Artificial Intelligence in HRM

Globally many organizations are investing in innovations. As a result, technology keeps growing and evolving with sophisticated systems to make human life much easier and eliminating human errors. It is a must for organizations to adapt to new technology to sustain the market.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence by software-coded heuristics. (Frankenfield, J. 2023).

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has remade the human resources (HR) department, enabling HR professionals to leverage machine learning and algorithms to streamline their work processes, reduce their biases, and enhance their analysis and decision-making. (Siocon, G. 2023).

How Artificial Intelligence can be used in HRM?

Majority of HR leaders nowadays use AI across a wide range of tasks, like employee records management, payroll, recruitment, onboarding and performance management. In the future, AI may be able to hire and fire employees, as well as perform more complex tasks like answering HR-related queries and communicating employees’ salary details etc. (Siocon, G. 2023).

Artificial Intelligence can be incorporated to identify bottlenecks in employees’ productivity by keeping tabs on their online movements. 

“AI can monitor employees’ performance, behavior and engagement, providing HR teams with valuable insights. It can analyze employee data, such as emails, chats and work patterns, to detect signs of burnout, disengagement or even misconduct,” (Siocon, G. 2023).

Limitations of AI
Harvard Business school performed a survey and found that 88 percent of HR executives learned that their tools reject qualified candidates. The job descriptions have too many qualifications, which created a long list of requirements for algorithms to check for in resumes. As a result, the algorithm rejected many qualified job seekers who may be missing just a few skills from the list. Another factor was a work gap in candidates’ resumes for more than six months. These gaps may represent legitimate life events, like pregnancy, military deployment or illness. (Siocon, G. 2023).

Consider data privacy and cybersecurity risks.
With a growing number of organizations using Artificial intelligence to store business information, data security is critical now more than ever. HR must be able to reassure employees that their personal information, like Social Security numbers and bank details, are secured. (Siocon, G. 2023).

My Opinion
Nevertheless, AI has made HRM procedures much easier, there are some instances that HRM may have to consider employees’ psychological side & circumstances before taking any final decisions. If human too don’t involve in certain areas the decision would end up in employee dissatisfaction or disputes.

References

Frankenfield, J. (2023). Artificial Intelligence: What It Is and How It Is Used. [online]. Available from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/artificial-intelligence-ai.asp. [Accessed on 12 August 2023].

Siocon, G. (2023). Ways AI is Changing HR Departments; Remember that AI has limitations. [online]. Available from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/how-ai-is-changing-hr. [Accessed on 12 August 2023].

 Psychological Contract

What is the psychological contract?
The psychological contract refers to the unwritten, intangible agreement between an employee and their employer that describes the informal commitments, expectations and understandings that make up their relationship. The psychological contract shouldn’t be confused with a written employment contract – they are two very separate things. 

(Enright, J. undated)

The term 'psychological contract' refers to individuals’ expectations, beliefs, ambitions and obligations, as perceived by the employer and the worker.
(cipd.org, 2023)

Why is the psychological contract important?

When it comes down to it, a written employment contract that a team member has with their company does not have a great deal of influence on their day-to-day experience of work.

In reality, that contract is something you sign on your first day and then probably don’t see much of during the rest of your time at the business. Unless the employee and employer end up in a legal dispute, that contract might well just stay in a filing cabinet at the back of the office.

When it comes to how an employee acts, works, and behaves, what holds far more influence is the perceived fairness of the psychological contract they have with their employer.

Try to think of the psychological contract as a relationship, just like any personal relationship you have in your own life.

If you have a friend that consistently lets you down, demands more of you than they ever give back or often leaves you feeling taken advantage of, then it’s very easy for that relationship to turn sour. While it might suit one person, the other feels like they have a raw deal – and rightly so.

On the other hand, a friendship where that support flows both ways feels worthwhile and valuable to each side.

A psychological contract between an employee and an employer works exactly the same way – for that relationship to flourish in the long term, both sides have to feel that it is balanced and their contribution is fair.
(Enright, J. undated)

The significance of psychological contract
The quality of the psychological contract heavily influences how employees behave from day to day. When workers perceive that their contributions to the organisation and what they receive back from the employer are balanced, and fair, there can be positive outcomes. For example, workers who perform better, demonstrate more extra-role behaviours, and indicate a higher level of commitment to the organisation.

