The top 10 HR tech trends that will dominate 2022

HR technology assisting the hybrid model

While transitioning from a traditional model to a hybrid one might be a convenient option in light of the ongoing pandemic, its subsequent success depends significantly on how HR tech supports the hybrid way of working. People analytics, cloud access, virtual onboarding, seamless collaboration, better management of workforce, learning and development tools, geo-attendance, online asset management, and digitization of the data collection process are some of the aspects of HR tech that can make the shift seamless for organizations.

• Reinventing the workspace: With people expected to return to work amidst the ongoing pandemic, organizations need to leverage technology to reinvent workplaces to ensure employee well-being and productivity. Receiving alerts on smart devices upon violating social distancing norms, enabling smart IDs and facial detection for touch-free attendance, and leveraging AI for allocating office space dynamically are some of the tech trends we will be observing going forward.
  
  
• Redefining employee experience: Constantly reinventing employee experience will be a dominant HR tech trend in 2022 and the upcoming years as well. Leveraging AI and using automated tools for personalized recommendations, automation of HR processes like scheduling interviews, and claims outlier detection amongst others. Investing in innovative solutions that make employees’ online working experience user-friendly will lead to enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity.

Humanization of HR technology

With remote working practices becoming the norm in recent times, human interaction and engagement is still of paramount importance. The HR executives have the responsibility of understanding the changing market climate and adding a human touch to digital processes. Deployment of real-time conversational interfaces like chatbots, AI models, sentimental analysis, career mapping, immersive learning and personalizing employee experience through virtual reality apps are some of the many ways in which HR tech will be humanized.

• Focusing on talent retention: With the Great Resignation, talent retention has gained strategic importance. Implementing AI to chart better career paths within the organization, employee survey and listening tools, and rewards and recognition tools will elevate employee experience and help in retaining talent.
  
  
• AI in HR technology: As organizations are coping with the growing complexities across geographies, the need for AI in HR cannot be overstated. Empowering HR executives with accurate AI-driven talent insights will address problems such as employee retention, talent development, employee cost optimization, fraud detection, peer parity, and talent forecasting amongst others. Organizations can receive AI-generated predictions, recommendations, and data analysis and accordingly, draw strategies.

Integrating employee wellness in HR technology

The events of the past year have made employee wellness the foremost priority at all workplaces. Integrating wellness bots in communication channels, proactively assessing employee health, workforce risk, and activity tracking through fitness app integration, contact tracing, and providing financial assistance through AI-based HR tools are some of the technological advancements that are going to assist human resources management.

• Incorporating smart technologies in HR processes: The use of smart devices is going to enhance the ease of running organizational operations globally and promote personalized employee experience. The integration of smart technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, robotics, cloud computing, and virtual reality (VR) in HR will allow the HR in collecting information and managing hiring, evaluation, payroll, and other activities on a single platform.
  
  
• Reimagine learning and development: As per the World Economic Forum, workplace technology will transform more than one-third of the world's jobs. This calls for upskilling, reskilling, and making learning and development a trend that is going to shape HR tech policies. HR executives need to adopt virtual reality and augmented reality tools, microlearning, social learning, and AI-powered coaching to offer personalized training to employees. HR tech can be used to gauge development via performance monitoring programs.

Enabling a diverse and inclusive workforce

The recent socio-cultural advancements have led to more conversations surrounding workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion. Focusing on diversity is not just an HR trend for 2022, but is also going to be a standard policy, as a diverse and inclusive team brings distinct perspectives, experiences, and skills into the picture. Leveraging analytics to identify and tackle issues, encourage online communities for better collaboration, provide easy access to internal job opportunities, deliver information at fingertips, and enable tools to measure diversity and inclusion initiatives can help create and maintain a diverse and inclusive workplace, even in a remote or hybrid setup.

If there is anything that the past year has taught us, it is that improvising workplace strategy and evolving with the changing times are not just preferable but necessary for sustenance. Therefore, the aforementioned HR tech trends present an opportunity for organizations to shape their policies and adopt technology in a way that will keep them afloat and relevant.