dashboards and data in conversations
with business leaders will give HR
“more credibility”.
“You’ve got to make sure people
are taking us seriously,” she said. “So
we need to make sure we have the
right capabilities in our managers
and colleagues.”
However, Steel said that
predictive analytics might be
beyond the reach of some, adding that
she would instead encourage a focus
on scenario planning for several
different eventualities.
“Being able to do those scenarios
will be helpful in a future that’s
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How automated are HR processes at your organisation?
becoming less and less predictable,”
she said.
Some areas of HR are further along
with automation than others, the
panel agreed. Recruitment was found
to be the most common area where
automation has been applied,
according to an audience poll, with
16% of viewers reporting that they’d
introduced some level of automation
here. This was closely followed by
payroll (14%), engagement surveys
(12%) and absence management
(10%). But adding a level of
automation to succession and career
planning is apparently not yet on HR’s
radar, with just 1% reporting
introducing automation to this area.
Keeping the ‘H’ in HR
“There’s still the ‘H’ – the human in
HR,” said Steel. “We have the digital,
automation and data – that’s great.
And we have the science and the
behavioural part… But then we
need the human; otherwise it’s
not HR, as that’s what makes
us different.”
This human side of HR will be
particularly needed to help improve
the skills of the future workforce, to
prepare them for less admin and more
decision-making roles.
Kalim said “mentoring” will play
a key role here to help “develop the
full human”. “We’ll also need
entrepreneurial skills,” added Steel.
“To be a great entrepreneur you need
to be able to do a whole myriad of
skills, not just technical”.
“Bring colleagues on the
automation journey and help
them be part of the solution,”
encouraged Ayton.
Yet for those that still don’t have the
right skills, the panel conceded that
HR will have to make some difficult
decisions about their futures. HR
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‘Human’ skills will need developing to reap the benefits of automation
Very
Somewhat
Not very
Not at all
6%
25%
48%
21%
Which areas of HR have you introduced
some level of automation to currently?
Recruitment
Payroll
Engagement surveys
Absence management
Onboarding
L&D
Analytics
Benefi ts
Performance
management
Communications
Other
Succession and
career planning
16%
14%
12%
11%
10%
8%
8%
8%
5%
5%
2%
1%
What are the obstacles to adding a greater degree of
automation to your HR function’s processes currently?
Lack of investment for systems
Lack of technical understanding
among the HR team
Don’t know where to start
Ethical and security concerns around
automating the processing of personal data
Concerns around compromising
the quality of processes
Concerns around team members losing their jobs
32%
23%
15%
13%
9%
8%
hrmagazine.co.uk October 2019 HR 27
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