It’s no secret technology has changed the HR industry. HR tech trends for 2017, in fact, include people data collection turning more to predictive analytics, and the line between marketing and HR blurring when it comes to prioritizing the employee experience—and that’s just for starters. One key shift changing everything about the business of HR is the rise of collaboration tech. Let’s examine the benefits of collaboration tech and why these solutions are replacing outdated HR practices in modern organizations.
The Rise of Collaboration Tech
Use of collaboration tools has skyrocketed in this age of mobility and connectedness. It seems like every business and entity—from the World Economic Forum to our own remote-based team—has turned to collaboration tech to boost efficiency, solve communication gaps, and bring team members closer via technology.
Why is collaboration, as Harvard Business Review (HBR) put it, “taking over the workplace?” Just ask Google’s Director of People Analytics, Abeer Dubey who conducted interviews on satisfaction and diversity in the workplace and honed in on the value of truly collaborative work environments. Named as one of the five leaders who are disrupting diversity by the Society for Human Rights Resource Management, Dubey concluded the following:
“The individuals who make up a team matter far less than the ways they interact with, and view, their collaborators and the overall project. People do their best work when they feel they have strong goals, can rely on each other and believe their work makes a difference.”
That’s one valuable perspective on the reason behind the rise of collaboration tech in the business world. Now, let’s look at the specific benefits of such collaboration tech to HR.
Benefits of Collaboration Tech in HR
- Increasing opportunity for mentoring and coaching.Many modern employees favor mentoring and coaching over traditional evaluation methods like performance reviews. Collaboration tech allows for easy communication among managers and employees without the bulkiness of email—a benefit any HR leader can get behind.
- Improving recruiting and onboarding.Employee recruiting and onboarding can be time-consuming and costly processes. Collaboration software has the potential to streamline communication between HR and new hires while making resources—such as training videos, forms, etc.—easy to find.
- Providing ongoing training.Many collaboration tech platforms allow for training videos and other types of collateral to be easily updated and highly accessible. Not only that, they also can come with “community” built in, leaving new employees feeling supported and empowered as they navigate the sometimes-overwhelming training process.
- Satisfying remote work preferences.Forbes reports the 37 percent of U.S. employees who work remotely at least occasionally are happier, feel more valued, are more productive, and get daily detailed contact with managers. Collaboration tech is a cornerstone of catering to those who log in remotely, and HR professionals can leverage that option to find the best talent to fit a position and a culture, not just the closest.
- Connecting employees with similar likes.Thanks to the social-esque threads included in many collaboration tech platforms, employees can forge connections on topics outside of work. Golfers, triathletes, gardeners, community enthusiasts, etc. can learn more about one another and find common ground without sacrificing productivity. This connection is especially important as the employee experience becomes increasingly prioritized in the workplace.
- Harnessing the power of social internally. CIO reports enterprise social collaboration platforms—or other types of tech-driven internal social initiatives—can build custom experiences for team members and, in turn, enhance the culture of a workplace. Furthermore, the messaging and video capabilities of many collaboration platforms facilitate a connection among workers not geographically near one another, such as field personnel or work-at-home team members.
- Helping employees get the most out of their work-life balance.Computer Weekly reports employees waste substantial time going to and from meetings, sorting through seas of emails, and even just trying to determine whom in their organizations would be best suited to field inquiries or comments. In short—the logistics of work prevents many people from, well, doing more of it. Collaboration tech moves to replace and enhance the functionality of email platforms, removing those logistical concerns and replacing them with highly-functional, user-friendly, uber-accessible tools that give employees better control over one priceless player in the fight for work-life balance: Their time.
What’s Next?
It’s clear the rise of collaboration tech is set to foster a shift in HR, affecting everything from the hiring process to employee experience and everything in between. Does your organization use collaboration tech for HR purposes? If so, what has been your experience? If not, are you expecting to invest in 2017? Tell me in the comments.
A version of this is first posted on fowmedia.com
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