SIGNIFICANT DRIVERS OF CHANGE for HR

In recent years, the deployment of technology in the workplace has become a formidable force to reckon with – creating a so-called ‘Revolution’ in workplaces. Often accompanied with resistance, fear, excitement, relief and frustration, technology has become one of the most topical discussions in business. Resistance, due to the uncertainty it may create in job security, and relief and excitement ascribed to the visible benefits of introducing technology in the workspace.

According to a recent survey conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), technology is seen as the “most radical driver of change”. PWC Team Leaders, Andréas Horak and Leila Ebrahimi believe a balance between technology and people is essential for organisations to succeed. “Organisations will need to rebalance their workforces to focus more on collaboration between technology and humans, and to harness human skills, such as creativity, empathy and ethics, alongside digital skills. Companies that understand and act on these workforce changes now will not only have the skills but also the organisational motivation, innovation and adaptability to thrive.”

(HR Quarterly; First edition; March 2019; p 3 – PWC)

Technology is to be seen as an enabler to allow people to achieve and develop in the workplace. Many companies have taken cognisance of the value technology fulfils in their business and how it has enhanced production and profits. This rings true for Human Resources as well. Yet, the link between technology and People Development has the potential to impact greatly on the South African workforce, leading to a more dynamic workforce being continuously subjected to re-skilling and upskilling, making them more adaptive to change, whilst enhancing their impact on the company bottom line. Paper driven People Development has evidently become old-school, and is being replaced with

technology that is:

• dynamic;
• smart;
• affordable; and
• relevant.

With up-to-date cloud technology, HR is able to play a more significant role in organisations and particularly at executive level, bringing to the boardroom tangible results of the impact each employee may or may not have on the company bottom line. Smart technology may enable HR to produce Metrics and Dashboards that express People Development with a click of a button, whilst this very technology can be utilised to drive organisational change by empowering employees to take responsibility and be accountable for their own career development – so called ‘self-service employee development’.

So, how then can technology drive change in Human Resources and in particular, People Development?

A few simple steps can lead the way to a transformed, more productive workplace.

1. Revisit organisational objectives and link this with the role employees play in achieving these objectives – people want to be reminded of their role and impact in the overall functioning of an organisation;
2. Define/re-design job profiles and subsequent key indicators; linking it to organisational objectives and learning that underpins deliverables;
3. Assess, record and evaluate existing skills (survey) within the organisation, identifying gaps and potential learning areas – establishing interactive processes that will enable discussions on performance and subsequently lead to identifying mentors that could address learning needs;
4. Create interactive communications channels, enabling employees to talk to one another about their work and ways to increase learning and performance;
5. Re-align talent recruitment / management strategy to include reference to specific skillsets or competencies for which applicants need to show evidence of;
6. Foster a favourable workplace environment where skills gaps are identified and empower employees with tools (technology) to plan and manage their own development;
7. Manage People Development through a combination of formal learning; mentoring and on-the-job training with clear workplace defined outcomes as evidence of learning;
8. Evaluate/define metrics that monitors the impact increased learning has/had on organisational objectives;
9. Link performance management initiatives to the impact/contribution each employee has/had on the company bottom line; and
10. Create feedback processes that allows repeat loops of the steps outlined and re-align/adjust where required.

Utilising technology in driving People Development allows HR to establish a workforce that is:

• highly adaptable;
• digitally educated;
• progressively developing;
• linked to organisational objectives; and
• aware of how their role impacts on the bottom line.

Technology, as a major driver of change, enables HR to utilise real-time data to analyse, develop and implement workforce strategies that contributes to the success of People Development and its impact on the bottom line.

Should you require more information on how Skillogical can help you identify your People Development needs, or to arrange for a live demonstration on the solution, please contact us on 011 958 2693 or visit the website at www.skillogcal.com.