Find out all you have to know about the digital HR transformation that will change your workplace. Establish your goals, choose reliable HR software, and become responsive, efficient, and happy. Digital transformation is here, and its part of your life whether you like or not. Discover its benefits and use technology to your advantage.
This article covers the following topics:
Introduction
Are you still working with piles of papers in a dusty and unfriendly environment? Do you need several days to respond to a leave request, find an employee's file, or put together employment papers? If you answered Yes or No (but secretly thought Yes), it's time for a digital HR transformation. Don't worry; it sounds more challenging than it is.
There is a reluctance to modernize. That’s natural as changing is hard, but there’s no alternative. Traditional HR methods are failing.
The HR digital transformation is the methodology of updating the human resources processes using automation, data and cloud technology to improve people operations.
A digital transformation means that many (if not all) of the things you were doing manually will be taken over by a computer and smart software. In other words, you’ll use technology to your advantage and allow automatic processes to release you from boring and repetitive tasks. Moreover, you’ll avoid human errors, reduce costs, and create an environmental-friendly HR department.
Digital transformation is important in Human Resources (HR) for several reasons. By incorporating digital technologies and strategies into HR processes, organizations can improve efficiency, enhance employee experience, and better adapt to the changing business environment.
To remain competitive and effective in today's rapidly evolving business landscape, one must embrace digital transformation to streamline operations, enhance communication, boost data-driven decisions, improve transparency, compliance, and risk management, and enable remote work. This is why by embracing digital technologies, HR teams can better support their organizations and employees while ensuring sustainable growth and success.
The digital transformation (DX or DT) might not be so obvious for someone who has used paper and spreadsheets in the last decade, however if you're an IT savvy and looking forward to stay up to date to the latest innovations, for sure you the following examples will be very straightforward.
With the advent of cloud computing, engineers started to work with leading industry experts to make work simpler, more effective, and less repetitive. And practically such innovations in design, in computing, in processes, in workflows and the dynamics of personalisation opened the gates towards building products that offer competitive advantages and transform the ways business as usual was done.
Let's see the key benefits:
It takes 5 seconds to apply for leave in LeaveBoard. Team managers are automatically notified and can instantly validate. Simplify your internal processes and boost communication. Track past employee activities to predict future outcomes.
Once your team adds all the information in one accurate system, they can promptly take action and make strategic decisions based on HR analytics.
By optimizing processes within your business, you can stay competitive and compliant. Digital HR facilitates human resource professionals' work by streamlining management workflows.
Find employee data with ease. Eliminate clutter and paper archives. Employee databases offer a more effective way to deliver the information that you need when you need it. Data-driven strategies will become an essential point of competitive differentiation in every business.
It's time to get rid of manual work and reduce the stress associated with administrative tasks. When your people use time efficiently, they are more productive and creative. Your payroll report will be ready in seconds. Moreover, indirect cost reductions are associated with these solutions, i.e., generating quarterly reports or dealing with carry-forward activities.
By offering access to innovation to your people, you're increasing efficiency, agility, and productivity. Moreover, your staff will be more loyal, competitive, engaged and happy. They will focus on meaningful work and free up valuable time dedicated to ROI generating activities. Thanks to cloud-based apps, big data, process automation, smart integrations, and bots, the HR department can create an integrated employee experience to support their ongoing needs.
Digital tools, such as instant messaging and video conferencing, improve transparency and facilitate communication between HR teams, employees, and management. This leads to better collaboration and more effective problem-solving.
Digital tools allow HR professionals to automate repetitive tasks like employee leave management, onboarding, payroll processing, and benefits administration. This saves time and resources, allowing HR teams to focus on more strategic tasks.
As remote work becomes increasingly common, digital transformation allows HR teams to effectively manage and support a distributed workforce. Virtual collaboration tools, performance management systems, and employee engagement platforms all play a role in this effort.
Remote employee management software
Digital tools can help HR professionals stay up-to-date with ever-changing labor laws and regulations, ensuring compliance and mitigating potential risks. Additionally, digital platforms often include built-in security features to protect sensitive employee data.
These six benefits of digital HR are straightforward and can be easily measured, and provide real value-added to any organization. The advantages of digital transformation can be experienced not only by managers but trough all the organization by the employees.
