Bye Bye Human Resources

For many companies, the HR process defines and has an unparalleled influence upon a company's culture. This translates into success or failure as a business, as a brand and as an organization. 

We are due for a disruptive revolution in Human Resources that would optimize and improve upon human error in the process of matching the right positions, with the right talent.

$ Billions of dollars are wasted on ineffective practices, poor hiring choices, low cultural fit and inadequate hiring, employee management, leadership development, employee satisfaction and retention workflows that remain below optimal levels to find the best matches of people and talent, with the right positions. 

With increased job hopping, less stable positions, more freelancing and more entrepreneurial and startup positions to be filled, there has to be a better way. 

Algorithms match consumers with products, movies with preferences of audiences, why not people with jobs?

Artificial Intelligence will Scale to solve many HR issues

I predict, the next decade will see machine intelligence becoming increasingly implicated in HR optimization. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of human resources is coming.

As algorithms and machine intelligence permeate our workplaces and workflows, the realm of intuition that is HR needs more data, insights and predictive analytics, to become more of a science and less of a process prone to bias, guesswork and management preferences. 

I recently read Ben Whitter's post about the complex relationship of the evolution of HR, which got me thinking: we are on the cusp of the disruption of HR. 

The Human Experience of Work Will Predominate 

As in Retail where the customer experience is everything, there is a striking parallel in the cultural experience in a corporation, that by and large can have a huge determining influence upon the retention of talent and the upwards mobility of employees. 

What if cultural fit was optimized by predictive analytics? Instead of the inefficiency of HR and reliance on management driven but 'gut' instead of data?

Just as each corporation and work culture must find its own formula and meaning in the HR process, the way we relate to work in the future will also change as more routine tasks become automated.  

When an Algorithm Matches Me with My Next Gig

While in the future it's becoming probable that it will be algorithms that ascertains our "best fit" within an organization, our cultural experience of a business, of a team, of a department and of the coworker and leadership relationship.

Humans must learn to find a new hybrid culture with AI, to more effectively build the best companies, top brands that combine talent with vision. 

The way we navigate the future of work will be no longer just a question of navigating socially, or following a professional script, but truly a new hybrid AI-human level of organization in our society and corporations. 

One that promotes diversity and inclusion and does not tolerate sexism in the workplace or the 'status-quo' that does not change and adapt as fast as society does. 

As a freelancer, I've come to appreciate the power of the human connection in fostering our best work we will ever achieve, and I think we all have professional experiences where we can recognize the profound impact of work culture on our professional job satisfaction and our core well-being. People thrive in teams and working relationships where human rapport is cultivated authentically. 

But instead of just relying on chance, luck, serendipity of the universe, or our limited human networks, why aren't there algorithms more involved that can help find this sweetspot of working with people where work satisfaction, optimal productivity and synergy is more probable?

What if an algorithm could help both the employer and the job seeker find that right match where the 'magic' happens? Or aid in finding the right consultant or freelancer for a particular project effortlessly?

Millennials and AI Set to Transform HR 

What Millennials see as important in an engaging workplace will redefine HR and is starting to have a real impact on life-work balance and the future of entrepreneurship and the gig economy. 

Corporate cultures are adapting to the standards and values of Millennials who are slowly becoming the dominant cohort in the workplace and increasingly reaching positions of leadership. 

This will occur until HR is no longer recognizable to what boomers and even GenX may have believed HR was for. Human resources in other words, needs an upgrade! 

The idea of automating many of HR's tasks, is not a new idea. Startups based on this will change everything in the coming years, from finding a job, to managing employees, it's all in a process of being automated with new human-centric employee analytics and a Big Data of job satisfaction and work performance. 

Optimizing the Employee Experience 

Newer corporations like Airbnb, will continue to transform how we see HR and the lifecycle of the work experience. As Millennial values continue to permeate our changing relationship to work and AI, the jobs we do and why we do them will change as well. 

Our experience as employees in a way, mirrors our entire journey through our career as a journey of challenges and obstacles and learning curves, but also as a social human experience with different groups, mentors, teams, departments, startups and companies that ultimately enrich our lives and inform our changing roles and skill-sets. 

Will AI be able to not only help the matching process between job seekers and companies, but ultimately optimize the career development journey?

Attracting & Retaining Millennial Talent 

In today's job market as with today's brands, Millennials do not have the same job loyalty and recognize that a diversity of experiences is optimial for their career development. Retaining Millennial talent then become a major issue in the next few years for companies to compete to have the best talent pool. 

How do you think AI and HRTech could change the Human Resources experience, process and efficiency?