Top Trends and Tools in the Field of HR Technology in 2024

From augmented reality and artificial intelligence to robotics, machine learning, and predictive software, technology continues to evolve and pave the way for an advanced era that metamorphoses our reality seamlessly; and the corporate realm is no exception. According to the SHRM study, investments in the HR domain in technological implementation have skyrocketed, with capital spending at $17 billion.

With organizations inclined towards encouraging teamwork, holistic employee engagement, collaboration, and innovation, the vertical is only expected to see a surmountable change by incorporating certain contemporary trends and tools aligning to the current requirements. 

The human resource solutions and strategies are expected to follow an engaging, practical, and productivity-oriented approach. Companies are creating goals that only employees as a team can accomplish together.

Getting your employees to work in the organization's best interest without compromising their rights is now quintessential.

‍Human Resource Management has a significant focus on ensuring feedback and engagement. It is re-assessing an employee's performance based on the new and improved parameters.

Human resource managers emphasize employee learning and intend to assist in better managing an employee's professional career.

According to Deloitte, the following are ten quintessential disruptions the human resource industry encounters, and the process has already begun.

‍Human Resource management has a major focus on ensuring feedback and engagement. It is re-assessing an employee's performance based on the new and improved parameters.

Human resource managers emphasize employee learning and intend to assist in the better management of an employee's professional career.

According to Deloitte, the following are ten quintessential disruptions the human resource industry encounters, and the process has already begun.

1. Human resources is becoming digitally efficient

With the role of AI, HR, and companies across the globe have started using advanced recruitment softwares for screening candidates and further HR processes. Just like other industrial spheres have necessitated the introduction of gadgets and scientific methods to ameliorate the quality of work, HR finds it equally important and insists vendors pursue astute and team-centric methods.

2. The UltiPro perception solution

The UltiPro Perception Solution by the Ultimate Software (a 25-year-old firm) considers and puts their people first. They believe that a people-centric approach can help in achieving the business goals. Their software assisted the organization’s employees, and the technology for people management was incredibly sophisticated.

This is what has led to the popularity of the software. The software leverages Xander, which utilizes both advanced machine learning techniques and Natural Language Processing. Xander can scrutinize employees’ opinions and views in real-time (understanding how the employees are actually feeling) along with structured data elements.

The foundation’s capabilities can be best ascertained by deciphering 70 workplace themes, 100 emotions, and an open-ended text thorough analysis. The platform efficiently enabled the organization’s human capital management solutions to act intelligently by understanding, predicting, and taking appropriate actions on employee data.

The platform is known for its capability to virtually comprehend and gauge tons of HCM inputs and pursue a proactive approach in team members' development, coaching, and engagement.

3. Xander learns from experience

It is truly the people-first platform as the management, with its help, ensures the exact feelings of an employee, providing firm grounds for prescriptive and predictive analysis.

UltiPro is thus unquestionably adept at predicting the possible outcomes and suggesting the steps leaders should take in the future. It will assist leaders in managing their subordinates, even employees will have an enhanced work experience helping them improve their performance.4. Voice of the employee

Only the positive events and experiences an employee has at work will get him to engage in delivering productive assignments. Voice of the employee ensures that no employee is left unheard.

To leave a lasting impact on leadership, every manager must resolve any employee issue.

The management will be able to predict their team members' decisions and future actions.

The one-stop solution is proficient at determining the employee lifecycle, tracking pivotal moments of interaction with the organization, and yearly programs to ensure advances in leadership, engagement, or work culture.

More than 250 companies are leveraging the power of VoE listening capability. Each company uses the latest digital technology tools to produce real-time insights and encourage important conversations between employee and managers.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, this will leave a lasting impact on employees that HR has never envisaged in the past.

4. Rewards and recognition automation

Rewards & Recognition sounds like a simple concept: engaged employees perform more brilliantly and produce greater results than not engaged employees.

Take the logic one step further, and you could say that the result of having engaged employees is a greater business success. If you understand this, the bigger question you need to answer is,

‘Is your rewards and recognition program old school or new school?’.

