5 HR and Employee Management Automation Trends for 2021

Last updated on September 20th, 2023 at 12:35 pm

As if the HR industry hasn’t already been in a whirlwind of change in the past several years, 2020 has been truly staggering in terms of how HR experts have had to adapt. The pandemic alone has pushed companies to work remotely without preparation or the right tech resources, and many have had to completely rethink how they organize shifts when they need workers on-site so that the relevant measures for social distancing are in place. Naturally, this has brought about a slew of trends in HR that will change this year, too.

Most of all, time and employee management in 2021 will be dominated by automation and technology. To simplify processes, streamline the overall workflow, and ensure business stability, your HR department could potentially benefit from the trends we’re about to mention. Don’t be fooled by the predominant use of tech – it’s all to make employees happy and more productive over the long haul.

Chatbots to simplify onboarding

Do you have a handful of software tools every employee uses, starting with an email account, project management, all the way to a chat tool such as Slack? Perhaps, instead of going through the details with your HR team, a new employee can easily pick up the information from a bot.

Chatbots can simplify onboarding both for your HR staff, but also for the new employee. While your new team member is getting used to their new position, they’ll probably have a ton of questions, most of which can be answered by a friendly bot. Your bot can also send personalized alerts and notifications to help ease the new employees into your business, to let them know about lunch orders, policies, upcoming training seminars, and the like.

Employee training is done online

For most companies, employee training is perceived as a beneficial process that will elevate productivity among staff. However, education is increasingly considered a top perk among employees, too, but only when done right and with their best interest in mind. If you run a multi-team organization with various departments, your HR can hardly handle their training.

Instead, you can turn to automated online learning platforms with ready-to-use training modules you can adjust to your own business needs. You can invest in online workshops, as well, especially for your remote teams, who deserve the same learning opportunities as your on-site staff.

Automation in scheduling

Time management can easily be the most pivotal factor that defines how well you manage your employees. If you have no clear grasp over your teams’ workload, their participation in various activities and meetings, or their presence at the office, you’re likely constantly dealing with poor organization. In 2021, companies should consider investing in time and attendance solutions to simplify time management for their employees.

In turn, this increases visibility for everyone and grants you access to when and where people are at any given moment during their work hours. Creating automated rosters with built-in automated notifications helps spread the workload evenly and avoid burnout among your employees.

Payroll automation

Allowing your HR teams to spend more time with people and less time with numbers is highly beneficial for all those involved. For that to happen, you need to think about the option of automating your payroll. Over the last few years, more companies have started using payroll software to automate a range of processes from sending out automated, recurring invoices, as well as sending employee payments directly into their accounts.

The time it takes to process all those requests can be spent better on employee education, one-on-one conversations, as well as simply on other everyday tasks that don’t leave any room for technology or automation. This also helps you avoid human error when you make payments, which can be costly both in time and money down the road when you need to rectify those errors.

Performance reviews made simpler

How long have you been using paper-based performance reviews without ever thinking about making this more efficient? Some habits are very hard to discard, and this one seems to persevere even in the most forward-thinking organizations. What we’ll see in 2021 and moving forward is the introduction of automated performance reviews that your managers will be able to review, tweak, and then deliver, with the right conditions, of course.

With AI-driven and other smart tools at your disposal, you can enable tech to collect data related to the performance of your employees. Details such as tasks completed, milestones accomplished, issues tackled, as well as the problems or unresolved issues still in the pipeline.

Artificial Intelligence in Recruiting

Automation isn’t only reserved for improved management of your current employees. It can also be extremely useful when finding new candidates for your company. One of the best ways to use automation in recruiting is by utilizing artificial intelligence to find perfect candidates.

In the past few years, we’ve witnessed many ways in which artificial intelligence revolutionized HR, but this impact is especially apparent in recruitment. AI-based algorithms are drastically changing the way recruiters search for new talent by offering them a unique and comprehensive insight into applicants from a variety of sources.

AI can help recruiters sift through resumes and applications in a fraction of the time, helping them work faster and become more productive without missing anything. What’s more, AI can also help remove human bias and help companies become more inclusive and diverse. Without the personal biases of recruiters, the recruiting process becomes much more objective, rational, and efficient.

Automation has been present in business management for a very long time. However, HR still has plenty of room to advance, as many companies are unsure to what extent they can or should automate this department to retain its essentially human component. These automation ideas will do just that: help you boost and improve human interactions, allowing you to devote more time to your employees while your business becomes more efficient. Let’s see what else 2021 has in store and how these trends can help you prosper!