The current COVID-19 pandemic not only puts public health in danger but also caused a globalized economic crisis. Organizations have struggled a lot to survive by changing their policies and finding opportunities. In the uncertain financial climate, the influential role of HR is undeniable.

More than ever, the new guidelines highlight the importance of conversion from a collective to a personalized approach. In addition to the application of technology as a significant transformational driver. These are the megatrends shaping HR, and they do not necessarily change every year. While dealing with uncertainties urges the companies to apply new HR technologies trends to keep their capital intact. It seems helpful to review the potential trending HR technologies for 2021, expected to be the post-pandemic era.

Pandemic: A Career Shock

Such an unpredictable event demands changes in the working environment is known as career shock. Akkermans first introduced the concept in 2018 as:

” a disruptive and extraordinary event that is, at least to some degree, caused by factors outside the focal individual’s control and that triggers a deliberate thought process concerning one’s career. The occurrence of a career shock can vary in terms of predictability, and can be either positively or negatively valanced.”

All the mentioned factors are relevant to COVID-19. This event is intrinsically infrequent, extraordinary, unpredictable, and out of control of the general population.

HR Response to Uncertainties

McKinsey Institute, which tracks the global economic trends, claims that this situation results in conversion of the HR perspective from the future of the work to the present. It has been years that HR studies propose telecommuting as an alternative that enables flexible working hours.

COVID-19 reinforced some companies to work from home and hold their meetings online. Telecommuting is a more cost-effective and safer way of communication. Working from home is not entirely destructive but has some productive aspects within itself. So it is indispensable for the organization not only to identify the risks and protective factors but also to determine triumphant, adaptive outcomes.

Career Resilience During Pandemic

Employee engagement is a fundamental factor affecting job performance and business results directly. At the current uncertain period, the HR needs to engage employee at home effectively and ensure organizational success. To fulfil this purpose, HRM should demonstrate a new level of understanding. The best practice for this goal is consistent communication establishment and knowledge sharing.

“Knowledge sharing is related to a set of behaviours which contribute to knowledge and information sharing and helping others to share their knowledge”.

It includes experience, task-related information and response about any process or any product.

HRM should consider the fact that engagement is not limited to the time of employment. Human resources should expand its engaging policies to the hiring process. In order to support the employee through a sound system and strategies.

AI-based HR Technology Trends

HR should consider the fact that engaging employees is not limited to the working environment. The basis of employee engagement stems from the recruiting process. Putting the right employee in the pooper position with suitable responsibilities addressing his/her capabilities is the first step toward engaging the personnel. That’s how he/she can reveal his/her talents and feel recognized in the working-place. As a result, a loyal employee can bring the company more effort and profitability and will stay longer with them.

But how can we manage this in the time of remote-working and how technology can help HRM to promote their values? Although it has been a decade that organizations like Google are motivating others to rely on AI-based and other online technologies to accelerate their processes and engage their team more. In an unpredictable and uncertain situation, HR technology trends would work as career resilience to help organizations take advantage and proceed. So we are going to take a look at the HR technology trends in the upcoming year, 2021.

  • Performance management

It is necessary to put employee mental and physical health at the top priority during telecommuting and monitor it continuously. Dispersing digital surveys which collect and document employees’ answers regularly is an HRM policy to keep in touch with the team and receive their opinion and daily mood. In this way, HR can manage to prevent adverse impacts of life-work imbalance. Besides it shows that still its teams’ opinion matters to the leadership and their voices are heard by the managers.

  • Robust analytics

Thanks to the statistical analysis of the algorithms, HR can analyze and predict data faster. Moreover, it can document the results in categorized charts, which convey the results more comfortably. Yet HR is in desperate need of a cloud-based platform where it can document the results. Hence HR encourage employees to engage more and participate in the digitalized survey conduction. The HR team will focus their time and energy on strategic and high impact tasks. Data visualization would facilitate insight-driven and strategic thinking.

  • AI-driven HR Tech for Recruitment

As we mentioned engagement starts from the recruiting process. When the company declares a vacant position with a list of required capabilities, AI helps HR to define the characteristics of the job precisely. Based on the presumed assumptions, AI can match the features of a candidate with the vacant position and select the appropriate candidate promptly.

  • Cloud-based HR Technologies

On the demanding remote-working options is a tool like Toggl and Trello where HR can distribute teams in a quick and scalable manner. In this way, not only real-time tracking and decision-making become possible for the managers but also the employee himself/herself has control over his/her data. So HR needs a self-developed platform for such exchanges and documentation. Evaluation and comparison would be more accessible and accurate in such a personalized forum.

  • Blockchain

Verifying employment histories and checking background before recruitment is a manual and time-consuming task for HR. In the case of employment and criminal records’ storage in a blockchain ledger, HR could move the hiring process forward more quickly. Both short-term and long-term on-demand jobs would benefit from such a facility.

  • Virtual Reality

VR has revolutionized the conventions of interviews, job previews, and even onboarding. Social distancing and remote working is forcing HR to define alternatives for these processes. VR is a great option that helps HR and managers to keep the process ongoing.