According to PwC’s HR Technology Survey 2020, organisations today are looking to increase their HR tech spending in the future. Based on the survey results, close to three-quarters of the surveyed organisations plan to increase spending on HR tech in 2020 in order to address pressing talent needs.

As the increase in demand brings about an onslaught of new tech products in the market, HR professionals have to be savvy enough to filter through the wide array of options and find the right HR technologies to enhance their existing HR functions.

What is HR technology?

Simply put, HR technologies comprises of various software or cloud-based applications that is targeted to improve and streamline HR processes within the organisation. HR technology can be leveraged on for almost anything within the HR department – from recruitment and onboarding to payroll, leave management and even HR analytics.

With the plethora of HR technologies available in the market, identifying the right HR technologies for your organisation can be tough. However, it is also important to first understand what are some of the emerging HR technology trends and how these trends can improve efficiency within your HR department. Here are some the top HR tech trends to look out for this 2020 and beyond.

Remote and virtual workplaces

With the booming gig economy and increasing numbers of remote workers, this has challenged the traditional setup of workplaces. While flexible working is on the rise, there is still significant room for related technologies to grow. Solutions to address remote working includes virtual office spaces and collaborative workspaces. As organisations gradually adopt flexible working and perhaps even transition to remote working, there will no doubt be an increase in related technologies to cater for the boom in number of remote workers.

Digital recruitment

With the internet and email, it has certainly speed up and streamline recruitment processes today. Organisations are able to post job ads online and conduct a preliminary screening of applicants before shortlisting them to come down for interviews. This helps to free up a great deal of time for HR, which would have been spent sifting through paper resumes. Likewise, HR professionals are constantly striving to enhance the recruitment processes and with the increased number of virtual workplaces, organisations today are switching to online interviews done via video conference. Applicant screening tools such as ATS scanners are gradually being utilised to screen for appropriate candidates before HR reviews their resume.

Cloud migration and data security

As HR software today transitions towards cloud-based HR systems, this allows for organisations to collect and store more information. Findings from PwC’s 2020 HR Technology Survey shows that majority of organisations (72%) already have core HR applications in the cloud or are in the process of moving them. As cloud migration improves to be able to collect and store massive amounts of data, the need for enhanced data security becomes a high priority for organisations. It makes sense for organisation to invest more in data security to prevent the risk of fraud and cybercrimes.

AI and machine learning

With HR cloud software, this makes it easier for organisations to collect and store massive amount of employee data. In the past, this data may seem meaningless to HR professionals and senior management given the sheer size of it. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, HR professionals are able to analyse this data to gather insights and make meaningful changes for their employees and to the workplace. AI and machine learning go even further in enhancing HR processes, from chatbots as part of the recruitment process to predictive HR analytics on employee turnover rates. As organisations continue to strive to improve productivity, this need will prompt further adoption of AI and machine learning into the HR workflow.

Employee recognition

According to a study conducted by Gallup, it found that companies with higher levels of employee engagement enjoy 50% high levels of productivity as well as 13% less employee turnover. In order to achieve these results, however, employee recognition must go beyond mere annual performance reviews. Employees today want real-time recognition and rewards. In order to meet these demands, organisations have to embrace emerging technology to provide high level of recognition and rewards. An advanced employee recognition platform allows both manager and employee as well as peer to peer recognition. This allows for both managers and peers to provide real-time recognition and rewards on a daily basis. Concurrently, it makes it easier for employees to celebrate birthdays, work anniversaries and work achievements. Eventually, HR tech will continue to evolve to make managing employee recognition and rewards more efficient.

Technology has no doubt changed the way HR departments connect with employees. With the constant evolution of technology, new tools will continue to disrupt the traditional talent management platforms. As such, HR departments have to be agile and be able to adopt these upcoming technologies in order to ensure that their HR plans remain relevant to the organisation in the future.