Questions Covered in This Blog
- Can human elements in HR be replaced with especially in the AI era? Or
- Does humans involvement in HR get replaced by AI?
- How to bridge human expertise with technological innovation?
- Does an advanced cloud solution replace humans in HR or is it just an illusion?
- How technologies bring transformative development in HR?
The Illusion of Replacement
In today’s time, where there are many HR technology tools and organizations depend more and more on these tools, the question of whether HR technology stacks can genuinely replace human intervention in HR operations is still on our minds. In this blog, we will critically discuss how HR technology stacks impact organizations and their employees, and how HR technology stacks replace human elements in the organization. This will be the primary subject of our discussion.
Let’s start the discussion
The Promise of Efficiency
As you are aware, many companies now depend on the use of technology stacks like applicant tracking systems (ATS) and automated recruitment tools due to the fast-changing nature of the human resources industry. These tools are regarded as an integral part of an active hiring process, as these tools are capable of decreasing errors and expediting procedures. However, in their search for efficiency, many organizations occasionally compromise the natural capacity of human recruiters to understand and evaluate with compassion.
We will explain you with example
Imagine that if you have an applicant tracking system (ATS) in your organization, it may efficiently screen resumes based on predetermined criteria, but it lacks the emotional awareness that a human recruiter possesses. This can result in the overlooking of exceptional candidates who may not fit a rigid algorithm that has already been designed in your company but bring unique skills and perspectives to your company.
Here you might think: How do people take advantage of rigid algorithms?
Let’s discuss another scenario
Many platforms offer you the opportunity to not just evaluate your CV but also design your CV to make you a suitable candidate. Even so, you can easily find AI tools that can easily recreate your CV according to the requirements of that specific job without knowing that you have this skill.
The point here is for you to understand that somehow you can play with algorithms by using different techniques. However, it does not mean that such techniques always give you results, especially in the long run.
AI in Hiring: Is It Really Fair?
Using artificial intelligence (AI) in your hiring can be a bit tricky. AI tries to be fair, but sometimes it ends up keeping biases from the past. It might accidentally make things even more unfair by relying too much on old data.
Example
If your company uses AI for hiring, it might potentially make biased decisions based on how things were done before. This can keep gender, race, or socio-economic imbalances, showing that technology doesn’t always guarantee a fair hiring process.
Let’s discuss another scenario
If you study IT, or artificial intelligence, in your school, you can easily understand that every AI program is based on algorithms, and this program only needs instructions for fulfilling this job by using the data that has been fed to it, e.g., ChatGPT.
This clearly shows that AI is entirely dependent on the designed data, which is simply provided by humans, whether they are programmers or data scientists. So the point here is that AI in hiring also makes decisions based on data, which can be biased or unbiased.
Ethical Challenges in Data-Driven Decisions
If you use data in HR, you can, of course, make smart decisions. However, relying too much on the data is also expensive for your company.
Let’s discuss this with an example.
Imagine if you or your company are looking too closely at how employees are doing and feeling about the company with the help of data, and this can affect their privacy.
What is important to note here is that if your employees have a feeling of being controlled or monitored by your organization throughout the time by using this data that they contain in their system, then how do they react?
Here we may ask you a question: How do you feel when you are regularly watched by your boss or company? (Being an employee)
Of course, you don’t have any positive feelings for your company if you feel that your organization always has control over you and makes some strict changes based on the data. You will lose your trust level, and particularly, the kind of ownership you feel in the organization is at stake, which is, of course, dangerous for your organization. So the same applies to your employees, and if your employees lose trust in the system that your company designed or any HR technology stacks that you implemented in the company, then it won’t have a positive impact on the organization in the long run.
Employee Experience: Digital Convenience or Disconnection?
In recent years, you have noticed that organizations have developed self-service portals and digital interfaces that let their employees do things on their own, aiming to make things easier. However, when your HR system becomes all digital, some worry that it might make your employee experience feel less personal.
