HR’s digital transformation is happening

Leading up to crisis, business leaders across the world were talking about transformation. Planning for transformation. Ready to invest trillions in transformation. Until transformation was thrust upon us.

It is unfortunate that we lost control of the timeline, but the upside is, transformation – namely, digital transformation – is happening. Right in front of our eyes. And we are realising, as leaders from the NBA, Nextdoor, United Health and more pointed out in a Josh Bersin webinar, we didn’t need multi-year initiatives to get it done.

Tripti Jha, Global Head of People Solutions at Novartis summed it up well, saying, “We had a two year roll out for Microsoft Teams that was accelerated to two weeks.”

So here we are being transformed in ways we did and didn’t plan for, and accomplishing impressive feats in record time.

In HR, things were already digital.

Applicant tracking, learning management, payroll, benefits (the list goes on). The focus at the onset of 2020 was digitising “the experience.” In other words, designing processes and tools that not only make HR more efficient, but create connective tissue between HR, employees, and potential employees.

While most things that were important at the beginning of the year pale in comparison to a global pandemic, this hasn’t changed. In fact, being forced apart has brought more attention to the experiences and interactions between us.

Learning and development experiences still matter and hiring experiences still matter. What has changed is our collective comfort level and reliance on technology to deliver these experiences.

Pre-crisis, digital experiences were on the rise for many reasons. They are fast, cost-efficient, and give employees direct access to the information they need, eliminating much of HR’s administrative hangover. All good things, and HR teams were eager to move in that direction. But crisis forced everyone into “early adoption.”

Digital experiences are no longer nice to have.

They are must-haves, as companies fundamentally shift their work environments and people practices in a post-coronavirus world.

Meanwhile, Talent Acquisition teams are facing the challenge of a lifetime, having to hire in an unemployment market that rivals the Great Depression. As companies build back their workforces, they will be flooded with applications, making it impossible to follow a process that was designed for hiring in a low unemployment market.

That is why companies are modeling a new process – and new strategy – around digital hiring.

Digital hiring is here to stay.

Recruiting teams have been sourcing, reviewing resumes, and assessing candidates online for years…however most aren’t equipped for digital interviewing or digital onboarding.

To effectively hire in a future where remote work is the norm, recruiting efforts are lean, and teams are assembled by skill set and compatibility, not physical location, companies need a complete digital hiring process, not a partial one. Just as important is the ability to connect everyone, including candidates, interviewers, and hiring managers in one seamless experience from start to finish.

This is what is required to get hiring “up to speed” with HR transformation and the strategy that business leaders are building for the future.

Digital hiring solutions remove barriers. 

The use of digital tools make it possible for companies to:

• Keep productivity high, even when the recruiting team’s workload increases.
• Filter and shortlist top Talent – especially important as applicants outnumber jobs.
• Identify people who are self-directed, structured, and agile enough to work from home.
• Hire and onboard from anywhere in the world, thanks to a process that can be done 100 percent virtually.

It is a challenging time for your business as you try to reduce costs and yet try to ensure your business is set up for the future.

Digital hiring can make your process up to 70 percent more efficient, and provide an enhanced experience for candidates and line managers.

More importantly, it can help you to talent pool now for the future…removing a need for external recruitment costs.

Cover image: Shutterstock

This article is contributed by Affinity People.