While virtually every industry is unpacking automation, the HR industry is also getting automated at a fast pace with significant value being left on the table. Be it in the area of recruitment, employee engagement or learning & development the industry is gaining huge advantage from the technology advancements with businesses calibrating their tech adoption.

Recruitment: During the pandemic, changes that were expected to unfold gradually have been largely accelerated. The entire recruitment supply chain has benefited from automation. There are five main areas where the pandemic has boosted workplace automation.

· Candidate sourcing: There are various AI based tools that parse the job descriptions and do auto-matching from the list of available candidate databases. Various Applicant Tracking Systems also provide this key feature today as a standard offering.

· Talent pooling: There is a world of opportunity to leverage sentiment analysis during the calls that are being made to candidates. Today there are various tools being used to do voice-based analytics to understand the eagerness of the candidate, genuineness, etc. when the initial outreach happens. This can develop into a complete AI based Bot doing the initial calling without human intervention in the near future.

· Interview process: AI based tools can conduct the interview through Bots and without human intervention based on the question bank and training given to the AI engine. The technology is even capable of picking out fraudulent candidates based on eyeball movement, putting candidates at ease if tensed, etc., the possibilities are endless.

· Selection to Onboarding: Technology provides a seamless digital experience for the selected candidate all the way from an automated offer letter release, virtual onboarding including digital ID cards (came in handy during the pandemic), and digital creation of employee ID. OCR technology allows digital capture of bank details based on the scan data of canceled cheque.

· Candidate engagement: There are various automated solutions with chatbots, automated SMS for engaging with candidates to ensure they are engaged, interested and reduce dropouts. This also gives an early warning in case a drop is anticipated, enabling recruiters to proactively drive better-joining ratios.

Employee engagement: On average, almost 40% of employees spend at least a quarter of their work hours tackling manual and repetitive tasks. With the aid of automation, organizations have the control to streamline tasks, eliminate any bottlenecks, decrease the occurrences of human error, and free up more time for their employees to focus on higher-value work.

. Employee Pulse Check: Automation has helped a lot in finding early signs of dissatisfaction amongst employees, so preventive action can be taken.

· Collaboration: Among employees is key to success especially in the current environment where employees are spread across the globe and even more during the pandemic. There are many collaboration tools where many effective modes of communication like chats, shared document repositories, and online groups discussions have become a reality because of automation.

· Performance management: The key to an organization’s success is truly its people and performance management is paramount. Appraisal systems are more real-time now than ever and the concept of annual appraisals will be passé. Also, automated tools are able to capture feedback on a 360-degree basis – supervisor, teams, and peers – providing a platform for wholesome and well-rounded feedback that is free of bias.

· Compensation and benefits: Automation helps is forecasting demand better and also evaluate the gap between demand and supply more effectively. This means that compensation levels can be tweaked based on the mismatch and bonuses can be doled out based on the niche skills. Not only that, but automation also makes it possible to take it one level further – enabling staffing providers to offer differentiated pricing for customers.

· Attrition Management: Automation makes it easier to predict attrition, based on feedback posted (chats, employee engagement forums, voice, etc.), and current tools are capable of suggesting remedial actions. This will only mature going forward to minimize human intervention.

Learning and Development: With so many online skilling courses, personalized coaching, and peer-to-peer learning programs available through various leading technology platformsu pskilling and reskilling have become seamless. Online certifications add weightage to a job seeker’s resume and help in getting placed better in the areas of interest. Assessments are also automated and course material is being tweaked to the individual needs – this is very different from providing standard courses.

In the current context of a hybrid workspace, a combination of in-person and remote work means organizations need a combination of in-person and virtual learning experiences and will take some time to perfect. Automation can aid the L&D team to turn around personalized learning programs that are set up for success. Instead of figuring out which employees need to go to what training, the L&D team can focus on more strategic and creative tasks, like planning and executing the training.

Automation can also drive effective redeployment for employees giving continuity in career across projects. Inputs from Learning & development (including upskilling, reskilling), project-related past performance from appraisals, demands available are key to rating candidates in a uber-like model. The best opportunities can be given to employees who score higher.

The notion of "intelligent automation" across the HR organization is a disruptive trend and can help rebalance the equation. To get the most value from evolving automation technologies, the conversation around automation itself must evolve to ensure employee-focused automation. All in all, technology has provided a great impetus to the HR industry as a whole.