In the era of low growth and AI storm, where will the human resource centers go?

Recently, the news that the well-known domestic SaaS service provider Youzan announced the cancellation of the "HRBP" position became a trending topic. On July 4th, according to the "Big Factory Youth" news, Youzan internally announced the phased cancellation of HRBP positions, with all HRBPs completing internal job transfers within the next week. They will report to business leaders and must formally and genuinely engage in business-related work content, no longer performing human resource-related tasks. Additionally, the company will no longer have an "Organization Growth Department," retaining only the "Human Resource Management Center." The company will officially commence the adjustment on July 8th.

Internal emails revealed that this adjustment primarily involves the phased cancellation of "HRBP" (Human Resource Business Partner) positions and the optimization of the "Organization Growth Department."

This news sparked widespread controversy. Some opined, "The world has suffered from HRBPs for too long!" and labeled it as a pioneering move in the internet industry, while others saw it as merely one of the cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measures in the era of low growth.

Youzan explained this decision by stating, "The era of intelligence has arrived. After the Industrial Revolution, human division of labor became increasingly specialized, and work processes grew longer. With the advent of intelligence, people's capabilities will become more comprehensive, work processes will shorten again, and the division of labor will broaden."

"Using more advanced tools to enhance individual and overall efficiency" and "adopting newer work methods and processes to make organizations more efficient."

It can be understood that Youzan's organizational adjustment is a response to the economic situation of low growth and the emergence of intelligent tools.

2024 is regarded by the industry as the year when AI large models and generative AI will be fully implemented. In many industries, AI has become a necessary means to improve production efficiency and reduce costs. Through automation and intelligent production, enterprises can reduce their reliance on human labor and enhance production efficiency and quality, which is a crucial competitive advantage for companies.

The same applies to human resources. Contemporary large domestic internet enterprises generally adopt the three-pillar model of human resources as an advanced approach, namely HRCOE (Human Resource Center of Expertise), HRSSC (Human Resource Shared Services Center), and HRBP, with clear divisions of labor and responsibilities.

However, in the practice of Chinese enterprises, the HRBP position and its three-pillar model have also triggered some controversies and reflections, such as unclear role positioning, heavy transactional work, organizational structure and cultural barriers, etc.

Of course, long before considering the value of HRBP, many enterprises had already adopted AI intelligence to share some transactional work.

Taking many large enterprises we have served in the past as examples, digital tools have long been used in various transactional tasks such as recruitment, training, and performance management, effectively solving practical problems.

• Hilton: After going online, its matching rate can reach 80%, the resolution rate can reach 77%, and the dissatisfaction rate of evaluation is 0, which greatly reduces the burden of HR, achieves full-scenario coverage of internal employee problems, and is highly recognized by internal employees.
• Universal Studios: Operation personnel are no longer limited to the tedious writing of standard questions and the categorization of similar questions, but can devote more energy to solving complex problems and improving service experience.
• Taikang Insurance: After going online, the resolution rate of employee problems has been increased to 80%, greatly reducing the workload of department personnel; at the same time, the convenient search of knowledge and 360° employee portrait precision service make Taikang employees truly experience the company's care.
• Chain Cafe: The text robot is used to connect with the work order system to help realize the automatic processing of recruitment processes, create a self-service and intelligent interactive service mode for human resources, and open a new era of digital and intelligent human resources.

The above is merely a microcosm of digitization, with human resource management systems, talent management platforms, employee self-service platforms, data analysis tools, and more.

Importantly, AI's ability to replace humans in handling tasks continues to improve.

Changes in human resources may indicate a new trend in enterprise human resource management. Future human resource management will place greater emphasis on efficiency, strategy, and innovation, and traditional positions may gradually be replaced by new organizational forms and management models.

This incident also reminds us that in the context of economic slowdown, all companies' middle and back-office departments, including human resources, administration, finance, technology, and other departments that do not directly interface with customers, face the challenge of demonstrating direct contributions to the business and scientifically quantifying job values, which has always been an industry difficult problem.

In the era of the AI storm, whether for corporate or individual development, we cannot change the trend of technological progress but can only accept and embrace it. Continuously improve ourselves in the age of artificial intelligence to adapt to this era.