With nearly 50% of senior HR leaders expecting to run an Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation programme over the next five years, it is no secret that the potential of AI is front of mind for many.
Despite this, there is still an increasing amount of uncertainty around how AI will impact overall HR operating models and what this means for the wider workforce.
To understand the reality of how AI will transform the HR department in the coming years we interviewed Cheryl Carr, an experienced Chief People Officer and James Morrissey, People Director at HC-One.
It’s important to remember that AI is still a new tool and is constantly being improved. With this in mind, James explained that “AI will change the way HR department works, there is no doubt about that. However, there is a common misconception that AI will trigger thousands of redundancies. AI should never be viewed as a replacement for people, but simply as a tool to make HR roles easier and more efficient.” This mindset should be adopted by the whole board and displayed across the wider organisation. By doing so, this will demonstrate that AI shouldn’t be something to be feared, but actually a tool to be encouraged.
James also explained that “there are countless opportunities for AI to improve processes, remove timely administrative work and improve efficiencies across the HR department, but people will always be needed.” Cheryl supported this and explained that “utilising AI to focus on manual administrative work and mandatory processes will allow the HR department to focus more on people-oriented tasks like employee engagement and progression.
This suggests that AI may not lead to huge operating model shifts, but rather act as an opportunity for HR teams to become future-focused and deliver a more personalised and meaningful experience for the workforce.
Though AI has the potential to impact nearly every function of the HR department, Cheryl and James both expect to see immediate changes in recruitment strategies, the onboarding experience and in the required skillsets of HR teams.
With over a third of senior leaders expecting talent shortages to remain a major challenge over the next five years, it comes as no surprise that many HR leaders are exploring how AI can be utilised to streamline recruitment and identify top talent.
James explained that “AI provides organisations with a deeper level of insight about potential candidates through its ability to interrogate candidate data much more efficiently.” This offers huge benefits in terms of time and cost savings for businesses, however, it is crucial to acknowledge the downfalls of using AI for recruitment.
Cheryl reinforced that “AI is still being developed and isn’t competent enough to remove bias from its processing. Since it relies heavily on pattern and keyword recognition, AI can become susceptible to algorithmic bias and could result in unintentional discrimination for a number of protected characteristics.” With social mobility at the forefront of many organisation’s recruitment strategies, this simply can’t be ignored. James agreed but reinforced that “though there are many benefits of using AI for recruitment, it is key that HR leaders retain control of the recruitment process to avoid diversity decreasing in their organisations. AI could be a tool for prioritisation, recommendations and demonstrating potential fit rather than decision making.”
As it stands HR leaders are forced to focus more on formalities during the onboarding process like mandatory documents and processing. However, as Cheryl explained “AI offers HR leaders the chance to create hyper-personalised onboarding experiences for each new hire. AI is well equipped to ensure mandatory forms and processes are completed which provides HR teams with more space to focus on engaging new hires and nurturing a welcoming culture.”
James supported this and commented, “AI can be used to identify patterns in the type of onboarding experience different roles respond well to and personalise the onboarding experience for new hires further going forward.” Chery explained that “this strategy can also be applied to learning and development programmes. HR teams can create hyper-personalised learning experiences based on their employee’s current skills and future goals.” This is a major benefit for organisations as it could lead to increased talent retention, which is set to be a priority for HR leaders over the coming years.
It was apparent when speaking to Cheryl and James that AI will drive changes throughout the HR department, but nothing that is to be feared. AI is set to remove timely administrative and mandatory process work to make room for the HR department to focus on the relationship side of their roles. There will be a bigger focus on employee engagement, relationship management and personalising the employee experience from recruitment all the way through to ongoing learning and development.
Though this may not drive operating model changes, we can expect the required skill sets of HR teams to evolve. Cheryl explained that “as AI is introduced more, we will see a shift in the required skill sets. I expect softer skills like emotional intelligence, creative thinking and relationship management to become more important, as AI has the capacity to handle administrative tasks efficiently.” Though a working knowledge of legislation and processes will always be beneficial, going forward this may no longer be a priority.
To summarise, AI should not be viewed as a replacement for people, but rather as a tool to provide deeper insights to HR teams and increase efficiencies mainly in administrative work. This will provide HR teams with room to become more strategic, forward-thinking and improve their processes rather than using their time to complete mandatory forms and operations.
We recommend organisations start by testing AI in small use cases in their onboarding or recruitment strategies and gradually increase its presence over time once successful practises become clear and the workforce are prepared for it to be more formally introduced.
For more guidance on introducing AI within the HR department, please reach out to one of our People & Culture consultants.