It's no doubt that HR needs to evolve. Paperwork, filling sheets, or updating excel spreadsheets are things of the past. Let's see what are the priorities in terms of transformation from leading consultancies that surveyed chief HR executives across multiple industries and geographies.
I. In a recent analysis run by PwC with two-thirds of the chief human resources officers (CHROs) interview said their companies plan to invest in digital transformation initiatives in 2023, and nearly half say their companies will increase automation of certain jobs.
II. Gartner surveyed more than 800 HR leaders across 60 countries and all major industries to identify their priorities and challenges for 2023. The largest share of respondents put “leader and manager effectiveness” on their list, but many HR leaders will also prioritize organizational design and change management, employee experience, recruiting and future of work.
III. Coursera's Industry skills report gives new insight since it includes data from 90 million jobs that require digital skills, that will double in the next 2 years.
What are the similarities between Kodak, Yahoo, Nokia, Blockbuster, Blackberry, and Myspace? They are all examples of well-known corporations that failed to innovate. Upskill your workforce, embrace digital transformation, and strategically look for new ways to innovate within your organization.
IV. Statista estimates that spending on digital transformation technology would reach $2.4 trillion by 2024. The graph below depicts the evolution of digital transformation spending over time. The demand for such solutions is constantly growing as using digital transformation technologies makes firms agile in responding to changing circumstances and increases innovation, making them more resilient.
The digital transformation changes the way the HR team works and interacts with the employees while adressing many ineficiencies, driving ROI, and boosting productivity and employee satisfaction.
The subject of human resources is constantly changing. It doesn't matter in what part of the world your company is located when a crisis like the Corona outbreak or the recent inflation shock. You need to be prepared. The best teams are the ones that can adapt fast to the needs of a demanding organization, covering everything from talent acquisition to tools and training. We believe the following trends are exciting and relevant to companies like yours and demonstrate that the future is digital:
Instead of spending all your time with basic repetitive tasks and producing delays in your company’s workflow, choose to automate HR processes using employee dashboards. Grant access to relevant data to employees and managers and release the HR department of answering endless requests. Provide transparency and accurate information without compromising data security. Employee dashboards allow employees to manage their time off and managers to see their team’s leave balance and make informed decisions.
Choose a vacation tracking app that integrates with the collaborative tool you use and you’ll have instant and secure access to time-off management from anywhere in the world. Remote workers will thank you for this improvement. Tracking vacations with a collaborative tool such as Slack increases productivity, provides valuable insights for task planning, and helps the teams avoid leave clashes. Furthermore, vacation tracking apps allow you to configure types of leave, grant permission levels and have access to an up-to-date holiday calendar.
The future is digital
It applies to everything from the workplace to managing the existing workforce, hiring and onboarding new people, and building its culture. Not only that the HR department should keep up with the changes, but it should help the company switch to digital as well. Start with cloud-based applications and dedicated HR software.
Access employee data from anywhere
In 2024, the significant trends in digital HR transformation refer to mobile apps and tailored software. Cloud-computing and Artificial intelligence (AI) has its place in the HR department too. Big data and AI-based algorithms compute personnel patterns; analyze recruitment models; increase turnover and performance. In 2024, more than ever, everything has to be done fast, remotely, and efficiently.
Provide better work experience
It’s all about employees’ work experience and how to improve their drive and work satisfaction. Digital tools are used to empower the employees and give them access to their documents and situations. People need transparent and responsive systems. Such web-app must be easy to use and respond to their needs in an effertless fashion. This requires a smooth and agile process, an expert HR team and managers who accept change and are willing to optimize outdated workflows. Digital transformation changes the core structure of the HR team: HR experts and seniors are much needed.
The HR digital transformation framework is a set of guidelines, principles, and best practices that an organization can use to plan, execute, and manage the process of digital transformation. It provides a structured approach to transforming traditional HR processes and people operations by leveraging digital technologies.
In the following section we will discuss about the phases of digital transformation in your HR department. Let's dive in.
It's easy to understand the importance of digital transformation in your company. However, how should you apply it from a human resource management point of view?
Your company's HR digital transformation strategy will lead to a more agile, dynamic, and well-prepared workforce, ready to adapt to any change in the environment. People's mindset will be changed entirely, and what once was 'new' will become 'business as usual.' The transformation is essential, but it can be scary, poorly implemented, or chaotic as any change. Therefore, we've put together seven straightforward and easy-to-implement steps to help you switch to digital in a well-structured and successful manner.
