An Overview of the Developing Digital HR Ecosystem

A lot of people live in constant fear of technology, even though they have no valid reason to doubt the loyalty of the devices they use. Franchises like Matrix and Terminator have caused irreparable damage in human-technology relationship. However, what you should realize is that technology serves to help us improve both our private and professional endeavors. One of the shiniest examples of how this works is the digital HR. Here is a short overview of the ecosystem this incredible phenomenon helped create.

Every Business Needs HR

Human Resources (HR) are the cornerstone of every functional business enterprise. Sure, you can point to some successful one-man startups and claim that they are making it work even without HR, but this is only partially true. In the first couple of months, this might be possible. However, as soon as the business starts expanding, it will need someone to recruit and train new employees, as well as to manage performance appraisals. The truth is that, with the staggering amount of new businesses arising every day and the largest population this world has ever seen, never in history was there more need for HR than today.

Software to the Rescue

In our everyday lives, we use software for virtually everything, from keeping contacts and scheduling meetings to preventing all the important data from being lost. Keeping this in mind, it wasn't long until HR turned to software for help, as well. A good employee management software allows you to keep track of standard information about your employees. With its help, you can hold things like addresses, phone numbers, salaries and emergency contacts of your employees in one place. Still, this is only the tip of the iceberg of all the features this kind of digital tools offers. If what you had in mind was noting required industry licenses or permits, this can once more be made much simpler with an adequate piece of software.

Digital Workplace

Another thing that the era of the Internet has brought into our lives is the notion of a digital workplace. Business owners are no longer spatially restricted in their choice of employees. This means that if you have a staff consisting of six members, in 2016, there's no reason why each of them shouldn't be on a different continent. A cunning use of Skype will make it seem as if you're in the office together. To-do list platform or app will make sure everyone keeps track of the schedule and, of course, via a digital HR tool, you can keep track of their performances and personal data. It's as simple and convenient as it sounds.

Unbiased Ranking System

As it was already mentioned, one of the most important tasks of HR is to keep track of employee's performances and evaluate them. This affects their chances of advancement later on, as well as their future salary. Now, traditionally, the greatest obstacle in this would be the fact that people working in HR might have some sort of bias towards certain individuals. This would make their grading highly susceptible to their own subjective impression of how effective those people are at their work. Luckily, what digital HR provides one with is an unbiased algorithm which offers insight not just on current state in your company, but also potential directions some of your staff members could take in the future.

Building Better Teams

Some business owners and managers imagine a perfect team of four to consist of four copies of their best employee. In reality, however, this group would probably never work out. Every good team needs diversity. Different points of view usually give best insight on the situation, while dissimilar tasks require completely different sets of skills. On the other hand, massive projects can sometimes require teams within teams, which is something traditional HR would have so much trouble to put together. Fortunately, the aforementioned algorithms have no such trouble.

Part of Something Bigger

Finally, there are many new ideas and notions in modern office and your business will need to find a way to catch up. More and more business is conducted via cloud computing, while social networks have become number one method of office communication. While some fight the later phenomenon, those most far-seeing tend to fully endorse such behavior. In the end, HR also needs to take helm when it comes to protection of private information of the employees.

Conclusion:

The thing about world of business is that it is almost as hostile as it is volatile. Seeing how every single industry out there is oversaturated, even the slightest misstep can be fatal for your small business. On the other hand, you're not alone in this and there are various platforms, apps and other software that can help you out here. Business world is nothing less than a battlefield and you don't want to go in this battle unprepared. All is fair in love and war.