Whether you call it Human Resources, People Ops or something else, there’s no denying the fact that HR is a very people-focused industry. So when it comes to implementing AI into your HR workload, you may find it a sticky situation. After all, AI is the exact opposite of real people, right?
Sort of. Like every other industry, HR has plenty of monotonous, repetitive tasks to take care of that AI can take over. However, unlike many industries, HR also has many human-oriented tasks that require individual attention—the human touch, you might say.
What do you need to know about AI in HR? How can you implement AI without sacrificing the human connection that makes People Ops so special?
Understanding AI: Different Types You Should Know
AI is ever expanding, and it can be hard to keep the different kinds and capabilities straight. To help, here is a very basic overview of the types of AI that HR can find a use for:
- Generative AI. Generative AI can create content such as copy and images based on prompts and existing content.
- Predictive AI. Predictive AI uses machine learning to identify patterns and behaviours, then predicts future events based on those patterns and behaviours. This self-modifying model generates progressively stronger results.
- Reactive AI. Reactive AI is arguably the simplest version. It holds no memory but simply reacts to the presently available data it has to accomplish its specified tasks.
Artificial Intelligence is just that: a digital way to sort, analyse and strategically act on data and information. For HR teams, it’s a tool that can streamline some of the monotony and free up time for the face-to-face work that is so important for any organisation.
4 Ways to Use AI in HR
Don’t let AI intimidate you—these are some of the most helpful ways to utilise AI in HR.
1. Simplify and Improve the Recruiting Process
Recruitment can be an extremely long process spanning over months to fill a single role. And how do you know you’re filling the role with the right person? It can be overwhelming! Here are ways that AI can help with recruitment:
- AI can draft job listings based on the role, needed skills and past listings quickly and efficiently.
- AI can screen all applicants and resumes to pre-select the cream of the crop, saving recruiters hours of sifting through dozens of applicants. This ensures that you only interview people who will be a good fit for the role and your culture.
- AI can expand your candidate pool and avoid any inadvertent bias or shortcoming in your current recruitment efforts. By analysing online databases for relevant competencies and skills, AI can reach people who may not have applied otherwise.
- AI can automate communications and scheduling for interviews, and it can even generate drafts for the best interview questions.
By automating screening, communication and posting job listings, not only will HR be able to reach more applicants and improve the applicant experience and interview process, but they’ll also have more time to devote to the human side of recruiting. Personalising AI-drafted emails, setting up new hire work stations, creating surveys to learn new hire preferences/interests, etc.
2. Create Unforgettable Onboarding
Right after recruitment comes onboarding, and AI can continue to make a new hire’s experience positive. For example:
- AI can create personalised onboarding schedules based on each new hire’s new responsibilities, skills and interests.
- AI can automate and send out welcome packets and provide any necessary paperwork.
- AI can ensure that each new hire is enrolled in any required training or preliminary resources.
Once again, as AI takes over these more monotonous tasks, HR professionals can spend time welcoming new hires in person, planning welcome activities, putting together a gift basket or other ways to make new hires feel welcomed by actual people.
3. Engage and Retain Existing Talent
Talent management is a many-headed beast that requires a lot of personalisation and finesse to pull off properly, and AI gives HR teams the tools and data they need to do it:
- AI can analyse the skills of employees and match them with the responsibilities needed at the company, ensuring there are no gaps and providing meaningful work for each person.
- AI can help develop career paths for employees based on employee goals, skills, and the company needs and existing org chart.
- AI can source, analyse, and provide strategies to act on employee feedback. HR can then use the data AI gathered to make culture improvements.
When it comes to culture and employee engagement, HR teams can narrow their focus and enhance their efforts with the help of AI.
4. Build Better Benefits
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: you spend months researching benefit options, decide on something you’re excited about, spread the word that you’ve got a new benefit coming, and then when it releases…no one seems to care. That’s not a great feeling. AI can make benefits easier:
- AI can survey employees and learn more about what they want from the benefits package, and will compile this data into actionable strategies.
- AI can keep track of which employees are engaging in which benefits and even which benefits impact employee health and wellness.
- AI can sketch out new benefit implementation strategies, helping HR make the most out of new programmes.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of AI in HR
Let’s not beat around the bush. AI is a tool—and effective tool, yes, but still a tool—that HR can utilise to enhance their efforts. It isn’t something that can (or should!) replace human interactions or personalisation of care or communication.
Here are some concerns and pitfalls to know before trying to implement AI into your processes.
Automating Too Much
To know what we mean, here’s an example. Two people are hired to your company at similar times. One gets a welcome email written by AI. It’s generic and impersonal, despite its attempt to sound excited.
The other gets an email written by a hiring specialist with the input from whoever interviewed the new hire. They express their appreciation and excitement for the employee’s personal opportunity and the unique skills they’re bringing to the company.
Who is going to feel more valued before their tenure even begins? Probably the person who knows they were reached out to by a real person. Don’t let AI take over these important human interactions.
Introducing Bias
AI can only work with the data that it has access to. So if your programme lacks complete information to pull from, it may introduce bias without you even realising it.
For example, when AI screens applicants, it can unknowingly lean toward candidates who fit a certain age, gender, or background. Humans always need to double-check the results of AI.
Allowing Role Reduction
This is more of a tangential worry, but introducing AI into the workplace may result in it replacing certain roles or responsibilities. It’s on HR to help employees who work in those roles to upskill or reskill so that unnecessary turnover isn’t the result of AI implementation.
Genuine Geniuses and Artificial Intelligence
It can be easy to dismiss AI, especially in HR or if you’re worried about it taking jobs or eliminating human interaction. But AI is a tool, like any other, that can make HR responsibilities easier and more rewarding for everyone.
At Awardco, we’re implementing AI into our employee recognition platform to make analytics and reports more effective while allowing for more personalised gratitude and appreciation. Schedule a demo to see the role AI can play in building your culture.
An avid lover of fantasy books, a proud Hufflepuff, and a strong proponent of escapism, Jeff has a love of good storytelling. He relies on that for both his professional work and his writing hobby (don’t ask about the 10+ novel ideas collecting virtual dust on his computer).