The psychological contract is based on employees’ sense of fairness and trust, and their belief that the employer is honouring the 'deal' between them. A violation (or breach) of the psychological contract by the employer can have sudden and powerful consequences for people and organisations. It can lead to negatively affecting job satisfaction, commitment, performance, and increase turnover intentions.

(Enright, J. undated)

Conclusion
At the end of the day, the psychological contract is the responsibility of both the employee and the employer.  Both have separate responsibilities to guard against potential breaches.  For the employer, it is about making sure not to give the wrong perception to an employee and to make sure promises are upheld.  For the employee, it is about managing their expectations so that difficult situations or adverse personal circumstances are not seen as negatively impacting productivity and are not seen as a worker “acting out”.
(Stevenson, M. 2018)

My Opinion
I strongly believe that psychological contract is more effective than employment legal contract. But there are many instances that both the parties are getting disappointed. Since it is unwritten agreement and no one can blame each other. 

Eg-1 Employer side - Offering a paid course and requesting an employee to work for a certain number of years, but he/she is forced to leave when there is a good package is offered by another organization.

Eg-2 Employee side - Requesting an employee to complete a course on his own cost and come back for a promotion, but once it is completed giving some excuses not to promote him.

References

cipd.org, (2023). What is the psychological contract? [online]. Available from https://www.cipd.org/en/knowledge/factsheets/psychological-factsheet/. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

Enright, J. (undated). What is the psychological contract?. [online]. Available from https://www.charliehr.com/blog/what-is-the-psychological-contract/. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

(Stevenson, M. 2018). The Importance of the Psychological Contract. [online]. Available from https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/employee-engagement/articles/the-importance-of-the-psychological-contract. [Accessed on 11 August 2023]. 

 

Talent Management & HRM

What is talent management?

Talent management is a constant process that involves attracting and retaining high-quality employees, developing their skills, and continuously motivating them to improve their performance. There must be a talent management strategy in place designed just for the organization to gain optimal results.
(valamis.com, 2023)

As per Prarthana Ghosh, “talent management is defined as the methodically organized, strategic process of getting the right talent onboard and helping them grow to their optimal capabilities keeping organizational objectives in mind”.

(Ghosh, P. 2021)

Why is talent management important?
Businesses that take the time to develop their employees and keep them engaged tend to be innovative and profitable. Conversely, those that are unable to source or retain talent generally have poor customer satisfaction and limited growth potential.

(adp.com, 2023)

It allows companies to stay competitive
By hiring and developing talented employees, your organization becomes stronger and better prepared to face changes and risks.

It drives innovation
New technologies are always growing all around the world, whatever your industry. Talented employees are able to find ways to harness the capabilities of new tools and solve problems or come up with productive ideas.

It helps form productive teams
The appropriate talent management strategy will allow the organization to form a more productive team. This is far more useful than just having a bunch of creative and talented people in your organization.

It leads to strong employer branding
Talent management brands your company as an employer. This helps you to attract the best candidates for future hires.

It motivates others to grow
Having inspiring talent on your team will motivate other employees and help them grow.

(valamis.com, 2023)

It minimizes disruptions
Unexpected departures cause gaps in coverage, but with a talent pipeline, it’s possible to fill open positions quickly and keep operations running smoothy.
(adp.com, 2023)

 

What is a talent management framework?
A talent management framework is the blueprint for how an organization will execute its talent strategy. It typically includes recruitment, hiring, engagement, development, performance management, recognition, and succession planning.
(adp.com, 2023)

The talent management model

My Experience
I am currently working for a software development company, where all the employees are "working from home". My staffs are working at multiple global locations as consultants, like Aramco and Aircraft, Ship engine maintenance popular companies. These clients are brought in and retained past many years by a team which is really expert in the field and very good personalities. These talents are highly paid. We have a department called talent acquisition department, they really focus on the best in the market and recruits by paying very good salary. One of my friends is working in a similar type of company, which is encouraging "work from home" concept and they go through multiple hassles with the employees. They don't perform well or work for multiple organizations during office hours and the marketing team doesn't have much capacity to bring best clients. It clearly shows that identifying talents in the market and paying them accordingly is crucial part for sustainable competitive advantage.

