The world is changing at a rapid pace. Now more than ever, it feels as if we’re living in an era defined by major digital transformation.

Organisations across every sector have had to adapt, it by implementing hybrid working practises, supporting employees through a cost-of-living crisis or redefining their sustainability commitments. HR teams are not only grappling with ever-changing challenges and unprecedented disruption but are also expected to make sound investments in people and technology, improve company culture, and attract and retain key talent.

In response, traditional HR practices have evolved into modern human capital management, where people-centricity is at the core. Technology has continued to drive meaningful and purposeful work across the sector, with practitioners harnessing it more frequently to promote work flexibility, create personalised learning opportunities, or boost the benefits package.

Here are some of the ways in which employee-centric technology can help HR teams meet their strategic priorities in 2023:

Enhancing the employee experience
Employee expectations have fundamentally shifted, and companies that do not adapt will not survive. According to Gartner, enhancing the employee experience is a top priority for almost half (47%) of all HR leaders. The benefits far outweigh creating a great place to work; organisations that focus on improving the employee experience have been found to generate 25% greater profits as compared to those that don’t.

From onboarding to off boarding, HR teams must strive to understand what motivates and sustains employees, as well as the factors that drive engagement across the organisation. Employee-centric technology can play a key role here. For instance, health and wellbeing apps can allow companies to monitor the physical and mental wellbeing of their staff with anonymised, aggregated data, while Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) can leave employees feeling empowered by effectively operating as social collaboration tools. In short, technology has an invaluable role to play in optimising the employee experience and modernising processes.

Tech-enabled recruitment
Recruitment will remain a top priority for HR leaders in the coming years. Half of all organisations expect the competition for top talent to intensify over the coming months, regardless of the wider macroeconomic conditions.

Those involved in the recruitment process will need to adjust their strategies in order to align with current business needs, which may change quickly. HR leaders need to plan for numerous potential scenarios in a fast-changing market and be confident that they can make decisions with great confidence using data.

As such, establishing an efficient, tech-enabled, and semi-automated hiring system will soon become mandatory. AI-powered digital talent intelligence will become even more important in HR functions. Platforms that are fool proof and incorporate adequate AI data analytics will serve as the first line of defence for recruiters, generating ample insights on all parameters, including the skill and cultural fit of each candidate.

Upskilling the workforce
Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that in-demand skills have a shelf life of no more than three to five years. While ‘hard’ tech skills are sought after, employers will revere communication, leadership, and attention to detail over the coming months and years – all human skills that cannot be automated.

In order to keep up with the pace of change, individuals and organisations must strengthen their focus on skilling and upskilling. With the development of strategic workforce education programs, personalised to the needs of each employee, organisations can equip their employees with the essential skills they need to meet today’s demands while preparing for tomorrow.

Fostering a sense of belonging
Diversity, inclusion, and equity (DE&I) initiatives have become a key priority for HR teams around the world and must remain a central focus. Beyond being the right thing to do, creating a more diverse workforce has an impact on the bottom line. According to industry report, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. The impact of ethnic diversity is even greater, at 36%.

At Tech Mahindra, we are firm believers that all DEI efforts in the world will be futile if the people in the room do not feel they belong there. To foster a sense of belonging, it is critical for organisations to build a workplace where every member of the workforce feels secure and empowered. Technology can be pivotal in supporting this. For instance, employee dashboards can bring together analytics to help HR teams visualise and forecast diversity trends, while recruitment technologies can help to prevent talent biases around age, race, and ethnicity, as well as differently-abled individuals and LGBTQ+ communities.

The most successful businesses are all united by valuing their people and culture as much as their operations and accounts. The disruptions of the last two years, coupled with major digital transformations, present HR teams with the perfect opportunity to embed people-centric technology across the function. Doing so will not only help them whether the storms that lie ahead but also create a long-term, sustainable people strategy that will offer rewards for years to come.