The Digital World of Work

1.8 billion People have smartphones; more than 3 billion people are on the Internet: it’s not time to take advantage of digitalization.Technology is changing the way we live and work; changing the foundation of many business operations. Digital technology has changed everyone’s lives, and coupled with a more diverse workforce than ever before, it is important for companies to adopt and adapt to this change. The HR, by adopting digitalization, will face several challenges such as:

Current HR vs. Digital HR

The HR industry received more than $2 billion in investment during 2015, fuelling growth. HR’s main objective is to make it work well for people. The current scenario in HR is that the whole department works in a process; if a single process fails the entire process starts again, which increases the time. Digital HR, on the other hand focuses on tasks being done simultaneously. It is the real time operation rather than periodic submission of report, reducing the paperwork. Through digitalization, HR becomes more efficient.

38% companies are currently adopting digitalization and only 9% have completely adopted this process. Digital HR however, will require knowledge and use of mobile apps, video making, behavioural economics and use of analytics. It is crucial that HR is prepared to invest people and capital in these areas to truly become successful in the digitalization of HR.

Imagine a situation where are your appointments are made automatically, with no rescheduling conflicts that you have to tackle. There are now applications providing automatic updates about your meeting locations, and to schedule your meetings automatically for you. It also provides updates if you are late to a meeting, continuous monitoring of stress levels through mobile sensors and even recommends when to take a break! The four tools that are driving the business innovation are service, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC). The convergence of these four is leading to new developments and competitiveness.

The statistics for mobile usage in HR for various purposes are:

HR remains at the forefront of the move to digitalization and adopting the cloud. The majority of the population that have a background in analytics are rapidly joining the HR department. This is why we’re seeing a surge in the digitalization of HR, because individuals from diverse backgrounds are a part of the HR Industry. With the help of these tools various tasks such as employee engagement, employee turnover and employee on-boarding can all be done digitally. The innovation of "Internet of things" is responsible for making the analysis easy across the world thus helps in improving the work environment, higher level of performance, lessening of fraudulent activities.

"The Internet of things is coming you better disrupt or prepare to be disrupted".

When HR completely moves to a digital foundation, not only will it be more efficient. It will also lead to greater employee engagement, expecting 10X responses than they have been getting currently. This will be a huge leap from the traditional HR processes. Employee productivity and data quality can increase simultaneously.

Many companies are now transitioning onto the ‘digital world’, using mediums such as the Internet. More than ever, this is the time where companies need to invest in the right people to make this transition. Companies need people who are flexible to change and who are good team-players. The corporate sector need people who are good team-players, can think innovatively and are motivated to compete against other companies

"Unity is the strength….when there are teamwork and collaboration wonderful things can be achieve’’

In the era of new technologies, it is very important that while merging with this technology, we do not eradicate human creativity, as that is what makes companies different from one another. The organizations that have been successful in the new era are because they abstain from using old technologies.

Firms hire multi-talented people that have the ability to think uniquely and deliver exceptionally well to the clients with great collaboration and convincing ability across the various demographics. They incorporate people that possess practical knowledge rather than knowledge of just words. They need their employees to change with technology rather than forging the bookish technologies. They appreciate people who think innovatively each day. 81% of CEOs stated that they are finding employees that have attributes with new skills and constantly learning ability to innovate.Reliance Jio, the 4G telecommunications and digital service company (Mumbai, India) had focused on building a network infrastructure for several years. In 2014, their focus shifted to starting business operations, recruiting and on-boarding employees across the country. One of the largest start-ups, Jio’s HR crafted its HR strategy by focusing on today’s technology: mobile first, cloud first and a digital powered approach.

The United Kingdom leads Europe in ‘’Execution and delivering of Digital HR Strategies’’ In the next two years, 63% companies are planning to invest in modern apps and technologies.

 "The modernisation of work environments in the digital age is a complex undertaking"

The corporate sector is now increasingly looking for talented candidates who are ready for ‘hybrid’ jobs. Since the job itself is very flexible and encompasses multiple roles, they need candidates who are ready for anything. Companies are no longer making plans for cost optimization, as they realize that in the long run, the cost will deliver results. These strategies require teamwork in departments rather than their individual operation, leading to a cultural transition as well.