In the past, companies awarded the use of their employees’ hands. Employers also need to win their employees’ heads and hearts in today's knowledge-based economy. Precisely, modern recognition strategies are more result-oriented

• Empuls

The Empuls employee rewards & recognition platform gives your organization a branded, online environment that becomes your central hub for celebrating value-based employee achievements. Empuls rewards and recognition programs bring together diverse employees with different cultures, languages, ages, locations, departments, and designations.

Empuls' rewards platform works as an extension of your HR team, your partner in employee success, every step of the way.

Here's what they have to offer:

• ‍Instant rewards & gratification - Reward your employees instantly with hierarchy controls
• ‍Single sign-on - Sign on from other services and intranet portals seamlessly
• ‍Plug and play modules - Choose among the various modules as per your requirements
• ‍Rewards on the go - Reward and engage, anytime, anywhere with their mobile app
• ‍Global catalog - Extensive choices for employees from our global catalog of experiences, gift vouchers, and special perks
• ‍User groups & communities - Create groups based on passion, departments, interests, etc. Invite your peers to join the groups with a separate wall for each
• ‍Engage - News Feed, Comments, Greetings, Badges, Leaderboards, Notifications & Announcements make it an interesting social engagement platform
• ‍Admin controls & analytics - Manage the program the way you want with data insights using the admin dashboard

5. Escalate the levels of productivity

Do this by implementing mobile-friendly tools allowing the employees of various functionality, including group formation, post pictures, and alert creation. The prominent example was Uber for Business.

Though the company is not a Human Resource solution provider, it has contributed significantly to getting the organization's employees to upgrade productivity.

Uber for Business is one of the most notable case studies. It connected and collaborated with the human resource departments of no less than 65,000 other companies, offering them ride plans to encourage and contribute to employee productivity.

The collaboration through ride plans had facilitated easier, reasonable payment terms with crystal clarity in expense reports. Uber for Business has presented an unmatched secure information platform intended for public welfare. The collaboration has also helped track the employees in case of emergency or after-hours trips.

The mobile-executed strategies and methodologies can greatly add to productivity and the performance of an employee of a company. Aruba, the wireless networking supplier that is now a section of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, has taken some major steps in promoting Generation Mobile.

Aruba surveyed 1800 employees. These employees preferred multiple devices as well as flexibility in-office hours. The survey produced some very astonishing results. The survey proved that age did not play a crucial role in determining how mobility can affect an employee’s engagement in official tasks.

Mobility is, undoubtedly, not only the millennial's preference. After the successful survey, Aruba stated that companies have started to realize the prominence of a mobile-first approach.

It is indeed possible that if an organization’s management realizes that implementing the mobile-first approach can help them escalate productivity to as much as 16%, they will unequivocally make it a priority. Furthermore, organizations will see a considerable rise in creativity to 23% and a 21% rise in loyalty.

The Human Resource sphere does not remain untouched by the eminence of mobile-first technology. The HR managers can now communicate with prospective employees using mobile devices. The employees using mobile devices can search for a job and apply for them while they are on the go.

6. Performance tracking

Unhindered Performance Tracking is now credible using data-driven, advanced, and easy-to-use tools with the change of a team or the project and simplifying the interaction process of an employee and the manager.

• Vibe HCM

Electronic Commerce Inc. took over cfactor Works Inc. and its trendy and award-winning VibeHCM. The VibeHCM emphasized an everlasting employee experience and deemed it quintessential for the development of any organization.

It had led to the announcement of collaboration features, pulse surveys, and employee recognition for administering the performance. The suite is now fully functional in more than 29 countries, where it is efficiently managing, recruiting, connecting, and encouraging professionals on various linguistic grounds.

It had showcased its worth in understanding and catering to the human resource transactional necessities and strategic engagement efforts of an employee.

Vibe HCM works significantly in upgrading the employee’s productivity by addressing the issues associated with work experience.

The acquisition of Electronic Commerce Inc. with cFactor Works Inc. was solely to deliver an end-to-end solution of human capital management to serve middle-market employers or enterprise-level customers.

Beyond a doubt, Electronic Commerce Inc. has two decades of expertise in clients’ transactional requirements, compliance issues, and payroll. The vibe, on the other hand, emphasized employee work experience.

• Compass

Automatic Data Processing’s Compass solution is a coaching and feedback tool to assist in collaborative behavior and leadership. If needed, get crucial insights from important stakeholders and direct reports to make imperative decisions or major enhancements.