References

adp.com, (2023). What is talent management? [online]. Available from https://www.adp.com/resources/articles-and-insights/articles/w/what-is-talent-management.aspx. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

Ghosh, P. (2021). What is Talent Management? Definition, Strategy, Process and Models. [online]. Available from https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/talent-management/articles/what-is-talent-management/. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

valamis.com, (2023). Talent Management. [online]. Available from https://www.valamis.com/hub/talent-management. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

 

 

Training & Development in HRM

Employees are the greatest asset to the organization. Preserving the assets is good, but being able to grow them is always better. Employee training might be the key to sustaining the standard of the organization. That’s exactly where training and development becomes an important role of HRM. Investing in the employees will lead to growth in many other areas as well. This includes cash flow, productivity, and product quality etc.  
(workhuman.com blog, 2023)

As per another author, training and Development is a structured program with different methods designed by professionals in particular job. It has become most common and continuous task in any organization for updating skills and knowledge of employees in accordance with changing environment.
(whatishumanresource.com, undated)

HRM in Training & Development
The role of HRM in training and development is to assist employees in reaching their highest potential. Furthermore, HRM’s role not only involves initiating training programs. They also must ensure that the programs are adequate and useful. For this reason, employees’ unique learning styles must be considered in crafting programs and activities.
(workhuman.com blog, 2023)

Training & Development only for financial gain?

An organization that invests in its employees will most likely reap the rewards of improved financial performance. One significant statistic from the Association for Talent Development (ATD) proves this.

Their research shows that the companies with higher employee training expenditures reported 218% more income per employee. They also experienced 24% higher profit margins.

Employee training and development isn’t just for earnings growth, though, few other benefits for the employees and organization.
(workhuman.com blog, 2023)

Increase company productivity
An organization might want to consider upskilling their employees. Training them to use advanced tools and technology might improve their efficiency. Moreover, being more confident in their abilities will make them more motivated to work. Also, they’ll be able to face challenges and adapt to changes quickly and in the back end a learning culture will grow among employees in the workplace.

Improve product or service quality
Training and development programs are an opportunity for experts within the organization to share their techniques. Within a short span of time, employees will get to learn tips and best practices for their work.

This will allow them to create better products or provide more satisfying services. Additionally, adequate training of employees involves giving them the same set of instructions. This leads to uniformity in their methods and output.

Lessen employee turnover
Research has shown that training and development has a positive impact on employee turnover. Workers will surely appreciate the organization’s investment in their development. This will strengthen their sense of job satisfaction, belongingness, and commitment.
Training and development programs might also lead them to have a better relationship with the organization. As a result, it’ll decrease their intentions to leave and increase the organization’s workforce retention. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Decrease costs and errors
If the organization has highly trained employees, human errors can be minimized up to great extend which may lead to reduce the manpower utilization for redoing incorrect work.

Also, product malfunctions and improper delivery of services are generally eliminated.
Properly trained employees know how to use materials efficiently. Thus, the organization will spend less because waste and spoilage are minimal.

(workhuman.com blog, 2023)

My Opinion
There are many organizations reserving a budget for training and development, and they recover the amount directly or indirectly. Still, they make rigid agreements with the employees that they must stay with them for a certain number years, whether they consider pay raise or promotion or not. Which leads employees to a bit reluctant of accepting or attending trainings.    

References

workhuman.com blog, (2023). What Is Training and Development in HRM? 2023 Complete Guide. [online]. Available from https://www.workhuman.com/blog/training-and-development-in-hrm/. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

whatishumanresource.com, (undated). Training and development.[online]. Available from https://www.whatishumanresource.com/training-and-development. [Accessed on 11 August 2023].

 

Emotional Intelligence

What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you. (mhanational.org, 2023)

Another definition found as follows, emotional intelligence (emotional quotient) is ability to understand and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. Emotional intelligence helps you build stronger relationships, succeed at work, and achieve your career and personal goals. (Segal J, et al 2023).

HRM & Emotional Intelligence
As a Human Resources professional, a critical function of their job is to understand people and teams well. Emotional intelligence will allow them to stand out in their job because they will be able to develop a positive influence over others and show up fully for the employees they serve.

