The world of Human Resources and People Management is undergoing a profound transformation. If in recent years professionals in the sector have been witnessing a change in the behaviour of the people who are part of our organisations, now an actor comes into play that, although it has always been present, is called to be the great protagonist of our HR processes: technology. But, as there are many technological tools of all kinds, today we stop at two solutions that together can revolutionize the present and the future of people management. Today we reflect on Artificial Intelligence/AI and People Analytics: what they are, how they can help us and what we need to make the most of this great opportunity.
AI and People Analytics: what they are and how they differ
People Analytics is a discipline that uses data and analytics to better understand an organization’s employees. Its ultimate goal is to facilitate strategic decision-making based on clear, concise and concrete information and, to achieve this, it tries to transform isolated data into aggregated and useful information for the company.
To do this, it must pay special attention to two critical aspects: statistical and predictive analysis and data visualization.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science that focuses on creating systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, especially those of a repetitive and low-value type.
Today, the main tasks performed by artificial intelligences are learning existing knowledge, analyzing and reasoning solutions, percepting and generating new content (in the latter case we are talking about generative AI).
As we can see, these two technologies respond to completely different needs, but they have an important point in common: the ability to perform automatic analysis.
How AI and People Analytics are integrated
This common point becomes the great opportunity to streamline all our Human Resources processes.
By developing artificial intelligence tools with a People Analytics approach, we can process and analyze large volumes of data quickly and efficiently.
Moreover, it is not only a matter of agility of analysis. These types of tools allow us to carry out more complex analyses, which makes it easier to identify patterns and trends that would be difficult to detect with the naked eye.
Thus, we can highlight the 4 main advantages of the union of AI and People Analytics:
- More agility, by automating repetitive tasks.
- More depth, thanks to predictive analytics.
- More impartiality, by excluding unconscious biases.
- More linking, by allowing the employee experience to be personalized.
Practical applications in Human Resources
Although the possibilities are multiple (and everything indicates that they will continue to increase), from the perspective of a Human Resources professional, we can differentiate the applications of this technological combination into five large groups:
- Identifying and Attracting Talent: AI can be very useful in the area of Selection and identify the best candidates for a job by analysing the following:
- Resumes.
- Video interviews.
- Social media data and online presence.
- Employee Engagement and Retention: AI can detect which employees are at risk of churn, their motivations and take measures to avoid it, proposing actions aimed at reducing absenteeism and turnover.
- Training and Talent Development: AI can be a powerful tool that helps us discover training gaps in our teams, also providing personalized training alternatives.
- Evaluation of Potential and Performance: AI allows automating and analyzing processes for evaluating performance, performance and potential, identifying critical factors and proposing corrective measures.
- Analysis of the Work Environment, Culture and Commitment: We can automate work environment studies on a regular basis that allow us to monitor in real time and make decisions in advance, transforming our organizations into more sustainable and enriching environments for our employees.
Some AI and People Analytics tools that we are exploring at Psicotec:
One of the most exciting aspects of the world of Human Resources consulting is the vocation for continuous improvement and for remaining at the forefront of the latest trends. For this reason, at Psicotec we are exploring the possibilities of several AI-based tools to be able to apply them in our projects:
- Chatbots for employee service and for the resolution of standardized queries in massive and long-term selection projects.
- Digital Dashboards with quantitative information on our work environment, organizational culture and commitment projects, as well as predictive statistical analysis.
- Design of personalised training paths (eTraining Paths) in accordance with a pre-established development plan: We consider personal, relational and leadership skills appropriate to each position and professional level.
- Sentiment analysis to measure climate and job satisfaction KPIs.
- Turnover and absenteeism prediction systems.
Even so, we must not forget that artificial intelligences are too recent technologies to fully trust the answers they provide us. We should always consider this type of tool as a support and not as an end in itself.
Human expertise and judgment can be driven by the sum of AI and People Analytics, but not replaced by them.
Does your company need any kind of support in terms of Human Resources? Do you need to onboard, develop or evaluate Talent? At Psicotec we will advise you on the best ways to achieve your goals, always using the most appropriate tools for your needs, artificial or human.