Obstacles and Opportunities
For HR, Digital Transformation Is About Much More Than Job Automation
W
hen the terms "digital transformation" and "human resources" come up in the media, the focus is often on the possibility that automation will eliminate jobs, with negative consequences for workers and communities. While that is a serious issue, it is also a shiny headline that takes attention away from more pressing concerns that HR teams handle every day.
right tools in place to secure sensitive data. Given that this year is already off to a bad start with high-profile data breaches, now is a good time to address these types of vulnerabilities. Our survey shows that most companies still have a long way to go.
Megan Barbier
2. There Is a Huge Opportunity to Improve HR Productivity
The fact is, digital transformation's Nearly a third of HR professionals implications are much broader for HR, and these said they could increase their productivity by teams have a lot on their plates. around 30 percent if they had better technology to automate repetitive and administrative tasks. HR is already dealing with change related to That represents a big opportunity for HR orgacritical functions like security, automation, and nizations, which often struggle to gain a seat at collaboration. In an effort to understand how HR the strategy table. pros feel about these changes, my team at "Only 37 percent of survey respondents This problem is illusWrike commissioned trated by the tedium of agree their organizations have Atomik Research to copying and pasting conduct a survey. The information between the tools to secure sensitive data." survey revealed three systems. A quarter of major obstacles and opportunities the current survey respondents said that consolidating state of digital transformation (or lack thereof) feedback and communication across multiple brings to the people management function. Here emails and spreadsheets is their biggest work are a few of the key findings: challenge. This result, paired with the first, suggests that companies looking for a quick way to 1. Data Security Is a Big Concern — improve HR productivity should consider techfor Good Reason nologies that streamline communication into a single source so that professionals don't need to HR teams handle some of the most sensitive spend their valuable time searching for the infordata in your company, including information on mation they need to do their jobs. compensation, performance, and employee discipline. It is no surprise that 40 percent of the 3. Communication Breakdowns professionals we surveyed expressed strong and Bottlenecks Are a Significant Challenge agreement that security is a major concern. It probably won't surprise experienced HR proDespite the sensitivity of this data and the pro- fessionals that nearly a quarter of those surcesses you might assume are already in place to veyed reported communication difficulties or protect it, only 37 percent of survey respondents delays are their most significant challenge on strongly agreed their organizations have the the job. It is unsurprising because HR is unique34
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