If you’re at your workplace or your desk, check how many work-related apps you are using. You likely used an app just before jumping on this article. According to a Business Wire report, a modern worker uses 9.39 apps at work. Apps, devices, hardware, and work-related software is key to a positive employee experience. This brings forth the importance of IT in creating employee experience.
This shows the phenomenal growth of the HR tech market. The industry has grown by leaps and bounds.
Human resources, which is held accountable for employee experience, would need the hand of IT teams to ensure a positive experience among employees. This collaborative approach is more important today than ever as organizations steer through the pandemic. Human resources can’t build positive experiences without IT assistance. IT tools, on other hand, are meaningless if employees aren’t engaged to use them.
Each device or tool a worker uses during their employment – right from onboarding to the exit interview is essential in shaping the employee experience. HR technology — HCM, project management tool, communication tool, instant messaging, etc — are now essential for effective remote work. These tools are going to become increasingly vital in the era of remote work.
In brief, for organizations to thrive and create positive employee experiences, a healthy collaboration between IT and human resources would be essential. Let’s see how HR leaders can approach this collaboration to ensure a positive employee experience.
Design thinking
The collaboration between IT and human resources should be driven by design thinking. What does it mean? It means the solution should consider the workflow of employees and challenges. Both technical and personal challenges should be kept in mind while coming up with a solution. Further, how it will meet the goals of the team and organization should be taken into consideration.
Let’s say HR wants to implement a learning solution, but the organization infrastructure can’t support it. This isn’t helpful to the organization nor productive, irrespective of how well-intentioned the project is. Similarly, IT introducing a new communication tool without training from HR or any code of conduct for the tool circulated in the organization, the tool will not have an impact on the culture and collaboration it intends to have.
Therefore, HR and IT need to understand each other goals and objectives. Understanding employees’ needs and putting them above all else will drive success. There’s already increasing expectation for technology and tools among employees to make work easier and fun in the remote work culture. Giving them tools that they know how to use and feel engaged with will ensure a positive employee experience.
Keep up with the industry
One of the reasons that employee expectations are high is because they see companies around them using technology. The need for HR technology is sky high, such that it is driving up investments. During the second quarter of 2020, investment in HR technology rose by over 14% from Q1, amounting to nearly $1 billion.
HCM (Human capital management) saw more investment than talent acquisition, reinforcing the trends that erupted in the industry before the pandemic hit. IT can undoubtedly solve any HR problems. Whether it’s automating recruitment, helping mine data for workforce analytics, or optimizing the onboarding process for a better employee experience. So there’s no dearth of ways in which IT can support HR function. All this would require improved tools and HR technology to address employee problems, where HR teams will come to action by recognizing employee challenges. To thrive in the current business scenario, HR leaders should prioritize a healthy collaboration between IT and HR.
