How is AI transforming HR?

AI has begun revamping the way Human Resources (HR) professionals work. In fact, people working in HR have already begun adopting ways to incorporate AI into their systems and processes. AI is already being used in the space to automate time-consuming tasks like payroll and employee screening but it is also being used to create new policies, contracts, job descriptions and future planning. 

While AI can be a huge help, Jordan Wang, Director of training and consultancy organisation Dale Carnegie Australia emphasised the need for a healthy balance between technology and the vital “humanness” people play in HR instead of a system of replacing staff with tech. 

“While AI holds promise, it can’t replicate the multifaceted essence of humanity. The future, with all its uncertainties and breakthroughs, hinges on the human ability to embrace change, adapt and lead with compassion – the trump card held by HR,” he explained.

“By prioritising the human aspect of AI implementation, organisations can maximise benefits while minimising disruptions and resistance.”

We live in a world where tech is rapidly developing and its benefits should be considered in an industry that is struggling to recruit and retain employees. 76% of HR leaders believe that if their organisation does not adopt and implement AI solutions in the next 12 to 24 months they will be lagging in organisational success compared to those that do. 

1. Workforce planning 

Founder and Director of recruitment and consultancy organisation Above and Beyond Group, Laura Sutherland, said the daily life of an HR professional is getting bogged down with “reactive firefighting” when the priority needs to be put back to more proactive planning.

“Let’s face it – the aged care workforce is in crisis in our sector, which means HR is overwhelmed and often under-resourced and unable to get strategically ahead of the game,” she said.

“If we embrace AI for more of the things we don’t want to do in HR then we will in turn upskill HR to more meaningful, strategic, sustainable, and impactful work.” 

An AI-driven strategy can not only ease the workload of HR professionals but allows for better future planning and thus, create an improved employee experience overall. This tech allows you to analyse data such as current workforce skills, industry trends, and company growth plans and predict which roles they might need to fill in the next year. 

2. Recruitment AI 

is helping those working in HR attract staff and find the best person for the job. Some AI systems and even ChatGPT have helped companies source candidates, analyse resumes and pair them with job descriptions and schedule interviews.

Mr Wang said organisations such as Hilton have used AI to reduce their hiring timeline from 43 days to five days. Dale Carnegie Australia recently published a report AI in the Workplace exploring how AI will shape the HR space into the future. 

“HR leaders can integrate AI into both business strategy and daily operations as they consider talent management, and data and tech capability building,” he explained.

These aids not only streamline HR to avoid human error or decision fatigue but the automation saves hours of time which can be spent doing more person-centric tasks. Ms Sutherland agreed. She said using AI for higher volume frontline roles that have historically chewed up a lot of time on first‑stage screening and vetting applicants can be powerful. 

“The key to doing this well with AI is with higher level HR and operational leadership skills combined with writing more meaningful position descriptions and selection criteria so that AI can be set up for success to screen for the real requirements that employers are looking for,” she said.

“Although, you’ll still need that connection, chemistry and culture fit element of the selection process which needs human involvement, human judgement, reactive listening, and empathy.” 

3. Performance reviews 

AI has also proved to be a useful tool for those in HR who need to keep track of employee performance and personal reviews. AI allows those in HR to track and analyse employee performance data throughout the year.

This data can help generate individual reports for employees, giving an overview of strengths, weaknesses and progress. This can then create personalised learning and development for employees to ensure your future workforce is sufficiently educated and trained. 

Ms Sutherland said leaning on AI in this way takes the memory searching and guesswork out of the review process, making it more objective and fair to employees.

“This can only work if, again, the HR and operational leaders’ human input is stepped up… Each role type needs clearly articulated success measures or KPIs, so that AI is able to do its part of the job. This doesn’t happen very well across our sector for various role types currently,” she said.  

4. Employee engagement 

HR teams often struggle to gauge employee sentiment accurately but have you considered an AI-powered survey tool? With this tool, you can generate short, engaging surveys to employees that facilitate honest and anonymous feedback. As a result, trends and areas of concern are then identified, providing HR teams with the insights they need to improve employee satisfaction and engagement. 

“Employee retention is probably the challenge that’s hurting employers the most right now,” Ms Sutherland said.

“Most organisations now use these AI survey tools in our sector which is great progress. However, we still need human element involvement – from question design to setting impactful actionable recommendations about what to do with the insights from the data and how.” 

Another option could be an AI chatbot that serves as a 24/7 HR assistant. This system allows employees to ask the chatbot questions about leave policies and benefits and receive answers instantly while the HR team focuses on strategic tasks. 

5. Onboarding and offboarding processes 

New hires can often feel overwhelmed with the initial paperwork and wrapping their head around procedures and processes. But AI can help in that space too with an intuitive onboarding tool. Onboarding AI tools offer guidance in step form which cover important aspects such as documents, company policies and even initial training sessions. This process helps new employees feel more at ease and are likely to digest material better. 

“Organisations with strong onboarding processes improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%,” Mr Wang said. 

Similarly, AI tools can manage exit surveys, return of company property and other offboarding tasks when employees leave your organisation, ensuring a smooth transition for both parties. AI can seem like a scary development in the world of technology but instead of running away from it, we should be looking at how we can use it to our advantage and improve the sector. 

With reform at the forefront of the minds of industry stakeholders, consider how AI can improve the functionality of your HR department and thus, your organisation as a whole.