It’s not a surprise that technology strengthens HR’s contribution to a company’s success. And with the majority of employees working from home lately, technology has become one of the key assets for HR leaders today, especially since the pandemic started.
Digital communication channels are essential for remote teams all over the world, and companies realize the importance of investing in technology. Payroll, time, benefits, talent acquisition, and more—are today digitized in HR departments. So, upgrading your system will help you remain in compliance, improve processing pay data, and keep your teams informed at all times.
Curious about the HR tech trends for the upcoming year? This article explores six of them. From wellness tools to self-service and continued learning, the new trends in HR technology are ready to be tried and tested.
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Employee wellness tools
The latest health and economic crisis caused by the pandemic has underlined the importance of well-being, whether it’s mental, physical, or financial. Budgeting apps, platforms that help with mental health issues, physical health, or child care, are more used than ever.
Employee wellness will be essential in 2021, as it has a direct impact on the organization, productivity, and performance. So, focusing on helping your employees avoid burnout will lead to higher retention rates and have a positive impact on their wellbeing.
Fueled by employee data, personalized wellness systems are growing. In the upcoming years, companies will use more gamification and wearable technology, as businesses are finally starting to understand the importance of well-being for their employees.
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Remote teams
A dominant tech trend in the past years has been finding the best managing tools for remote teams. Studies have shown that remote work is here to stay, and more companies rely on distributed teams. At the same time, working from home has become a sought after perk for new employees, challenging the role of HR.
In 2021, your business needs to be ready to connect employees in different time zones, ensuring they have equal access to resources and opportunities.
The talent pool is more diverse than ever before, and remote hiring is cutting down costs. Whatever the challenges, technology has the answers and solutions to keep your employees working together while remote.
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Self-service tools
According to recent studies, more employees are requesting self-service options for HR functions.
Self-service systems are increasingly popular, as workers need to access and update their data. It’s a convenient and efficient way to perform HR-related tasks without doing paperwork with the department. So, employees can access payslips, confirm any changes, update their data, or find tax information.
Self-service technology brings fast, efficient, and useful tools for basic HR functions.
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Cloud-based HR
The future of HR management is in the cloud: all-in-one platforms are already available, integrating payroll, benefits, time management, recruiting, and collaboration tools. This comes naturally when businesses have remote teams, as HR departments have also moved online.
Cloud-based HR software is scalable, and it is becoming the norm for global teams. It’s a great way to grow your business, allowing you to work with real-time data and offer your employees more flexibility and control over their data.
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Learning and development
Training is becoming more digital lately, ready to help remote teams develop their knowledge during lockdown periods. Today, online training is a must, and it’s becoming increasingly individualized, especially for determining a career path or building multiple scenarios based on the employee’s potential, skills, and competencies.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, people have been taking online courses, and employees have spent more time learning this year than ever before. After automating the easy chores, it will be essential to invest in tools that help employees learn soft skills: communication, problem-solving, and time management.
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Analytics with AI
The importance of data management in HR has grown in the last few years, with teams also expanding remotely. Recruiting and hiring processes have also improved with the help of AI-enabled programs. Today, HR professionals need to find the right tools for employee feedback and analytics platforms that measure and improve engagement.
Automating insights using machine learning is also a trend for 2021, and augmented analytics platforms are becoming more user-friendly.
Conclusion
HR technology offers powerful capabilities of personalization and reaching the right employees, helping companies to become more competitive while freeing professionals from repetitive tasks and encouraging them to focus on human contact: a trait that the past year missed due to the pandemic.
