As AI-powered technologies continue to change the way we work and the number of HR technology vendors outnumber the flavors of Baskin Robbins, advances in transformative technology in the workplace can pose challenges for HR teams looking to maximize revenue, improve employee experience, and ensure they have the right technology stack to meet business needs.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) hired Andy Biladeau in January to lead the organization and its members through this transformation.
Prior to joining SHRM, Bilador was vice president at Josh Bersin's eponymous HR advisory firm, led talent development at Target and was an HR and organizational consultant at PwC. As SHRM's Chief Transformation Officer, Bilador is charged with translating research and data into actionable tools, frameworks and learning programs for HR professionals. He also works with senior business executives to better understand the direction of technology and its impact on HR.
The current AI-driven disruption in the workplace comes on the heels of the last COVID-19 pandemic, when executives turned to HR to help with urgent business transitions, Bilador told HR Brew at the SHRM24 conference in Chicago in June.
“COVID-19 has been a scary thing in terms of the societal impact, but I think it has also provided HR with an opportunity to have conversations with CEOs about crisis response, health and safety, employee wellbeing and so on. [and] “HR supports all types of work: remote, hybrid, in-person,” he said. “HR is now [being] “It's being put to the test again. The stakeholders that we partner with look a little different now and we're seeing a lot of HR leaders working closely with IT.”
An AI moment. Bilador said that historically, HR technology has existed somewhat in isolation from enterprise technology. HR is made up of many subfunctions, including recruiting, L&D, and total rewards and compensation. Each subfunction required a set of technology solutions to do its work. And this was all independent of the enterprise technology required across other business functions.
“Artificial intelligence is now being embedded in the tech stacks of each domain, so what's happening now is … they're starting to become more tightly integrated,” he said. “You can no longer choose a recruiting technology without fully understanding the application and how it's integrated and delivered into your learning and development technology and career development platforms. You need to be a good neighbor … and think about the impact your technology has on your peers' tech stacks.”
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This moment comes on the heels of an expansion in the HR technology sector. 2021 and the first half of 2022 saw an explosion of venture capital activity in HR technology, which many argue was driven by the urgent demand for remote work technology. While the aftereffects of the post-pandemic boom may have subsided, the vendor landscape remains saturated.
Bilador said HR leaders are now beginning to evaluate the situation as large HCM companies incorporate startup tech into their platforms, and improved AI capabilities are shifting some of the responsibilities of HR professionals to employees.
What should HR do? Bilador suggested that a big potential of developments in HCM and HR technology is that it allows HR functions to upskill as strategic partners, but there have been many cases over the past five to 10 years where “HR wasn’t ready to be a strategic business consultant.”
Bilador said smart HR leaders are identifying capability gaps, upskilling HR professionals and building “agility” into their teams, “because their jobs will change in six months, and then change again in six months after that, and then change again after that.”
He also suggested working with IT to understand a common language and definitions around HR technology, especially AI.
“These are terms that employees are not necessarily familiar with, and if employees start using them inconsistently, it will just create more confusion on the topic, so we highly recommend that HR departments align to a common terminology,” he said.
When it comes to employee use of AI, we recommended that HR teams talk to employees to understand how they use the technology and create informed policies to guide their use.
“Once you know the extent and type of tools your employees are using, you can work with your IT department and perhaps your legal department to develop usage policies that are appropriate for your organization,” he said.
