As organisations accelerate HR automation to refine their EX and support their growth strategy, keeping a finger on the pulse of critical HR trends, addressing experience gaps and strategically leveraging people analytics will be some of the key action areas. 

To dive deeper into this, we get into an exciting conversation with Rahul Kalidindi, CEO and Co-Founder of Akrivia HCM. He is a tech entrepreneur and an alumnus of the prestigious UC Berkeley College of Engineering. Rahul is passionate about the augmentation of human tasks by intelligence systems and empowering human resource (HR) professionals worldwide with cloud-based HR solutions embedding data insights and analytics into HR. He dreams of Akrivia as a game-changing technology reinventing organisations to become responsive to emerging and sustainable changes.

Here are some excerpts.

What are some of the key HR Tech trends that will have an impact on the workplace in 2024?

Well, from the HR tech perspective, 2024 is certainly going to be an interesting year to watch out for. I think, most of the forward-thinking organisations across the globe are working towards striking the right balance between employee flexibility, automation of HR processes, and all-inclusive but sustainable HR practices. Besides those, industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and BFSI are also embracing new-gen HR tech to enhance employee experience, make data-driven decisions, and commit to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

Considering the rapid development in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and machine learning, I am optimistic about how the existing core HR functions will be reshaped. I believe the advent of these technologies will have a metamorphosing effect on businesses globally.

With Akrivia HCM known to redefine EX for the new-age workforce, what is your take on accelerating HR automation and its impact on EX?

I’ve always considered employee experience as a critical driving force for any organisation’s success, and this is particularly important for the new-age workforce. When employees feel valued, they reciprocate by staying with the organisation for a long time, which in turn helps HR curb the retention rate. However, ensuring a great EX isn’t a walk in the park, as it requires a holistic approach that emphasises employee engagement and satisfaction. Hence, we have crafted Akrivia HCM in such a way that it leverages automation at multiple touchpoints of an employee's journey, from hire to retire.

Using automation, our cloud-based platform can reduce administrative burdens and provide actionable, data-driven insights into workforce performance.

Each module in Akrivia HCM offers features that empower HR teams and employees alike. But let me point out a few examples that are aimed at improving the employee experience.

• As employee experience starts even before an employee is hired, so for the recruitment phase, we have automated email notifications to keep the candidate updated on each step of the hiring process, and then we have pre-onboarding access, which allows the selected candidates to upload their documents for the background checks, thereby initiating the onboarding process even before they show up at the office!
• Likewise, using the employee self-service (ESS) portal in the employee management module, HRs can expedite the approval process for leave requests and expense reports, and this contributes significantly to developing a positive employee experience. To take employee experience a step further, we also have a mobile app version of our HRMS portal. 
• Next, to build a people-first culture, organisations must keep internal communication channels wide and open, and this is where the employee engagement module offers out-of-the-box features like the anonymous poll survey and AI-powered chatbot Dhruva.
• As learning and development also play a determining factor in the employee experience, with Akrivia HCM, you can create a continuous learning environment to upskill your workforce. It lets you create, publish, and track training sessions. 

As employees globally prioritise flexibility, what are some challenges that HCM systems need to address urgently?

We are clearly seeing a shift in the workplace dynamics in this post-COVID era. I think the concept of flexible work arrangements is going to stay and evolve constantly. As employees worldwide prioritise flexibility, HCM systems need to evolve too! Adapting to evolving employee expectations, needs, and preferences, alongside utilising technology and data for optimised outcomes, is essential.

The key challenges include aligning organisational strategy and culture in a hybrid workforce, managing performance and productivity variations, enhancing employee skills, supporting well-being and engagement, leveraging technology effectively, and embracing diversity and inclusion.

Organisations must invest in the right HCM systems to address these challenges. A system like Akrivia HCM can enable today’s HR professionals to ensure clear communication, implement performance metrics, offer personalised learning experiences, and prioritise employee well-being - all of which is available at the employees’ fingertips!

What best practices would you recommend to leaders for leveraging people analytics to ensure the success of their people and business strategies?

If companies want to capture data insights to improve business outcomes, they need to integrate people, processes, and technology in a shared fabric.

In today’s data-driven world, turning to data analytics to make informed business decisions has to become more like a playbook.

To leverage people analytics, first of all, companies need to build a data-driven culture, and this is why they need to switch from multiple legacy systems to a unified HCM platform, so that the different modules can seamlessly talk to each other, thus leading to more accurate and cohesive set of data

Companies also need to clearly define the individual KPIs and align them with the business objectives and strategies. A continuous performance management system can offer a 360-degree view, making course correction easier for the respective team heads and stakeholders.

Leveraging people analytics, companies can also gain a deeper understanding of the drivers behind employee engagement and satisfaction. They can analyse factors like job satisfaction, NPS score, feedback, surveys, and sentiment analysis to identify the key drivers of engagement and craft targeted actions to improve employee well-being, workplace culture, and leadership practices.

As Akrivia HCM supports organisations in shifting from a transactional to a transformative approach, what is the future outlook and impact of your platform?

Well, for any organisation to become an industry leader, they need to shift their approach from transactional to transformative. When you start seeing HR as a strategic business partner, that’s when the transformation kicks off. And, to ensure a smooth and streamlined transition, organisations need to leverage HR technology. Simply put, they need the power of automation!

With Akrivia HCM, automation of transactional tasks, which are mainly repetitive in nature, can be easily separated from administrative work. For example, instead of spending hours on creating JDs or skimming through hundreds of resumes manually, they can let a system like Akrivia HCM handle those tasks so that the HR team can contribute more towards the long-term goals of the company, such as building a superior workforce, spending more time to engage with the leadership, improving internal mobility, and so on.

The future of Akrivia HCM is all about innovation, empowerment, and making a real impact. As we continue to refine and expand our HR tech platform, we're committed to being at the forefront of HR transformation, supporting organisations on their journey from transactional to transformative, and shaping the future of work for the better. The impact of a platform like Akrivia HCM can be clearly seen in a matter of a few months, as it is all about automating the transactional work and streamlining the transformative approach with the help of data-driven insights.