How HR Tech Can Future Proof Your Business Against Another Pandemic
97% of firms in a recent Lighthouse Research and Advisory study claimed HR technology enables future readiness within their business. Since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic, public response has tested that readiness for business both large and small. The COVID-19 response has induced systemic changes in how organizations train, develop and engage their employees. This piece will focus on how human resource technology may help your business adapt employee training, development and engagement for the current climate and future pandemics.
Adapt Employee Training
Many employers have made training materials available virtually for employees to develop competencies while away from the office. While traditionally training, assessments and job coaching were only available on the jobsite, many organizations have adopted innovative platforms in an effort to adapt talent development plans to allow employees to develop competencies through interactive and collaborative learning.
An example platform is Schoox, which allows organizations to host curated content for employees to share, rate and comment. Schoox also provides a platform for employees to personalize training content where they may develop additional skills and competencies beyond a simple job description. According to Matthew Brown, VP of Learning, “Changing environments and structures requires users to not be limited to what’s in the HRIS.”
A critical factor in the success of Schoox, one of the firms we recently explored in our HR Analyst Day coverage, is flexibility. Teams can adapt and modify settings to fit workflows, team dynamics, and other unique needs instead of having a one-size-fits-none approach that so many firms take.
Adapt Employee Reskilling
As we enter the new year, organizations who transitioned to a distance learning platform may find flexibility where they didn’t prior to the pandemic. Rather than designating office space for training and assessment centers they will use LMS and LXP providers to drive engagement and development through mobile technology leveraging collaboration and personal development.
How do we know?
Well, 60% of employees believe the employee is responsible for career development and growth. On top of that, over 80% of employers believe the current pace of change, automation, disruption will drive a need for upskilling/reskilling employees. Contrary to the belief that automation will make jobs redundant and replace workers, we have found that automation has enhanced workplace engagement, collaboration and talent development as new platforms break down organizational silos of information.
Adapt Employee Engagement
Automation in the forms of LMS, Employee Engagement and Performance Management software have made roles more dynamic as employees have a better view of where they fit within the team and the impact their contributions have within workflows. However, new and innovative technologies are taking that value even further by breaking down departmental and regional boundaries between teams. Organizations can leverage the collective intelligence of their workforce by making it easier to engage, communicate and collaborate in real time.
An example of a platform that does this is Starmind, which is designed like a neural network which connects subject matter experts to user submitted inquiries. Questions are routed to professionals based on their skill profile, which is a list of skills that is continuously updated as the user develops additional qualifications. For instance, asking a question about marketing strategy automatically pings the top two or three marketing experts in the company based on recent and relevant experience with marketing.
Bottom line: these and other tools help to enable more responsive organizations, which is a critical part of how companies can adapt and thrive during times of intense change.
The research shows it.
A variety of case studies show it.
And now we have a year of experience in one of the most complex and uncertain times in our history to prove it.
Human Resource Data Analyst of Lighthouse Research and Advisory. Four years HR experience in the Alabama Army National Guard. Graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a Masters of Management Science in Human Resource Management in 2019. Current student in the Masters of Science in Business Analytics program.