Impact of AI in HR

At the heart of it all, HR is about supporting your people. Somewhere along the corporate experience’s evolution, that perception of HR got a little hazy. And the workload reality, for many HR professionals, lost that thread as well.

With high demands on their schedules to complete paperwork and sift through resumes, HR leaders can feel left with little time for brainstorming creative ways to enhance the employee experience. In an ideal world, HR encompasses the entire employee life cycle, from recruiting and onboarding all the way to upskilling employees and managing the employee experience.

As companies scale, the massive workload stretches the capabilities of HR teams. This leads some employees to view HR as little more than the policy police. Without AI, they don’t have the time or tools to process data in such large quantities while remaining present for their employees. HR teams need support to keep up, and that’s exactly what AI offers.

What are the uses of AI in HR?

AI can be implemented into almost every aspect of HR. Recruitment, hiring, onboarding, engagement, recognition– if you can name it, AI can probably make it better for everyone.

When HR processes run like a well-oiled machine, candidates and employees notice. Most everyone has experienced a chaotic workplace in their career, where everything from rewards and complaints all the way down to candidate resumes gets lost in the scattered mess of it all. It’s no fun for anyone.

AI takes charge of the simple tasks, automating what can be automated and optimizing everything else, giving HR more time to focus on what matters most: your people.

Here’s how it works.

Task Automation

Automation is the root of AI’s impact on HR. It transforms the daily tasks HR teams complete, shifting responsibilities up a level. Instead of manually processing data, publishing job descriptions, collecting candidate details, contacting candidates and screening resumes, HR teams use the additional time and results to make informed decisions that improve the employee experience, from the recruitment period all the way to the exit interview.

Recruitment Acceleration

The longer the time to fill, the higher the cost of lost productivity. Rush the recruitment process, though, and you end up right back in the same position when an ill-fitting candidate jumps ship a few months down the line. AI drastically improves recruiting efficiency. Using machine learning models, AI screens resumes based on set criteria. Hiring managers can use their skills to identify the best-fitting candidate based on company culture, personality, unique competencies, etc.

Candidate profiles can then be stored in a catalog that will automatically alert HR if a candidate meets the criteria for a future open role. AI can also identify which current employees qualify for an open role, enabling internal mobility. HR can then inform candidates what skills they need to develop to move farther up the ladder.

Reduction of hiring bias

While more research is required to confirm whether or not man-made algorithms are completely free of bias, they are less prone to subconscious bias than humans alone.

Without AI, many recruitment processes fall victim to bias from the moment they begin screening resumes. AI reduces the risk of bias in hiring by screening candidates with as little human bias as possible.

Improved Retention

AI arms hiring managers with data, giving them an in-depth understanding of the candidate’s competencies, as well as what attributes are necessary to be successful in a specific role.

This creates a crystal clear picture of what recruiters should look for. Job descriptions become more accurate, attract the right candidates, and lead to better hires.

Once the perfect candidates are hired, they can go through a sophisticated, AI-powered onboarding process personalized to their needs. AI can identify the areas where candidates need extra preparation and track their progress, automate simple tasks, answer questions, and provide real-time feedback.

After onboarding, AI continues to improve the employee experience through the gamification and personalization of employee rewards and recognition. This goes a step beyond employee satisfaction, promoting both engagement and happiness.

By matching candidates with the best-fitting role, setting them up for success, and continuously promoting their happiness, AI creates an employee experience that helps employees to thrive long term.

Learning & Development Optimization

AI can detect and accommodate each employee’s individual learning styles, as well as identify a specific employee’s knowledge gaps. Learner profiles are created to support each employee’s style, needs, and goals. When implemented, AI tends to improve L&D engagement and completion rates.

Algorithms can even identify opportunities for upskilling and reskilling, inspiring employees with a new career goal in the process.

Employees appreciate investments in their personal and professional development that make a tangible difference in their careers. Using AI programs to learn specific skills they lack or work toward goals they must meet for potential promotions motivates employees to engage with the program.

Strategic and Analytic Value-Added for HR

AI can make data work for HR teams instead of the other way around. AI analyzes employee skills data, matches employees with relevant open positions, analyzes employee referrals to collect success rates, and leverages transactional workforce data to assess employee potential, fatigue, and engagement. HR managers can use this information to better support employees struggling to thrive within the organization.

This insight, along with time saved by AI introduces the opportunity for HR to put the technology’s strategic insight to use. HR teams can combine the data collected by AI with their intimate knowledge of how the organization’s people operate to become a strategic voice in the boardroom.

Historically, HR hasn’t maintained the strongest boardroom presence. Investing in your people is investing in the success of the organization, and AI gives you the time to show the c-suite how prioritizing the needs of the people can carry them closer to their big goals.

AI puts the heart back in HR

Human resources cannot exist without humans. It will never be purely automated, run by AI and AI alone. HR isn’t passing the torch to AI. AI gives HR professionals x-ray vision into the inner workings of the workforce. They learn what candidate attributes fit best, what L&D resources employees prefer, and how to unlock their employees’ full potential.

It would be easy to assume that AI dehumanizes HR, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. When used correctly, AI handles the tasks that are already robotic. They don’t require empathy and require the accuracy and precision AI allows. HR professionals are then freed from the chains made of neverending paperwork and are free to use their empathetic nature to its fullest extent.