Human capital management trends HR leaders should know about

HR technology is hot. HR technology venture capital nearly quadrupled from 2017 to 2018. Globally, HR technology spending is more than US$40 billion and it increased by about 10% in 2018.

The underlying factors driving this growth are also strengthening. The number of CEOs mentioning workforce in their top three priorities for 2018/2019 rose from 16% in 2017 to 28%. When asked about the most significant internal constraints to growth, employee and talent issues were at the top for CEOs. Clearly, the HR technology industry is poised to take off in 2019.

What does this mean for today’s HR leaders? It means that this year, they will find a bevy of innovations vying for their attention and dollars. While it is surely a happy problem to have, it can be overwhelming to sort through all the buzzwords and prioritize HR paradigms that are real game changers.

Human capital management (HCM) technology decisions can alter the course of a company, so HR leaders need to understand some of the fundamental changes underway. Here, we explore some of these top trends, identified in Ceridian’s new report, Human capital management trends 2019, and how they will impact HR and business leaders.

Download Ceridian’s 2019 Human capital management trends report to read more about how technology is shaping the future of work

Talent matching

The age-old HR challenge of finding the right person for the job is now being solved in some new, exciting ways. Machine Learning (ML) is being employed to optimize job descriptions, enhance the candidate experience, and reduce bias in the recruiting process.

These efforts are being backed by innovative technologies such as candidate video assessments, social sourcing tools, chatbots (for example, to walk candidates through the application process), and predictive analytics to assess fit.

Consumerizing the employee experience

In this era of instant gratification, employees increasingly expect HR services to be available to them immediately. New technologies are pushing the envelope of this consumerized HR experience for employees. On-demand pay is a key example of how this is coming to life in the market.

Employees want their voice to be heard and their opinions respected. Thus, tools and processes that allow for feedback to be submitted, received, and acted upon are gaining popularity.

Employees also look to HR to provide them with a learning experience at work that is similar to that of their online experience as consumers – a social learning environment, with smart recommendations and short bursts of relevant content (think YouTube or Netflix).

What are key elements of a consumerized employee experience? Download the report to read more

AI in HR

The age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already upon us. The greatest impact in the near term appears to be using AI to augment the actions of humans, rather than to replace them. AI has the potential to dramatically improve HR effectiveness, helping employees do their jobs easier and faster, helping managers make smarter decisions, and predicting and recommending future courses of action.

Perhaps more significantly, HR leaders now also realize that AI needs to be adopted with care. They are definitely focusing on, for example, how to use AI to make better hiring decisions or how to deploy smart chatbots in the employee helpdesk. At the same time, they are also trying to figure out the privacy implications of AI and determine ways to make AI explainable.

New and more powerful uses for people analytics

Many organizations have crossed the pilot phase of people analytics and are planning scaled deployments of powerful new programs. HR leaders are increasingly looking beyond traditional reporting and descriptive analytics for decision-making.

They are also taking advantage of tools that predicts key HR parameters such as attrition levels, candidate fit, learning requirements etc., and suggest actions managers could take in response.

Moreover, pioneering HR departments are deploying new forms of analytics such as Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) and sentiment analysis.

These are but a few of the top HCM trends of 2019 that HR leaders need to be aware of. As these trends shape the future of HR, a strategic approach to HCM that connects HR outcomes to business results, powered by technology, is likely to help companies gain a competitive advantage.

Read 2019 Human capital management trends to learn more about all 10 trends