The global coronavirus pandemic changed the business world in a way no one expected. And Human Resources Departments (HR), which were generally slow to adopt digitalization, were enforced to take on digital hiring, managing teams remotely, safeguarding, and promoting a culture that could handle distributed workforce in highly dynamic circumstances. Overnight things turned upside down for them and they relied upon tech in place to allow them to communicate better and continue to perform their jobs effectively. Here’s how COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of HR technology.
Facts of the Story
One of the significant parts of this adoption is that 80 percent of organizations had no technology to be used efficiently by HR at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic ( Gartner). So how did they responded to the pandemic? Here’s what some of the surveys revealed:
- In June, McKinsey conducted a survey that indicated that the pandemic accelerated digital technology adoption by several years. 85% of respondents said the implementation of technologies that digitally facilitate staff interactions and collaboration had been slightly or significantly accelerated by their companies.
- Another McKinsey poll showed respondents stating that at least 80 percent of their customer interactions are digital three times more often than in the past.
- While according to a LeapPulse survey, more than 80% of respondents also believed their company would continue to accelerate its digital transformation post-COVID.
All these statistics point to the fact that in the wake of the pandemic organizations and industry as a whole have reacted, demonstrating a fast shift to customer interaction through digital channels. Moreover, HR specialists expect that the majority of their digital transformation processes will last for a long time and already make the kind of investments that they can only keep.
Ben Forgan, CEO, and Co-Founder At Hologram says, “Everything we’re seeing due to Covid is an acceleration of trends that started more than 15 years ago with the advent of internet communication and laptops. To some extent, the world has been creeping toward additional remote work. Companies would be wise to know this isn’t a fad but a broader trend to the decentralization of work. For us, the takeaway is that the future of work is here. Everyone whose core work is done on a laptop can essentially have that.”
Paper to SaaS
For the past couple of decades, the HR industry has been working under an in-house IT team to manage on-premise activities. These on-promise IT solutions also decided the state of software being used in an organization. However, with the implementation of remote work and social distancing, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) quickly rose to fame in replacing on-premise HR solutions. As organizations around the world took advantage of Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Trello, the HR industry too has taken on HR and Payroll software to manage their employees. Conventional practices such as face-to-face interviewing, maintaining spreadsheets got turned over to software overnight.
The Rise of Software Adoption
Video communication, live chat, and collaborative tools, as well as portals, were the three techniques that prevailed in business during the pandemic. At least part of the time, even corporations who were already accustomed to virtual work learned to become more connected with video and more deliberate ways to connect individuals. In essence, the software connected all of the working parties together. From candidate screening to interviewing to digital onboarding, software made it easy for organizations in managing business processes.
For the forthcoming years, businesses would continue to go for a digital office. Besides digitization, employee wellness, and providing a multi-faceted work culture will be joining the ranks of top agendas of organizations.
“Tech is transforming the security and property world and creating a tremendous amount of value for those who invest in platforms like ours. With that in mind, I believe it is critical for HR executives to remain up-to-date on the latest tech solutions available. As we all move forward in building the future of work together, I predict we’ll see more sharing of best practices and collaboration across organizations, industries, and roles to ensure that people truly do come first,” shares Gregory Blondeau, CEO, and Founder At Proxyclick.