Human Resources Management in the Modern Ecosystem

Fabio Cardilli, Talentia Software’s European Product Leader.

The use of technology and new workstyles have brought a revolutionary transformation to society, there is no doubt about it. In recent years the web has acquired the main role in the processes of digital transformation and imposes new rules to adapt to our every need. The cloud era proposes today an idea of consumption totally on-demand and distributed. Accessing the contents of TV series, archiving documents independently from a specific device, communicating with public or private institutions through a certified mailbox, are just some examples of the services that the cloud offers to minimize infrastructure costs. Naturally, this consumption model is favored by the innovation of the networks and the reduction of the costs to access them and, being a real cultural transformation, it cannot fail to involve also the professional world.

So, what has this model changed about the management of human resources? How is this new vision influencing information systems? And, what are the benefits for the strategic processes of enhancing human capital in the company?

IoT and virtual assistants

For a couple of years now, the term IoT, Internet of Things, has been used to refer more to a technological vision of the contemporary world than to technology. According to this vision, the automation of tasks can be assumed by a network of so-called intelligent devices connected to the same network. There are many fields of application, from industrial to commercial and home automation. Thanks to the IoT, for example, it is possible to program when you want to turn a light on in the apartment. The IoT suggests an idea of a world in which several devices are actually intelligent objects that exchange information with each other. This idea is not completely futuristic either, as we already have the virtual assistants Google Home or Alexa.

The ecosystem in the company: products or solutions? 

A virtual assistant can respond to a need with one or more microservices available in the cloud.

Bringing innovation to business processes means adding value by integrating solutions to meet needs. So, instead of individual products, companies provide solutions. Think of the strategic processes of human capital management: recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, training, development and pay equity. These are just some of the steps in the employee life cycle. An HR management system capable of being integrated into a specialized services ecosystem with high technological content has more possibilities to make a difference and bring benefits.

Why is it important that an HR manager can delegate, as a virtual assistant, some activities to external systems or microservices? In some cases, it is a matter of adapting to the current laws. For example, if a company wants to integrate the digital signature of a contract, it can use one of the many certified services available in the cloud.

Another reason to use external services is both functional and economical. Many of the services that can be consumed today, for example, personality tests or recorded video interviews, allow you to enrich the depth of your strategic processes, from selection to performance evaluation, without having to make large financial investments.

Finally, the use of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, today represents a new impulse for the business linked to microservices. Amazon, IBM, and Google are some examples of providers of cognitive microservices. We expect great innovations for the coming years that can be integrated and used in business solutions, such as those of Talentia Software, to better meet the emerging needs of the business market.