Some major benefits of using the Compass solution are that it requires NO installation, is helpful for leaders to gather aggregated feedback reports, automated coaching service, and helps professionals at all levels grow.

Compass required zero installation and was fully functional for all categories of devices. It also was incredibly easy to learn and use. The entire process will require access to the only email address of employees.

Automatic Data Processing adopted and implemented the tool with over 8,000 managers utilizing its advantages in over 23 nations. The strategy has significantly assisted in managing the work experience of no less than 80,000 employees. The performance results were soon visible to as much as 10% in top spheres.

7. Corporate learning

Corporate learning is experiencing reinvention and auspicious growth aspects. Now is when employees should enhance their portfolio and train them harder for prospects. The introduction of augmented reality and virtual reality will transform the way of learning and bring in some positive changes in the performance arena.

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. is one of the most popular talent management and cloud-based learning solution providers. Cornerstone assists top-notch organizations from all over the globe in bringing out the utmost by making employees' work experience more positive. The platform is powered by a unified cloud solely meant for recruitment, training, and workforce management.

The recruitment process at cornerstone OnDemand means implementing a modern approach to bringing employees onboard. They incorporate complicated systems to bring out the expertise and talents of their employees by employing custom career sites, social tools, and a memorable experience.

The learning process will involve relying on LMS, Learning Management System which is continuous and independent. It is much bigger than what the organizations have to do with compliance. The learning process aims to enhance the experience of its employees and strive to fulfill the company's objectives.

The performance of a professional is significantly enhanced if the manager invigorates him. Every management action should be intended to inspire the employee towards greatness and set milestones for his and the company’s portfolio.

It is important to set employees on a path that runs parallel with the organization's success and requires pivotal feedback.

Cornerstone’s Human Resource adapts to the methods and practices to gather pivotal insights for accumulating professionals' data, realize and measure up to the employee’s needs and expectations. It is all viable if the approach utilizes self-service tools and an eminent experience of the user.

The endeavor by Cornerstone OnDemand played a crucial role in connecting with the candidates that had substantial experience and portfolio qualifications for the job profile.

Employing the right workforce is the first step to a successful organization.

Looking at the brand new set of corporate learning tools, we have modernized Learning Management Systems, micro-learning platforms, experience platforms, finding and bringing learning to be put to use, and Artificial Intelligence-based systems of learning.

8. Team management

Team management is another aspect that requires strict consideration and advancement. The emerging category that top-notch industrialists now expect to make sheer growth is the work management systems based on the projects.

A varied range of software tools such as Workboard, Trello, BetterWorks etc. help in sharing goals, setting the targets, collaborating, and working in a team.

Not all of such tools are deemed as HR tools or HRIS, however, the others have started to enter the arena.

The steady drift of the human resource sphere from tools to towards them is only the reason to help the professionals perform their official duties better.

It does not mean that organizations will no longer hire professionals or set targets or coach new borders.

However, these tools greatly assist the HR department in performing their duties well and optimizing their tasks.

• CyberU

CyberU, a product of Cornerstone, helps majorly in Salesforce. Reflektive is another tool deemed by the high utility for agile performance management. The tool has an attached module for providing feedback linked to Gmail and Outlook.

It helps professionals save time by giving feedback to their colleagues or manager working on the same activity, sparing the trouble of logging on to another system.

• ProofHub

ProofHub is a one-stop shop for HR recruiters. You can create custom hiring workflows, track individual employees' milestones throughout the life cycle of their positions, and even keep track of non-work-related activities happening in the organization. The tool will help you stay organized and give you a central place where all your files are stored.

9. Positive employee experience

Ensuring no employee grievance and positive experience throughout the work tenure, employing tools enabling the talent managers to simplify the listening process is imperative. It should not be done annually when the employee faces day-to-day work challenges. This will involve tracking the vital health of an employee and their location.

10. Employee wellbeing

The well-being of an individual will always be considered supreme rather than the cure of an accident or prevention of the reason to ensure an individual's life.

The human resource realm has taken a step closer to implementing tools that assess, track, and improve the health and well-being of an employee at work. Shortly, we will see an increase in the number of vendors relying on the tools and technology for self-assessment, biometrics, coaching, and healthcare panacea.

