How to Integrate HR and Tech for Best Practice

How to Integrate HR and Tech for Best Practice

In the face of COVID-19, Human Resources departments have been met with the biggest workforce coordination challenge in recent memory. As offices and factories open their doors once again, business spaces are faced with two sharply contrasting priorities: there is a pressing demand to efficiently deploy workers and recover stunted revenues; at the same time, the same workers must be kept completely safe from a Coronavirus breakout. Naturally, the responsibility to hold down both of these objectives falls on company HR teams.

In the face of an invisible and deadly virus, there is a need to intelligently manage both technology and people. Given that both ultimately aim at increased workforce efficiency and safety, it might be said that HR and technology cannot be neatly separated in the modern workplace.

Joining up HR and technology might sound so obvious that should already be standard practice. But according to the best industry data, this isn’t the case. PWC’s 2020  HR Technology Survey has revealed that Eight out of ten (82%) firms are struggling with adoption challenges. SHRM’s Global Survey lists the following challenges as forefront concerns for managers post-Covid:

• Maintaining productivity given news of working (60%)
• Reskilling the workforce to work with new technologies (30%)

There’s a disconnect between human resources and counter-viral innovation. This constitutes a serious missed opportunity on the part of those whose job it is to reconcile the two — that is to say, HR departments.

With an array of different gadgets on the market, the hardest part of integrating technology can be knowing what works best for HR operations.

Fortunately, there are a number of device features that can level-up HR intelligence as businesses reopen. For example, modern temperature scanning technology, used to screen fever symptoms among employees, can generate data and analytics displays. These can be used to target viral hotspots and organize teams effectively against COVID-19. Plus, as the New Normal looks likely to stay, many devices can remind workers to wear their masks, which is a crucial workforce practice. Thanks to advances in cloud software, it is possible to integrate multiple devices to a single interface, meaning that HR managers can pool key insights from multiple sources.

Ultimately, frontline technology features allow HR managers to make informed decisions in an uncertain working environment. With a clearer view of the field, Human Resources departments can get a better idea of how to manage teams during the difficult re-opening phase. With the right tech in place, HR managers can create workaround systems that can withstand the stresses and shocks of the near future.

About the Author

Chad Rissanen is Chief Revenue Officer at Tevano, the developer of Health Shield™, an innovative, AI-driven, electronic device that provides instant body temperature scanning and notifies users if they need to wear a face mask.