Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that enable computers to perform tasks that require human intelligence. These computers are powered by machine learning and deep learning algorithms and are made to think like humans. From helping a beer manufacturer to develop a variety of beers to providing suggestions on fashion to customers, AI has a major role to play.
Human Capital Management (HCM) is experiencing transformation, the world over, due to Artificial Intelligence (AI). A number of activities are been streamlined, from employee onboarding to training, to identifying, selecting and developing talent. Today, AI support a number of HCM functions, from pre-employment assessment to the retirement of an employee. With the amount of data available, and continuous interaction with the employees, organizations have the ability to train AI platforms to improve employees’ experience.
Organizations are embedding AI and using machine learning and predictive analytics in human capital management for quick and better decision making. By evaluating candidate characteristics and information, AI can predict who the organization’s future high performers will be, who will stay on the job for longer period of time, and who is most likely to receive a promotion. There is room to apply AI to the processes of human capital management which can improve efficiency and reduce paper trial. Here are some examples of how companies are using AI for their HCM workflows.
- Talent Sourcing: Talent Sourcing is a time intensive and painful process. To provide well matched candidates to companies in short period of time would be possible with the application of AI. AI can pinpoint the best résumés and highlight them from a large number of résumés received, improving the hiring process and bringing down its cost.
- Applicant’s Tracking System: The AI system is helpful in communicating job application status of candidates throughout the recruitment process. This can avoid getting number of calls from the candidates inquiring about the status of their applications and will create favourable candidates’ experience as they won’t feel that their résumés landed in the organization as trash.
- Improving Personalized Experiences of Employees: Many organizations today are trying to weave AI into employees’ onboarding programs. New employees who typically want information about the organization or want to meet other employees may not know where to go. AI can provide information to new employees on training suggestions, or provide information on names, location of people whom the new employee would want to meet on his/her first day/week in the organization. An employee can access his/her personal information like address, emergency contacts, organization details, and vacation request.
- Improved Training: AI has the potential to change training in human capital management systems by offering custom or personalized training to employees. By gathering information on an employee’s interests, skills, career level, and goals, AI programs may be able to make recommendations about not only what kind of trainings to offer to employees. As technology develops, AI may one day have the ability to create training programs for individuals and teams based on corporate business goals and personal professional goals.
- Improving Employee Engagement: Exploratory statistical tool like Factor Analysis is used in the analysis of data on Employee Engagement followed by Confirmatory Analysis using Structural Equation Modelling. The number of variables in such study can range from 15 to 20, as a result it becomes difficult for HCM team to isolate important variables responsible for employee engagement. Factor Analysis, also known as data reduction technique, can help in reducing the dimensions of the data and suggest which few factors would be responsible for employee engagement. Such analysis make the job of the HCM team easier for developing strategies for employee retention. Top machine learning tools like logistic regression, decision trees, random forest and neural network can be used to isolate factors responsible for employee retention and attrition.
- Supporting Decision Making: AI shall help HCM team to arrive at day to day decisions at the workplace. HCM team can handle vacation request of the employees informing them whether the vacation is likely to be approved or disapproved depending on the number of other employees who have already booked their vacation in that time period.
- Determining Employee’s Mood: Artificial Intelligence can pick up telephonic conversations of the employees to determine their moods. AI can advise employees whether they have the right mind-set to attend the next meeting. If not, AI shall advise them to take a break.
- Supporting HCM Team to Reduce Bias: Bias may enter a number HR processes which can change the outcomes. For instance, during employee hiring, or performance evaluation, there is always a danger of biases entering these processes. AI can be set up to reduce the biases through an algorithm assessment platform.
- Better Employee Insights: Employees are the most expensive resource a business has. That is why employees are referred to as human capital because of the value they bring to the organization in both driving revenues and creating an overall brand. Retaining talent that comes into the organization is less expensive compared to recruiting new talent, training and onboarding them. With insights obtained from data, Human Resources team can design strategies on employee promotions, pay hikes, and mapping employee skill sets to job requirements. This can help in retaining good talent and reduce attrition.
- Greater Pay Parity: In addition to reducing bias in personnel decisions, AI can access data from disparate places and create analytics and reporting options to help businesses make educated and fair compensation offers and pay increases. While most HR teams and executive leadership understand compensation trends and need to align industry standards with their budgets, AI can keep them quickly and accurately in touch with changes in the industry that would affect compensation decisions.
The use of Artificial Intelligence is not only restricted to above areas, in fact, a number of AI technologies like machine learning, deep learning, Natural Language Processing, Neural Networks and sentiment Analysis have the power to transform key dimensions of Human Resources and can mimic human thought processes that will help HR leaders to develop better workplaces and improve employees’ experience.