HR, Technology and 2014 – #HRTechtrends
Last week, I published my annual list of predictions. It’s a pretty good list if I may say so. I guess we’ll find out how good the list really is in December 2014. ha.ha. If you haven’t already seen it, you can check it out here.
There’s an underlying theme in my predictions that I want to expand upon. Specifically, it has to do with technology. It’s time to realize that HR and technology are forever intertwined. More and more human resources functions and solutions have a technology component to them. Human resources technology is part of our jobs. Frankly, technology is part of our jobs – no matter what position or level in the organization. Period.
I’d like to think that everyone knows this. It wasn’t that long ago I heard a lot of HR folks grumbling about having to register online for a conference. And today, I occasionally have conversations that make me realize there are business professionals who still haven’t embraced technology. Employers once expected human resources to just know word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software. Today, those same employers expect employees to know about smartphones, tablets, apps, and social media.
You don’t need to be an expert or own every device. You do need to understand the fundamentals. And recognize that the fundamentals change all the time. Because technology is changing quickly. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to build technology into your professional life. There are several ways to do this:
Test drive the latest devices. Next time you’re near a phone store or in a shopping mall, take a moment to check out the newest tablet or smartphone. See how it works. Or if a colleague has the latest and greatest, ask them to show you a feature or two.
Step up your social media game. Every HR pro should understand the business advantages and disadvantages of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Probably Instagram too. If you signed up for Twitter and used it for a week, that’s not long enough to realize the benefit.
Reach out to technology companies. You can learn a lot from software demonstrations. Over the years, I’ve learned about the “user experience”. And because technology today doesn’t come with a user manual – it’s supposed to be intuitive – the more you do, the better your tech intuition gets.
Companies and individuals that embrace technology will have a definite advantage in 2014 (and the years to come). For HR pros, technology can bring advantages that allow us to focus on the operation.
Image courtesy of HR Bartender
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