Is HR becoming unsustainable?

Several articles within HR news last week seemed to unintentionally mirror the same message, within entirely different articles. The general message was that HR is becoming a myriad of tasks that can now be done at the click of a button or tasks that are not being done well in its current form. Is HR becoming unsustainable?

In an article named ‘HR Will die in its current form’, Jason Averbrooke explained that HR, (as well as the rest of the work force), is becoming task laden as opposed to a mixture of full skill sets. He feels that if workplace roles continue to be fragmented in this way, it will eventually be 1 person carrying out 1 task for several companies, as opposed to 1 person carrying out several roles for 1 company. And some of what he is saying rings true, a lot of these fragmented tasks are now automated via technology and simply only require human capital to watch over it.

Later that week, another article was printed, named Mobile HR technology is on the move. This article explained in steps, what to look out for when choosing mobile technology for your HR teams to use to increase their productivity. Whilst this article was indeed very useful, it also seems to purview the idea that HR is now a function that can be done individually and on the move. There is no longer a need for a team to sit in an office with 1 specific focus.

Lastly, an article named ‘Can data help HR improve productivity?’ wrote about how HR teams have historically focussed on collecting data, but not done anything with it, making in an unproductive and essentially useless task. The article urged for HR to join forces with other departments that are naturally data analytical to learn how to use and collect this data in a productive way.

However, the very essence of our company, Honeydew Health, is based on a technology platform that collects, stores and analyses this data for you. There are also several other companies out there that provide the same service, so why leave the onus on people when technology can take on the task, instead? This frees HR teams up to act on this data analysis which is far better use of their time.

In our view, HR is not becoming unsustainable, we simply need to redefine what the human functions of HR are and become better at them. People need to be at the end of these technological processes and consistently ensure that shifts in newer technology and people management are catered for within any workplace. And thankfully, there couldn’t be better timing to start! The CIPD has launched a new campaign, ‘Valuing your Talent’ aimed at teaching organisations how to measure and increase the value of human capital.

To learn more about how technology and people can collect better absence and attendance management data for your organisation, just get in touch or try a free trial of our software Engage!