Service providers are designing solutions that enable HR to play a transformational role more effectively

The trend of using data to support organisational decisions has become more relevant today for the HR function since HR has a direct stake in solving business problems. Organisational decisions on what kind of talent to hire and promote in a particular space is mainly driven by data that they are able to track and report. We see this because people have become more receptive to technology compared to how HR used to function 10 years ago.

With the help of technology, organisations now keep track of various decision-inflecting aspects of talent. For example, background of talent, critical aptitudes and skills having direct correlation with their job performance, and their behavioural and leadership fitment to the organisational processes and goals. Technology allows companies to keep a repository of skills, resources, criticality of projects and match them to their requirements.

Technology is also driving talent management by allowing the organisation to understand the correlation between various parameters of performance. Thanks to technology and data-driven approach, we now know with greater confidence that by focusing on identifying and developing critical thinkers, companies can groom their managers and leaders to become even more efficient. Assessment tools help individuals to become great managers and effective leaders in a measurable timeframe. With these advancements of technology, service providers are designing solutions that enable HR to play this transformational role more effectively.

In the assessment space, service providers are designing solutions and products that organisations can rely upon to make informed decisions about the talent pool. For example, organisations can predict the correlation between a prospective talent’s current performance with the ability to perform in a future role with assessment technology. Automated assessment tools can accurately evaluate a person’s spoken and written skills. They include essential skills, such as use of grammar, comprehension and the ability to understand and interpret business English communication. This gives organisations a practical view of a candidate’s fitment for a job and the organisation’s global outlook. It also helps create a standardised and reliable approach to benchmarking such skills and create a consistent workforce which can represent a brand.

Service providers and organisations view the mobile technology space as the most promising thanks to its deep penetration in the Indian market. Soon, enterprise learning on the mobile platform will likely see a boom. The ability to map an individual’s talent profile against enterprise requirements and then create on-the-go and measurable learning solutions to cater to that approach will define the future of HR services in the coming times.

Saurabh Singh is National Head, Pearson TalentLens