Article: Start building tech-enabled talent processes

Technology

Start building tech-enabled talent processes

Prithvi Shergill, CHRO, HCL Technologies says, talent managers need to migrate to future-ready processes
Start building tech-enabled talent processes
 

The migration to a technology-enabled HR function is a large-scale change and managing that change is very important

 

Technology has become an integral part of the talent strategy for a CHRO in the dynamic economic environment. The only way that HR can become future-ready is to adopt technology to drive integrated processes as the scale at which the function is required to deploy and deliver services is phenomenal.

When the talent leader of today plans for technology, s/he has to look out for three things.

A talent leader’s first consideration should be the HR processes that differentiate the company’s value proposition. Every aspect of the employee’s life in the organization is being touched upon by technology and that in turn reflects on the value proposition it offers.

The second area that will concern a talent manager is business productivity. One of the key goals for a talent manager in the future will be to identify if there are ways for individuals and groups to increase their contribution in terms of the value they add to the business. Technology influences this given its ability to reduce the time spent in non-core activities and use this time available now on activities that impact the client directly. Technology’s ability to allow people to virtually collaborate improves the way work is done and can foster creativity so as to improve the delivered outcomes.

The third and final area of priority for a talent leader would be to look inward and identify areas where the HR function can operate better. In this area, an increasing number of talent managers are looking at ways in which HR interactions can migrate to leverage the social and mobile platforms now available. Most HR organizations are already looking at ways to migrate to a technology system that enables us to engage and empower employees anytime, anywhere!

The quantum of information generated and available today is immense. The future of talent management is increasingly becoming reliant on and a function of our ability to convert this information to insight using analytics. Progressive Talent managers do not see technology as just a fashionable “good-to-have” but their thinking has migrated to an essential “must-have.”

The first step a talent leader needs to take in order to start preparing for this technology-enabled future is to take a deep look at the existing HR processes and decide whether they are future-ready. For the last two years, we’ve been running a program called “Program FIRST” (Future-ready Initiatives for Results and Smart Transformation) where we have introduced practices that Enable, Empower and Engage employees delivered as Career, Performance, Rewards, Talent and Learning Management. The program has been designed to provide our employees the autonomy to define and work towards their stated goals; the mastery to build the skills required to reach these goals; and a sense of purpose to achieve their goals.

A supporting process that we’ve strengthened by deploying cutting edge technology is the ideapreneur Talent Acquisition Platform (iTAP), which is a complete migration of the technology supporting recruiting processes to an integrated platform. The migration, like other processes, was based on our outlook for the company across the next three to five years. The global configurability of iTAP offers HCL control and flexibility, giving each business entity within the organization the ability to best achieve their unique recruiting goals. iTAP has helped enhance sourcing capability by providing an online channel where all unique aspirants from various channels could log on and post their candidature, enhance the quality of hire by providing better screening ability and a standardized process for conducting assessments. The tool has a built business analytics module which became the foundation for a culture of informed decision making and proactive action. One of the most pertinent advantages of the tool was a delightful candidate experience because of options such as customizable introduction pages, focus on employer branding and online status availability.

The migration to a technology-enabled HR function is a large-scale change and managing that change becomes very important. Effectiveness of change management to a great extent will be dependent on how deeply participants believe in the value of the change.

There is always the possibility that a talent manager will become over-reliant on technology. There will be instances when a talent manager will shrug off responsibility of her/his shoulders and place it on what the ‘system tells.’ The strength of talent management is to leverage the true power of technology and embed it into the decision-making logic of a talent manager – without losing the insight from intuition and judgment. If your process does not allow you to apply expertise in decision-making, then the design is poor now and even in the future.

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Topics: Technology, #BestPractices, #ExpertViews

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