AI Technology: The Swiss Army Knife of HR?!
We all know how daunting it is to manage both the business and the people side of things in an environment that is increasingly constrained in resources. In today’s fast-paced world of business, HR functions, from hiring and training to performance management and compliance, require a significant amount of time and resources. AI technology can help cut that time down.
While running the human side of our business continues to be labor- and expertise-intensive endeavor, the increasing availability of user-friendly Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications presents a powerful resource we can leverage to become more efficient and effective in this space.
AI may prove a valuable ally in our effort to streamline and boost the efficiency of HR operations. We can put AI to the task of accomplishing a multitude of objectives, from automating repetitive tasks to improving decision-making, to speeding up labor-intensive tasks.
AI-powered applications, such as ChatGPT, can support our business’ HR endeavors in a host of different ways such as:
- Recruitment and Candidate Screening – from assisting us in drafting compelling job descriptions tailored to attract top talent to automating initial candidate screening by evaluating resumes and conducting preliminary interviews by using AI-powered chatbots.
- Employee Onboarding – from generating personalized welcome emails, to training materials, and FAQ documents.
- Performance Management – from prompting us and our employees to check in and share updates on priorities, goals, and progress to analyzing performance data to identify trends and offer insights for improving individual and team performance.
- Training and Development – from recommending personalized training resources based on our employees’ jobs, skills, interests, and career goals to creating recommended training content outlines and simulations to enhance the effectiveness of training programs.
The use of AI-powered applications can be a game-changer in many ways when it comes to building efficiencies in our HR operations. However, it does come with some fine print.
Some watch-outs and potential risks to be mindful of as we deploy AI technology include:
- Bias and Fairness: AI tools are only as good as the data they are given and ultimately trained on. If there is bias present in that data, the use of this technology may inadvertently perpetuate those biases. It’s crucial that we monitor outputs and scrutinize them for any potential bias to ensure fairness, especially in areas such as recruitment, performance management, etc.
- Data Privacy and Security Concerns: AI systems rely heavily on data. When we use them to support our people-related operations, that data unavoidably includes sensitive employee information. We need to ensure that we have the proper measures in place to protect that data against potential breaches and unauthorized use or misuse.
- Accuracy and Reliability – While AI technology can do amazing things in record time (compared to us mere mortals), it may not always provide accurate, reliable, or even logical information, especially if we are seeking input concerning complex or ambiguous situations. We need to always review information carefully and evaluate outputs critically before adopting or deploying them.
AI holds tremendous potential to revolutionize our HR operations and deliver some significant efficiencies to our businesses. By leveraging the capabilities of AI-powered applications to streamline and optimize our different people-related functions such as recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training, etc., we can drive organizational growth and success. However, it’s crucial to not lose sight of the power of the human element and remain vigilant about potential risks and challenges associated with AI integration into our processes in order to ensure positive outcomes for both our business and our workforce.
To learn about one great way you can leverage AI to give a boost to your HR efficiency, join our free February 2024 virtual training session. Click the button below to register!