While there are many skills that an HR professional should develop throughout the course of their careers, perhaps the most important is emotional intelligence. This refers to the ability to identify and understand one’s emotions, along with the emotions of others.
(knowledgecity.com blog, 2023)

HR professionals should be able to accept criticism and responsibility, being able to solve problems in ways that work for everyone, having empathy for other people and having great listening skills are vital qualities for HRM. (Cherry K. 2023)

Why is emotional intelligence so important?
As we know, it's not the smartest people who are the most successful or the most fulfilled in life. You probably know people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially inept and unsuccessful at work or in their personal relationships. Intellectual ability isn't enough on its own to achieve success in life, it's your emotional intelligence that will help you manage the stress and emotions when you are facing any challenges at work. (Segal J, et al 2023)

Some tips to Improve Emotional Intelligence

Listen
If you want to understand what other people are feeling, the first step is to pay attention. Take the time to listen to what people are trying to tell you.

Empathize
Picking up on emotions is critical, but you also need to be able to put yourself into someone else's shoes in order to truly understand their point of view.

Reflect
The ability to reason with emotions is an important part of emotional intelligence. Consider how your own emotions influence your decisions and behaviors. When you are thinking about how other people respond, assess the role that their emotions play.
(Cherry K. 2023)

My Opinion
When we are not treated well, we feel bad and blame the concerned person or team to understand and correct their attitude. But when it comes to others we are leased bothered, though we call ourselves matured enough to manage everything. We have no idea about the emotions of our own kind. When people point out our mistakes, we are not intelligent enough to manage our own emotions.

References

Cherry K. (2023). Emotional Intelligence: How We Perceive, Evaluate, Express, and Control Emotions. [online]. Available from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-emotional-intelligence-2795423. [Accessed on 09 August 2023].

knowledgecity.com blog, (2023). The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in HR. [online]. Available from https://www.knowledgecity.com/blog/emotional-intelligence-in-hr/. [Accessed on 09 August 2023].

mhanational.org, (2023). What is emotional intelligence and how does it apply to the workplace?. [online]. Available from https://mhanational.org/what-emotional-intelligence-and-how-does-it-apply-workplace#:~:text=Emotional%20Intelligence%20(EI)%20is%20the,%2C%20empathy%2C%20and%20social%20skills. (Accessed on 09 August 2023).

Segal J, et al (2023). Improving Emotional Intelligence (EQ). [online]. Available from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/emotional-intelligence-eq.htm. [Accessed on 08 August 2023].

 

Work-Life Balance

 

Work-life balance is a concept that emphasizes the benefits of balancing your time and energy between work and free time. Simply means Work-life balance is the idea that a fulfilling life outside of work helps improve work performance while reducing stress. At its core, the work-life balance concept exists solely to bring attention to the fact that being a workaholic is detrimental to a person's physical and mental well-being.
Poor work-life balance can have serious effects on mental health. (Ward, S. 2020) 

“Several statistics show that more than 60 percent of U.S. employees feel like their work-life balance is out of whack”. (Cambell, A. Blog, 2023) 

My experience
Considering the importance of work life balance HRM must be having strict policies in place to help employees maintaining work-life balance. As per my experience, I used to work for an Airline, since the operation is around the clock some time employees may have to do extra day every week or doing night shifts. But they are very strict about the night shift duties. Whatsoever the reason is, an employee must not exceed more than two-night shifts. I feel it is a very good policy of HRM to maintain Work-life balance.

Effective work-life balance policies are valuable to businesses and organizations for a number of reasons, including reduced absenteeism and sick leave, improved morale or satisfaction, greater staff loyalty and commitment, improved productivity etc.
(businessmanagementideas.com, ND)

Some characteristics of a healthy work-life balance

Setting boundaries: This involves establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life by defining specific working hours and separating work-related tasks from personal activities.

Time management: Efficiently organizing and prioritizing tasks, ensuring that you allocate enough time for work responsibilities as well as personal pursuits.

