Article: Are you investing enough in digital?

HR Technology

Are you investing enough in digital?

People Matters State of HR Technology India 2019-20 report reveals that only 23% of organizations have a formal program to upskill their HR teams on digital.
Are you investing enough in digital?

Day 2 of the People Matters TechHR Conference (hosted in Gurgaon 1st to 3rd of August) was themed around ‘Innovation and Growth’, and I began my opening remarks by taking a moment to outline some pioneering research we at People Matters have undertaken over the past two months.

Based on the digital agendas of India Inc organizations, the ‘People Matters State of HR Technology India 2019-20’ report works to find answers to the questions of tomorrow. Providing actionable data through research conducted with more than 250 respondents from over 208 leading corporates, the report uncovers how they have evolved to make sense of rapid digital transformations. The study highlights the understanding of automation levels in different aspects of talent management and also examines companies’ investment plans in HR technologies. The study also encompasses how companies feel towards new-age technologies such as AI, Cognitive Technology, Blockchain, and IoT.

Providing insights, expert views, and extensive cases studies, the report is an indispensable resource for any organization looking to benchmark their digital transformation journeys

Having the right digital agenda 

The objective of the State of HR Technology India Report was to understand how people processes are underpinned by technology. How are CEOs implementing strategies into organizations in the age of digital transformation? What does this entail and, from a skill perspective, where are the gaps in knowledge?

The report looks at organizations across the board, providing industry-wide representation from agriculture to IT and communication to manufacturing and engineering and everything in between. 

Our study focuses on: 

  • The Automation Levels
  • The HR Technology Investments
  • The New-Age HR Technologies

The key context was in understanding how work is changing, but also touching on the timeless question of productivity. What is it our CEO, shareholders and board members want from us? During the study, some of the overriding goals that kept coming up were:

1. How can I make my organization hyperproductive? 

2. How can we become hyper-collaborative? 

3. How do we become hyper-innovative? 

Traditionally, when we discuss HR as an industry we talk about workplace experience as a singular segment. However, there are new segments emerging continuously. HR professionals need to be aware of innovations and advances. After all, if you don’t lead it, someone else will. These include the importance of leveraging the extended gig-economy workforce, enterprise benefits, healthcare, as well as robotics and AI. 

Preparing the teams for digital

There seems little doubt that the digital revolution is happening and companies must prepare HR professionals accordingly. However, how much are we really committed to ensuring our workers’ future-readiness? How much money are we really spending on technology training? According to the report, the budgets remain small. Even with investments increasing in HR technology for the year 2019-20, only 20% of companies have allocated more than one crore for this. When it comes to training, the numbers are similarly surprising: only 23% of respondents to the report said they had a formal program in place to help HR professionals become digitally ready. In addition, only 15% said they had projects that they enable HR to rotate, while only 38% said they are investing in sending HR professionals to conferences and events that will enable them to learn. 

These numbers are very low. It seems clear to me that if you want to win the race of digitizing HR, skilling and training will be crucial: how are you enabling your team to prepare for an increasingly digitized future? 

It is questions such as this that we hope to help you find answers to with the People Matters State of HR Technology India 2019-20 report. All this data and more can be found in the report, which is available to download at www.peoplematters.in. 

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Topics: HR Technology, #TechHRIN

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