It is becoming important, and organizations realize the need to help professionals better handle their workloads. The management program will involve mindfulness, time management, yoga, work-life balancing, exercise, and dietary support.

Companies are also implementing showers, gyms, exercise facilities, daycare, medical exams, and wellness services.

These services are nowadays considered imperative to attract the millennial workforce. There are companies offering food and drinks, indoor and outdoor sports facilities to take the mind off of work.

These facilities not only help attract the new workforce in the organization, but it also helps improve the employment band, enhancing the performance of an employee by enabling them to work more than what they are supposed to do.

11. Adapt to technology

Technology is indeed overwhelming for humankind. The profitability and efficiency of video assessment for upgraded talent acquisition have led numerous industry verticals to invest in this method. Technology is Amazon Echo or Siri or Viv.

These products play a significant role in automating and augmenting the work of call centers. They are equipped with software for storing a keystroke in an Enterprise Resource Planning system.

Then there are companies employing the software bringing multiple transactions together from various other systems. This assembling of transactions can be pivotal for implementing a brand new workflow on a device or even on a screen.

Multiple other technological introductions have clarified that Human Resource has set its course on employing design thinking to help people follow journey maps and automate experiences.

What can human resources do?

1. Automate the joining procedure of an employee. This procedure may include interviews, assessment, joining, orientation, and training.
2. Automate and re-design employee career processes and transitions involving job recommendations, job search, job offers, interviews, acceptances, professional’s moves, compensation, orientation, and joining.
3. Automate the retirement procedure, decisions regarding retirement plans, alumni network joining, exit procedure, and maintaining the relationship even after the employee has left the organization.
4. Automate leadership potential assessment, development, networking, educating, training, and management practices.
5. Tools that realize the need for communication, self-service, and experience are now receiving wide recognition. There are self-service tools for employees to receive answers to their queries, search for much-needed information, and transact without any human involvement.
6. The tools avail conversational systems, intelligent systems, and cognitive science. The surveys on organizations focus on the implementation of methods to enhance productivity.

More than 120 vendors had utilized the scope of these pulse survey tools, cultural assessment, engagement assessment, monitoring systems for identifying an employee's mood, and other means using which an employee can efficiently provide the feedback without having to share with other employees or managers.

These tools are technologically advanced, proficient to decide and pick the employee for assessment independently.

The tools have an exceptional analytical capability to identify any “out of the crowd” professionals that deserve recognition or further exploration and any promising trend.

Then there are hackathons to assess an employee's skills to the next level by presenting exceptionally challenging tasks.

A prerequisite to advanced human resources methods is taking into account the people analytics market. The market encompasses Artificial Intelligence, Organizational Network Analysis, and Embedded Analytics. Organizational Network Analysis congregates data from feedback activities, emails, and various other sources to comprehend the communication pattern.

The Artificial Intelligence sphere involves the refinement of algorithms, pattern recognition, natural language processing, and machine learning. Embedded analytics will provide the analysis without necessitating a report.

Talking about people analytics and overlooking the newest recast in this arena. The most recent advancements in HR methods are what the world is looking for: advanced analytical strategies, predictive models, reporting dashboards, etc.

In the past and to some extent in the present, the companies are desperately looking for advanced analytics. However, there are human resources in various organizations that rely on analytics professionals with expertise in marketing, finance, and operations.

The idea of predictive modeling is, indeed, promising as it has grown 2x over the last couple of years, mainly due to positively affecting the rate of retention. Following the analytics tools is pivotal to Human resources and leaders to comprehend their organization's culture. One of the most convincing examples would be Facebook, which announced to award the sum of $10,000 to their company professionals who will move closer to its HQ office.

Then there are other successful and top-rated companies such as SuccessFactors, Oracle, SAP, Visier, Cornerstone, Ultimate Software, and Workday have software loaded with an in-built predictor for retention. Workday remains flexible in modifying the work hours and patterns, only to enhance their employees’ performance. Speaking of Oracle or SuccessFactors, employees will get to decide on the training they should go for, the basis of their job duties.

Cornerstone is efficiently equipped with a tool that clearly picks those employees who are likely to lapse in their training and certification program.

The concept of HR technology trends is expected to pay a hefty sum of profits, however, they require thorough planning and implementation. We can expect the major technological methods to enhance Human Resource performance shortly.