“New technology is
not good or evil in and of itself. It's all about how people choose to use it.”
David Wong
“Ma’am, technology has done more
harm than good. The connection between people is lost. Employees working in teams
are communicating much lesser than they used to. Technology has made us addicted
and dependent!”
These are some of the arguments
given by my HR students during our ‘beginning of the year’ group discussion on ‘Technology
and HR’. They often see technology as a threat to people relations and group
dynamics. Some optimistic ones talk about advantages of technology but they don’t
go beyond conferencing and virtual teams. Hearing similar discussions year on
year, and being an engineer and HR, I decided to write about technology and HR,
taking both perspectives (that of technology and HR) into consideration.
HR Perspective
Human Resource Management is
something which binds the employee with the organization in such a way that the
employee’s goals are aligned with that of the organization and she moves
towards achieving personal as well as organizational goals. It prepares a
structure which supports the whole organization by supporting the employee. And
supporting the employee and the organization comprises of recruitment, training
and development, performance management, compensation and benefits, smooth
separation etc. High efficiency and effectiveness in all individual processes
affects the organizational bottom-line in a significant way.
Technology Perspective
According to Oxford Dictionary
Technology is “The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes,
especially in industry.” And most of the times it is used to reduce time and
effort of completing a task. The ultimate objective is to make task simpler.
With this basic agenda, technology is used in organizations.
Some of the myriad applications
include:
- · HR Analytics
- · AI and its application in HR
- · Online recruitment
- · Campus engagement
- · Virtual trainings
- · Performance appraisal using technology
- · Online engagement methods
- · Knowledge Management
- · Seamless Separation
- · Virtual talent management
And of course, there are virtual
teams, administration and payroll, compensation etc. etc. Technology
encompasses everything; from before the employee arrives in organization to
after she leaves it. It is embedded in processes and is affected by culture of
the organization as well.
Technology tries to increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of the processes by increasing decentralization of
power and responsibilities, reducing redundancy, eliminating errors, increasing
transparency and empowering the employees.
In my further posts, I will explore
each one of the above points at length, including the ethical implications of
use of technology. I will also discuss about the need for HR managers to be
well versed with latest technologies and why techno-savvy managers will be able
to handle their teams in a better way.
I will close with the words of
Indian IT wizard N. R. Narayana Murthy, who really made Indian IT industry global. Till
then have a happy week!
“Engineering or technology is all
about using the power of science to make life better for people, to reduce
cost, to improve comfort, to improve productivity, etc.”
Comments
Post a Comment