Stress management: Implementing strategies to manage stress levels, such as practicing mindfulness, engaging in regular physical activity, taking breaks, and unplugging from work-related activities when needed


Flexibility: Having the ability to adapt and adjust your schedule to accommodate unforeseen circumstances or personal needs without jeopardizing work commitments

(Cambell, A. Blog, 2023)

My opinion
Work from home is a very good concept to maintain the work-life balance. But as per my experience many of the employees are misusing, as they don’t work at least designated work hours and even some employees work for another organization simultaneously and making this concept ineffective.

List of References

businessmanagementideas.com, (ND). Work-Life Balance in HRM. [Online]. Available from
Work-Life Balance in HRM: Meaning, Need, Importance and Techniques (businessmanagementideas.com). [Accessed on 28^th July 2023].

Cambell, A. Blog, (2023). How to have a good work-life balance. [blog entry] 25 May. Austin: Betterup. Available from https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-have-good-work-life-balance. [Accessed on 29 July 2023].

Ward, S. (2020). What is work-life balance? [Online]. Available from https://www.thebalancemoney.com/work-life-balance-2948691. [Accessed on 28^th July 2023].

 

HRM and Change Management

Change management is the systematic approach and application of knowledge, tools and resources to deal with change. It involves defining and adopting corporate strategies, structures, procedures and technologies to handle changes in external conditions and the business environment. (shrm.org, 2023)

Furthermore, as per Tahir Abbas, HRM is a strategic partner that helps to create and sustain a healthy, engaged, and productive workforce during times of organizational change. HRM can play a vital role in supporting employees during organizational change by helping to ensure that employees have the resources and support they need to stay healthy and productive. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Role of HRM in Change Management

HRM plays a vital role in minimizing this disruption and maximizing the chances of success for any change management initiative. HRM is responsible for ensuring that employees are aware of the changes taking place and are properly trained to execute them. By fulfilling these roles, HRM plays a crucial role in ensuring that organizational changes are successful. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Some specific roles

Designing and scheduling of trainings for change management
HRM department is often responsible for designing and implementing training programmes to help employees transition through changes. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Engagement with employees
One of the crucial role of HRM department is to enhance participation of employee in change management. It involves providing opportunities to all of employees to have a greater voice and their input in organizational change process. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Conflict resolution
HRM facilitates the management of organizational conflicts and employee relations. HR personnel ensure that employees have solid working relationships for the transformation process to be effective. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Rewards
HRM is in a key position to support a reward system during organizational change. For example, HRM might decide to increase salaries for employees who are asked to take on new responsibilities during a reorganization. opportunities as part of the change process. By doing so, HRM ensures that employees are rewarded not only financially, but also with opportunities for growth and development. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Recruitment for change management
One of the most important role of HRM department is to recruit right professional to implement change initiative. It is not the organization but people who drive the change. So hiring of people is extremely important. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Final Words
It is clear that HRM can play a crucial role in ensuring the success of organizational change. By taking care of communication, engagement with employees in change management and supporting employee health and wellbeing and providing resources and support to managers. (Abbas, T. 2022)

My experience / opinion
I was working for a reputed Airline in middle east. Between 1800 hours to 300 hours there are 520 departures by using both the runways. Change management is considered to be a critical matter in the airline, which is operating 24/7. Even a single flight delay due to any change cannot be tolerated. Flight delays considered as major sin in Airline. Hence change management has to be handled with a team which is really having hands on experience in airline industry understanding the risk and revenue loss, a minor failure may cause millions of loss for the organization, where the Airline must compensate all the passengers after 4 hors of delay. As an IT professional my team does multiple lab tests and starts the change from the departments, which are not directly affecting the operation in case of a failure. We always keep a resilience setup to revert the change and ensure zero flight delays. Once we proved that capability is in place only we get the approval for change from higher management. In this matter team work and effective communication are vital. 

List of References

Abbas, T. (2022). Role of HRM in Change Management, [Online]. Available from

https://changemanagementinsight.com/role-of-hrm-in-change-management/#:~:text=HRM%20deals%20with%20people%20part,make%20or%20break%20organizational%20change. [Accessed on 24^th July 2023].

shrm.org, (2023), managing organizational change. [Online]. Available from
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and samples/toolkits/pages/managingorganizationalchange.aspx#:~:text=Overview,conditions%20and%20the%20business%20environment. [Accessed on 24^th July 2023].