By leveraging technology and harnessing human capital, HR leaders are crucial to the sustainability of their organisations.
The Human Resources (HR) Department has transformed itself over the years. Growing from their roots as an organisation’s administrative arm, the industry has since evolved to become a powerful voice in the boardroom. In this blog post, we’ll share two major changes that enabled HR to evolve into its current state.
1. Physical To Digital
HR departments shouldered the task of keeping a company’s administrative functions ship-shaped. This included employee documentation, payroll duties, and keeping a physical database of potential hires. However, towards the end of the 90s, HR leaders started to recognise that employees could be engaged to contribute intellect, innovation and inject creativity into the organisation. In order to focus on their employees, HR departments had to first streamline their administrative functions.
To accomplish this, organisations tapped on Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology to digitise, or outsource, almost all administrative processes. This allowed HR departments to save vast amounts of resources, and pivot towards optimising their human capital.
2. Transactional To Transformational
In the past, organisations made little or no effort to market their company as an employer of choice. Today, organisations are jumping on the branding bandwagon because of increased market competition, and the need to refresh their talent pools. This has steered HR personnel towards playing the role of an employee advocate.
To realise this, HR leaders have focused on both internal and external branding initiatives to nurture their workforce. These include:
Internal Branding
· Open communication
· Transparent employee evaluation schemes
· Team bonding/mentorship activities
· Skills development
External Branding
· Corporate social responsibility programmes
· Career fairs
· Open communication via company website or social media channels
These branding activities have been proven to position organisations as preferred employers, as well as to establish a positive internal culture. All these contribute to lower attrition rates, increased productivity, revenue growth, and the ability to draw talented individuals.
Shedding their past image as an administrative arm, HR personnel now act as business partners within an organisation. By leveraging technology and harnessing human capital, HR leaders have become crucial to the sustainability of their organisations.
