Reap the Benefits of Technology to Better Recruit, Retain and Develop Your Workforce

Andrea Ringen, Director, Talent Acquisition, Ferring Pharmaceuticals

To say the COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the adoption of new workplace technologies is an understatement. The rapid digital transformation we’ve all experienced this past year has prompted people leaders to reflect and rethink their business processes related to how we work, grow, and connect as an organization.

In the wake of the pandemic, HR technology solutions allowed organizations to develop new ways of working practically overnight—a trend that will continue. In fact, a recent study from PwC found that companies are investing in HR technology more than ever, as 74 percent of companies surveyed plan to increase their spending in HR technology in 2021. As HR leaders, we must consider how to best implement new technologies across department functionalities. The last year has seen a focus on collaboration and connection via technology, but let’s take a look at a few other key areas that are ripe for a technology overhaul. These include improving how we recruit talent, retain our existing employees, and develop people in today's ever-evolving, unpredictable business climate.

"As HR leaders, we have more data and tools at our fingertips than ever before. Combine the availability of tech solutions with a workforce that is generally more primed to adopt tech solutions, and the potential is endless"

Use AI to Supercharge Your Recruitment Efforts

For some, the thought of artificial intelligence (AI) used in the workplace conjures images of robots or similar illustrations of tech overlords. But AI does not replace the HR function or people. AI positively augments and optimizes your people planning and management processes, allowing your team to spend more time on the strategic aspects of the job that require careful human attention.

In fact, AI can even fill in the gaps in our human tendencies. One key area this is true is recruitment. We all have conscious and unconscious biases that can impact our interactions and decisions. One example is what’s called “affinity bias,” a tendency toward the same, the familiar—someone like us. Tendencies like this can make it difficult to reach diverse recruitment goals. It’s human to have biases, and while it’s important to recognize and actively work on interrupting those biases, technology can help.

Adding AI-driven data to your company’s recruiting process can help eliminate bias and generate a larger pipeline of qualified candidates. At Ferring we’ve added Talenya to our talent acquisition process, a tool that combines artificial and human intelligence, that has resulted in an increase of diverse talent in our applicant pool.

Implement Predictive People Analytics to Retain Talent

Employee turn over is a constant HR challenge. Turnover comes with the loss of valuable knowledge and experience and impacts morale and revenue. To retain top talent, HR leaders must understand their employees’ evolving motivations and aspirations and predictive analytics can help us achieve this goal.

A survey by IBM found that even in the midst of a global economic crisis, 1 in 5 employees voluntarily changed employers in 2020. Together, Gen Z (33 percent) and Millennials (25 percent) accounted for more than half of these job-hopping respondents. Research by Gallup also found that the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary, demonstrating the urgent need for employers to get smarter about how to retain talent.

At my company, we’ve begun to implement predictive people analytics to support retention and prevent employee turnover in targeted situations, and it has already made a difference in our workforce by helping our HR function initiate proactive discussions with employees, track workload and potential burnout, and foresee preventable issues that may have otherwise led to turnover. Such tools equip HR leaders with the ability to help employees who may not speak up, or whose managers may have failed to see the signs.

Introduce Real Time, Digital Learning

Today, there are a myriad of learning options that are distinctly personalized and delivered digitally across channels. Platforms like LinkedIn Learning offer short, digestible courses taught by industry experts brought right to the employee either on their computer or mobile phone. The ability to work training in around one’s schedule and across devices, rather than dictating a time or blocking a significant chunk of time, is critical for the fast pace of business today and tailor made for a more remote and flexible workforce.

Experiment with different platforms and delivery among your workforce to see what works best and offer options. The investment in making training easier, and more relevant for each individual employee, can help fuel adoption and further develop your people’s skills leading to benefits like increased growth, productivity, and the ability to retain valuable employees.

As HR leaders, we have more data and tools at our fingertips than ever before. Combine the availability of tech solutions with a workforce that is generally more primed to adopt tech solutions, and the potential is endless. By embracing these types of digital tools across the critical functions of recruitment, retention and learning, HR can continue to demonstrate tangible results that lead to better business outcomes.

HR Technology

Artificial Intelligence

Predictive Analytics