We can all agree that 2020 has entirely transformed how the workplace looks and has ushered in what is now called the “hybrid” workplace, one that combines work from home with office time. If you think this is where workplace transformation stops, however, you’re far from the truth. This is only the tip of the iceberg and that’s exactly why you need to make friends with HR tech to stay relevant in 2021.
From diversity to safety and health compliance, things that never took precedence in the workplace now take the front seat. As per Gartner, 60% of remote employees will instead go for a wellness-equipped smart workplace by the year 2022. One cannot expect to live up to the needs of the new workplace sans some investment in HR tech.
It has been established that the workplace will never again look the same, but that is no reason for you to give up on being the successful workplace you once were. Read on to find out what kind of HR tech you should go for to ensure your organization remains future ready.
Video Interview Software
This one’s a no-brainer. With both the candidate and the interviewer being located in their respective homes, the only way they can come together is through a virtual platform. While Skype is always an option, there’s a lot more HR tech available for interviews. Several vendors offer software that will allow you to carry out game-based and technical pre-hiring assessments, as well as interview analyses. Through the use of AI and analytics, such software can also reduce bias in the hiring process.
Software must-haves: When choosing software, make sure you go for the ones which provide good video quality and also allow candidates to take a few practice sessions before they go for the actual interview. Check for the integration functionality, so that data from this software can easily be transferred to other applicant tracking systems that you might already be using.
Virtual Employee Assistant (VEA) Software
As per Gartner’s predictions, virtual employee assistants will become a part of the digital workforce by 2021, so investing in this HR tech might be a smart move. From scheduling meetings and finding a meeting room right up to logistics-related tasks, VEAs can help make your employees’ lives a lot easier by automatic mundane tasks. VEAs are constantly evolving, are incredibly efficient at answering employee queries at the moment, and provide a lot more information than other conventional search methods.
Software must-haves: When choosing a VEA, just like with most other software, it is essential to go for one that best aligns with the needs of your workforce. Make sure your chosen software is equipped with seamless NLP (natural language processing) capabilities and can also redirect conversations to a human assistant, if and when needed. Human-in loop capabilities play a major role in ensuring VEAs are efficient, accurate, and viable, thereby making it a top feature to look for when zeroing in on such software.
Onboarding Software
In the traditional workplace, onboarding involves a lot of paperwork and it’s no different in the new workplace. Onboarding software will help manage your new employee’s documentation, walk them through the entire onboarding and training process, and also inform them of the organizational policies. This will save you time and also make your new hire feel at home. You’ll still have to introduce your new hire to their colleagues though, as we don’t yet have software for that!
Software must-haves: To be a good investment, onboarding software should be equipped with the capability to assign mentors. While software can do a lot, your new hire will still need a few mentors to show them around, at least initially. Also, make sure that the software you choose allows HR professionals to create and manage orientation programs for your new hires. Both these aspects will help ensure new hires do not lose out on a positive onboarding experience simply because the workplace is now a hybrid/remote one.
Attendance tracking software
The new workplace has ensured biometric attendance devices are completely done away with. On the plus side, employees do not have to worry anymore about their hours being tracked and being micromanaged. However, organizations might fail at time management if they have no idea what their employees are up to. HR tech that allows you to track employee hours and absence might be just what you need to ensure organizational and employee goals are on track.
Software must-haves: When choosing such software, look for the overtime tracking feature. With real-time visibility into your employees’ schedules, you will have no excuse to overlook their overtime hours. Such software should come with a mobile application so that employees can access it from anywhere, and it should also be compatible with all your existing biometric devices to ensure all records can be viewed and discrepancies can be avoided.
Employee Engagement Software
One of the biggest challenges of the new workplace is to ensure employees do not get disengaged. With coworkers unable to meet each other and next to nil human interaction, it is mighty difficult for HR personnel and managers to assess how employees are feeling. Using features such as pulse surveys and feedback analysis, employee engagement software can help you spot employee disengagement before it turns into employee attrition.
Software must-haves: While zeroing in on engagement software, check for the benchmarking feature. This will help you assess how engaged your employees are in comparison to the employees of other players in the industry. Also, look for software with the employee recognition feature. This feature can also help you send out company-wide announcements when an employee achievement is noteworthy. After all, nobody wants to work unless they’re recognized for it.
Health and Wellness Software
Also sometimes referred to as Corporate Wellness Software, this is the HR tech you need the most given that good health is often the lowest priority for a workforce that is largely composed of millennials. Health and wellness, mental and physical, have seen a downward spiral since the pandemic hit home and it is well known that unhealthy and unhappy employees cannot be an asset to any organization. An efficient health and wellness tool that ensures employees adopt healthy habits and continuously track the unhealthy ones is thereby crucial to maintaining a healthy ecosystem within any organization.
Software must-haves: The right health and wellness software should allow you to conduct confidential health assessments, the results of which can be used to assess the areas that need the most work. These results can also help HR ensure wellness programs are tailor-made to employee needs, thereby resulting in higher employee participation in these programmes. Such software should also come with a mobile app because employee habits need real-time tracking.
Needless to say, this list is not all-encompassing and there might be several other kinds of software that you might need. However, we do hope this list helped you feel a little more prepared to deal with the challenges that the evolving workplace will bring to the table.
