creates the premises for digitalisation bringing it one step further in the HR digital transformation journey as it enables long term value addition by introducing strategies that factor in technologies' optimisation and transformation capabilities.

“Digitisation is the first step when implementing any HR technology, allowing the organisations to optimise and streamline their core operational activities to start with.”

The reliance on technology to secure a digital blueprint of the organisation is greater than ever. HR professionals are facing nowadays the ongoing challenge in managing a predominantly hybrid and remote workforce. Those that benefited from having already a strong digital infrastructure in place have been able to adapt far more effectively than those without. While the transition to an HR function driven by technology was largely a desiderate, an aspiring position to reach, today it has become a must for every organisation and an alarming wake-up call for those without any plan to shift towards it.

The uncertainty brought by the pandemic in the last years forced every business to accelerate its digital transformation in some way.  Any HR department still relying on running the majority of their activities offline struggled enormously to adapt and meet the needs of their organisation. This could act as a perfect opportunity to re-assess their approach and accelerate the adoption of necessary tools to embark on a digital transformation journey.

Any HR digital transformation success lies in creating a culture where simplification, continuous improvement and automation sits at the core and always with the benefit of the end-user in mind. This involves not just learning how to use technology and automated solutions but learning how to use them in a way to complements and enhance people capabilities. Data based decisions drive measurable outcomes and influence the people strategy accelerating the digital transformation. It allows the HR department to become more resilient, productive, and agile as it undergoes a validation of new systems and ways of working to embed a new standard practice.

Often the implementation of an HR technology act as a catalyst for HR to rethink all their current processes, people solutions and embark on a journey to transform the way end-user services are delivered. The organisational needs for process efficiency, results and value creation that blends with the individual needs for role purpose, fulfilment and recognition creates the premises for culture synch where people talk more about experiences, not processes to follow.

In the journey to enable a digital HR transformation, there is always the temptation to over-engineer rather than simplify. Re-thinking the approach with the end-user benefit in mind creates outcome-focused goals to be achieved, not output oriented ones. Technology will not deliver any value to the organisation if it’s not adopted and properly used. The lack of agility in leveraging new digital solutions requires lots of resilience and effort to identify issues, address potential challenges to unlock barriers.

HR can play a key role in embedding the necessary policies and behaviours focusing to build the organisation of the future. Investing in the necessary technology is the first step to build a digital resilient culture, talent practices, and overall employee experience to thrive in the ‘new normal’ world of work, striving for greater resilience for the future. Organisations that succeed in their digital transformation journeys are those willing to take risks and seize opportunities as they come, those not afraid to always learn, unlearn, and relearn how to adapt, embrace change, and constantly reinvent themselves.