HR Digital Transformation Is No Longer Optional - Here's Why

Digital transformation is currently a buzzword in most discussions involving HR professionals, for the very obvious (and very good) reason that traditional HR can potentially be completely revolutionized with digital technology. But, as you already know, discussing digital transformation is an entirely different thing from actually doing it.

As the HR Director at Microsoft Australia, Ingrid Jenkins, argues:

Transformation is underpinned by a digital mindset that is a unique interplay of technology, people, and process; and technology can also be used to vastly improve HR processes for employees and managers, resulting in a snowball effect of positivity and paving the way for even greater digital transformation within a business.

Today, we explore the phenomenon that is HR digital transformation: what it is, and why it is very crucial in today’s workplace.

What is HR digital transformation?

According to Deloitte’s 2017 Human Capital Trends report: ‘It’s about HR teams taking up the dual challenge of transforming HR operations on the one hand, and transforming the workforce and the way work is done on the other.’

So, rather than HR digital transformation being just about HR, it’s a metamorphosis that involves the entire organization - or at least it should, in order for it to be successful.

Why an HR Digital Transformation?

As a general rule of thumb, any HR transformation, whether it is a digital one or not, has to take place with a clear objective in mind. It has to make business sense.

So, in order for this digital transformation to be successful in the sense that it results in an overall positive outcome for the  entire business, it has to have a clear and defined objective, which could be anything from cost-effectiveness to time-saving to simplification to future-proofing.  

On a final note

Whether we like it or not, an HR digital transformation isn’t optional. In a world that’s digitalizing at an increasingly fast pace, with consumer and employees that don’t expect other than for practically anything in their lives to be digital, HR and employers simply can’t stay behind.

Advanced technologies are expected to replace all the conventional tools and systems at workplaces with their digitized versions by 2022 in all the top 10 economies of the world.

So, if a company is still ignoring digital platforms in 2020, their business is quite possibly doomed and can only expect to encounter negative effects; implications that can easily be avoided by implementing a well-planned transformation as soon as possible.