AI in Human Resource Industry

"AI (artificial intelligence) in Human Resource"

This is going to be the hot topic of the decade if we look at the current pace at which businesses around the world are acknowledging and accepting AI in their HR processes. And I favor the approach; why?

"It's better to go slow in the right direction than to go fast in the wrong direction" - Simon Sinek

We should take enough time to observe the needs and implications of new technologies in our organization instead of jumping on everything trendy and heading for destruction.

Like every coin has its two sides. AI has its own pros and cons. This article reflects my understanding of AI in an HR context within organizations.

Recently, I joined a very insightful discussion on "HR & AI: Contemporary Practices, Current Issues, and Future Challenges," organized by Christina Butler (our HR professor) at Kingston Business School with some amazing guests and scholars from the fields of psychology, HR, and consulting.?"It was really insightful!"

We, HR professionals and practitioners, need such discussions to understand the market landscape, our company's position, where we are heading, and the best practices to adopt in our work to deliver a meaningful impact in business.

?? Some of the critical observations on the challenges that AI is posing to companies and HR departments all around the world:

1. Lack of data-literate HR professionals—who can understand the pattern, drive the business insights, and make evidence-based decisions—is a major obstacle.
2. Companies are feeling FOMO (fear of missing out) with technology, adopting it without proper planning, and not asking the right questions. (e.g., finding the right purpose of AI in your organization?, How can we use AI and humans in our processes in a balanced way without losing human touch?, Do we have a data-literate team that can help the company grow?)
3. Data Quality: Because the HR function has been transactional in nature for many decades, companies have poor data quality with many gaps.
4. Cost of technology implementation: Companies may incur significant costs when planning and implementing AI-driven processes.
5. Disintegration or communication gaps between data scientists and HR professionals. Neither department understands the language of the other department.

?? Some solutions HR professionals can seek and suggest to their companies:

1. Finding the right AI purpose for your company and inviting the opinions and perspectives of all your stakeholders to help you build a solid business strategy ("How can technology help you gain a competitive advantage in the industry?")
2. Upskilling HR professionals with data analytics and tools and how they can incorporate data insights into business decisions. It will help data scientists and analysts work together with HR.
3. Finding the data maturity level and data quality of your company and how it can help with strategic direction and meeting business goals.
4. Cross-functional training of HR and data scientists in the organisation and encouraging them to develop business acumen to meet the company's vision. This will also help with team synergy.

?? Some of the areas Companies are championing AI process integration:

1. Chatbot-driven customer and employee services
2. AI-powered interviews like the Situational Judgment Test (SJT)
3. Use of the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) in the selection and hiring processes
4. Overcoming biases in recruitment processes via NLP (Natural Language Processing) and AI-based assessment centres
5. Psychometric and tech-based assessments
6. Employee advocacy with AI-based platforms

AI is still in its early stages (of R&D) and is new to us, but I am confident that we (HR Practitioners) will find a balanced approach to AI and humans in our processes, because the balanced approach (#augmentation ) is the ideal strategy, not replacing either human or artificial intelligence".?

#AI #HR #technology #futurechange #humanresource #kingstonuniversity #london