How are HR teams using content technology to improve the workplace?

Welcome to 'Sit Down With Shootsta' – in this episode, I chat with David D'Souza, Membership Director at the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development).

I wanted to find out how are #HumanResources teams are using content technology and communications initiatives (like video) to improve UK workplaces? You can either watch the video or read the transcript below (2 minute read) to learn more.

Hi, I’m Morgan Scott and Welcome to Sit Down With Shootsta where we take a closer look at the marketing and communications professions with the experts themselves, and also learn about the technology and tools they use.

Today we’re taking a look at Human Resources and I’m excited to be talking with David D'Souza, who Membership Director at the CIPD. Welcome David, thank you for being here. 

To start with David, how did you actually get into the world of HR?

I dropped out of university, there were a lot of things going on with my family. I studied stacking shelves. I definitely didn’t want a career, but actually the chance to work in recruitment and induction, Marks & Spencer came along, so helping people into an organisation, then training them, and I fell in love with it from there.

What is the CIPD and how does it actually help HR professionals

So we’re the professional body for HR and people development, we have over 150,000 members, and we’re the only organisation who can provide chartered status to HR and people development professions. So we help people within the profession by providing them with the qualifications, the support and the community that they need to flourish in their careers.

How is HR changing and how will technology play its role?

HR has changed massively over the years, so it’s gone from a quite administrative background where we would have been processing peoples pay, right through to encompassing complex cultural questions - How we deal with harassment in the workplace, mental health and well-being. Technology has a massive role to play in that because we know it changes the way people communicate and the way that people process information. As that changes, we need to think about how people become more productive in work.

What would you say the best communication tools were for HR?

HR is a really broad church, so we include everything from recruitment through to employer branding, through to internal communications at times, so we’re seeing increasing uses of video, we’re seeing increasing uses of technology like chatbots to communicate to people. It’s a really exciting time to be in HR because of the ability to access and communicate with people has never been easier or better enabled by technology. 

David, is video important for HR, recruitment and L&D, and how have you seen it been used?

Video is being used in a range of different ways, so in L&D, it’s about being able to get people learning at a point that they need it, so whether that’s short sound bites from people, whether that’s tips or how to’s to run through the guidance to the things that you really need to do to get your job done well. But actually in recruitment, I think there’s a really interesting space there in terms of candidates communicating with organisations in a visual way, rather than just the old fashioned CV as well. So I think there’s a huge amount we can do to utilise technology, but particularly that thing where you get to see someones face, and the way that they talk and communicate more clearly through that.

What is the CIPD actually working on, anything exciting in the pipeline?

So the biggest thing we’re working on at the moment is our new Profession Map, and that’s to encourage HR professionals to be more principles led. So to stand-up for what they believe in. To be more evidence based, to make sure we’re working from really strong researched backgrounds, so that we’re not wasting our time, but investing it in the right ways. And to be more outcomes-driven, so to really work with organisations to get the results they need, but in the right way through people.    

Fantastic insights there David. And where can we find you online?

You can find the CIPD online, where you would expect to find it, CIPD.co.uk. If you would like to connect with me, I’m on @dds180 on Twitter or to can get in contact with me on LinkedIn, or I have my own website which you’ll find through either of those. 

Fantastic, thank you so much for those insights David and thank you for watching. I would also love to hear from you. What interesting technologies and communication tools you are using within your organisation to improve your HR and L&D processes?

Please either leave your comments below or send me an email to [email protected]

Bye for now!