1
Set goals2
Get your team's insights3
Get your executives' approval4
Assess solutions5
Implement the digital solutionTip: Implementation of LeaveBoard in your business is free of charge.
6
Start using novel experiences7
Don't settle with your current solutionUsing technology is no longer a personal decision; it’s a business requirement. Your company can’t survive without technology. Clients and employees may require digital contracts, electronic signature, online payments, or remote access to their documents. You may need to provide digital documents to your local authorities or reduce plastic and use it to comply with environmental legislation.
1. Clear goals
A HR transformation is the first step towards a digital business. Define clear goals and involve the entire department. Moreover, involve employees too. Employee self-service gives them control over their leave balance, access to their personal data, and awareness of their paid time-off and task planning. Employee self-service empowers employees and frees the HR team of repetitive tasks.
2. Modern HR tools
Keep in mind that a quick and easy transition needs the right HR software. Try free HR software until you know what suits your company’s needs. Then make an informed decision, train your team well, and have fun in the process.
3. Digital culture
When working on your HR transformation strategy, reflect on employee experience, the HR operations impacted, workforce management, and the insights you want to access with the novel cloud-based HR solutions. Your company culture must be aligned, and support the evolution of your processes and transition towards digital effectivness. Resistance to change can be a huge barrer, however with the right arguments (review again, the benefits, trends and insights from the CHROs), your voice will be listened and bringing more effective approaches will be easier than you think.
Conclusion
Technology is here to help you. Whether you want a digital HR transformation by choice or forced by the business environment, remember that digitalization doesn’t have to be a rough process. Establish your goals and follow them step by step. Engage the entire team and transform the process into a connecting and growing experience. HR software can relieve you from stress, messy tasks, and dusting your office. Try one that's free and easy to use, like LeaveBoard, and discover the power and beauty of technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is digital transformation important in HR processes?
The digital transformation allows HR experts to focus on creative and complicated tasks instead of wasting their time and energy with basic repetitive requests. Furthermore, it provides tools for gathering and storing valuable employee data and for using them to analyze employee turnover, trends, and work satisfaction levels. For the HR department, the digital transformation means fewer human errors, lower costs, and less physical storage space.
At the same time, digital transformation is a big step in changing employees’ mindsets and offering them a better and safer workplace. It empowers employees with access to their data, allows them to manage their leave, and increases responsibility and responsiveness. The digital transformation creates a friendly work environment, provides transparency, supports remote work, and improves communication. It’s important to have happy employees therefore it’s important to invest in the right tools at the right moment.
What is the role of HR teams in digital transformation?
HR directors must lead and actively shape the digital change of their company as part of a new HR strategy and act as transformation partners. The more “mature” an IT department is digitally, the more compelling is the role of the HR team role in accelerating change and promoting a corporate culture in which digital transformation is central.
What are the difference between digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation?
For an efficient and transparent digital HR transformation, you need to choose reliable HR software. You have plenty of products to choose from. Some are free; some aren't. Some systems are dedicated to a specific business or geographical region; others are more general and can be used worldwide. Make an informed decision. Consider your budget, digital experience, IT resources, number of employees, company’s culture, and business profile. Check out with your peers and see what software they prefer. Don't forget you need to comply with labor legislation in your area and that the HR software may help you with this too.
“Transformation is underpinned by a digital mindset that is a unique interplay of technology, people, and process, and technology can also be used to vastly improve HR processes for employees and managers, resulting in a snowball effect of positivity and paving the way for even greater digital transformation within a business.”
LeaveBoard is one of the best HR software for small businesses. It's free up to nine employees, and they can use the HR solution anywhere in the world. LeaveBoard is a cloud-based application you can access from anywhere and doesn't need installation or storage space. It's perfect to begin your digital HR transformation.
In a single app, LeaveBoard provides employee directory and records, workforce management, employee self-service, absence tracking, HR dashboards, headcount analytics, and HR reports. You can customize it according to your business profile, and you'll receive tailored reports. Employee managing within small and medium businesses will no longer be a struggle. LeaveBoard gives you time for complex and exciting tasks.
Accelerate the digital transformation within your organization and succeed in the remote world.
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