Example
When your employees use self-service interfaces, it’s easier to automate, but it might make HR feel less personal to them. This could make your employees feel disconnected and miss the kind of support they need from you, especially when they are stuck in their work or need individual support from you as their subordinate. As a result, the employee’s overall development is badly impacted by this disengaged work environment.
Personalizing Learning: A Simple Approach for LMS Success
Learning platforms encourage continuous learning, but using them the same way for everyone in your organization might not consider what each person needs.
Here you may have a question: How does online learning impact my performance? (as an individual)
Let’s establish it with a real-world example.
Recall your experience at college or the university. Each campus has an LMS, or learning management system. It is used for discussions, tests, quizzes, and online classes. It’s possible that you’ve noticed certain classmates easily adapt to online learning, while others seem to prefer interacting with peers and teachers in person.
The point here is to understand that the impact of online learning is not the same for every individual because every individual has a different learning style and preference. However, live interaction is mostly preferred by the majority of people, as it provides more engagement with people.
The same applies to your company. If your company makes use of a learning platform, it may unintentionally push all employees to learn in the same way, which is, of course, difficult. This can ignore the abilities and learning styles that people possess, demonstrating that technology isn’t always a good fit for everyone.
Here you may think: if technology is not fit, then how can you improve employee learning and performance?
You can improve your employee’s learning by conducting live training sessions where you train them and develop their understanding through live Q&A sessions. The best way to improve your employee’s learning and performance is to conduct a one-on-one session or meeting where you discuss personally with every employee their strengths and weaknesses, which they see in a very positive way, and their engagement will be raised if you put in a human element rather than integrating different high-tech solutions in your company.
Balancing Continuous Feedback: Coaching vs. Micromanagement
When performance management systems give feedback all the time, they aim to be flexible. But it’s tricky to find the right balance. It’s important to give helpful advice to your employees without making them feel like they have too much control or are watching too closely.
Let’s use an example to better grasp this.
Imagine when your employees get feedback all the time and feel watched and stressed. Even though the idea is to help everyone get better by knowing their weaknesses, it could end up making your employees feel overwhelmed and tired, which isn’t good for their well-being.
The Role of HR Technology in Employee Engagement
Like many organizations, you have an employee engagement platform that is used for many purposes, e.g., improving communication within the organization, regulating your employees’ performance and compensation, and most importantly, creating an environment where your employees are more dynamic and feel ownership of their company.
However, sometimes this case is a serious threat for your organization if it is all based on automation without the involvement of humans themselves.
Let’s understand this with an example.
For example
Suppose you always get appreciation from the system in a typical way instead of proper recognition in front of your boss and colleagues. This might make the appreciation feel less real to you, showing that technology can’t always express human feelings or emotions genuinely, which are, of course, highly subjective.
To sum up this discussion with final remarks, it is important to know what you achieved and understood from this discussion.
While it is true that HR technology stacks offer significant advantages in terms of efficiency, data-driven insights, and streamlined procedures, it is highly challenging for companies to imagine HR without the human element.
Our critical analysis shows that, even though technology is getting better, it can’t understand, care for, and adjust as human HR professionals can.
In the era of advanced AI or advanced HR tech stacks for your business, the emotional gap between the company and its employees is getting higher, which should be considered a serious threat to businesses and needs to be tackled efficiently.
There must be a balanced approach to creating a bridge between human expertise and technological innovation, as the human role is indispensable.
You may think here: What is the future of technology in HR?
The future of tech solutions or stacks will be highly demanding, but they cannot easily replace humans because they help with efficiency, but they cannot balance human emotions and the sense of attachment and involvement that employees have for their company.
The best companies will be the ones that find a good balance between using technology and keeping the human side of HR alive.
What’s the bottom line
The bottom line of today’s discussion is that the human element in HR is irreplaceable with advanced HR technology and innovations.
What do we hope from you?
We hope this discussion has enhanced your understanding of how advanced technology solutions play a crucial role in organizational development. However, it’s important to recognize that while modern HR practices have their benefits, they also have limitations in fully replacing the human element.
If you have any questions to ask, you are welcome to leave a comment below or get in touch with us at support@workwisdoms.com
Leave a Reply