“What defines your business?”
When asked that questions business owners usually says that it is their product , service, brand or company culture. However, these can change over time. They also say it is their clients, but even they tend to change over the course of years. What makes your business unique are the people working with you. This is why human resources (HR) is the backbone of every small, medium or large enterprise out there. Still, in the 21st century, even #HR can change and adapt to the digital environment.
Mobile World
We live in a mobile world. Today, there are almost seven billion phones out there, not to mention the fact that, by the next year, roughly two thirds of the world will have mobile devices. According to Google, since 2015, there have been more internet searches conducted on mobile than desktop. This kind of mobility and omnipresence is something that present day HR needs to catch up with. How? Develop or license a mobile app to help employees be more productive. Less than 20 percent of companies do this, which is definitely a missed opportunity.
Always Available
There is a saying in retail: “The customer is always right” which is why most businesses have a 24/7 customer service, ready to respond to any call or concern. Why should it be any different with your employees? When your staff needs some HR services, it would be in both yours and their best interest to make them available. This is, again, where digital HR comes in handy, since your employees won’t need to come to the office in person if they need something late at night.
Fair Evaluation
Even though it has worked in the past, traditional HR evaluations weren’t always 100% fair. People tend to be subjective and this often results in uneven or even biased ranking systems. Seeing how this is something that determines the future of one’s company, it is not a thing to be trifled with. As was already discussed, gathering information in the digital environment is much easier and much more impartial. Over the course of time, the performance of the staff would be evaluated via an algorithm, made specifically to determine which of your employees deserve a raise or even a promotion.
Training New Employees
Gathering data and storing information is not all that software (or HR) is good for. Human resources is also in charge of training new employees and what better way to do so than with the use of technology. As the company grows, your manpower will increase as well, which means that you will need some sort of uniformity in training. There are many ways that training can be enhanced with the use of technology.
Keeping Track of the Data
Small businesses with several employees may not have this problem, but it is sometimes too difficult to keep track of your staff’s personal info. As their employer, you must know their address, phone number, emergency contact and similar information. These, however, are just the tip of the iceberg. What about medical insurance or medical, dental and vision exam records? The easiest way to monitor all this would be with reliable employee management software. Still, keeping track is not the only thing that is facilitated in this way, since a similar platform easily collects the data for you, as well. In this way, everyone can just go around on their business without being distracted from their duties.
A Plethora of Apps
In the end, it is important to mention that since HR’s work is ever-growing and hard to define, it is quite unlikely that it could be replaced by a single app. Attendance, employee wellness, goal setting and even recruitment can be enhanced with the use of a mobile application.
Recruitment would especially benefit from this, since candidates always expect fast and easy application process as well as quick decision-making and response on your side. Trusting software to do your talent acquisition is a notion that is foreign to many, but it can be quite efficient. This especially comes to prominence when hiring more passive candidates. Sure, the loudest and the most aggressive ones are bound to be noticed first, but this doesn’t mean that they would outperform an introvert your software would recommend you to hire.
Conclusion:
New business practices emerge every day and whether or not you manage to catch up with them depends only on you. Integrating digital HR into your workplace, might just be a major step forward in the success of your business. Social Darwinism references the survival of the fittest and, in the business world, the fittest are usually those who adapt the faster.
Guest author, Raul Harman, is a B.Sc. in Innovative entrepreneurship and has a lot to say about innovations in all aspects of digital technology and online marketing. While he’s not enjoying football and great food, you can find him on Technivorz.com
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