There’s no avoiding the fact that we are in uncertain economic times. Only after just recovering from the volatility of the pandemic, businesses across the country suddenly faced:
- Soaring inflation
- Rising interest rates
- A tight labour market
- Supply chain constraints
- The fallout of global conflicts
And the list goes on.During these difficult macroeconomic times, HR departments, like all other business departments, find themselves faced with an immense challenge: to enhance productivity on a reduced budget.
As we all work through this reality, many HR departments are forced to grapple with tough decisions such as staff cuts and layoffs.
As unfortunate as they may be, even if layoffs present themselves as the necessary path forward, it’s important to know that this is never a sufficient stand-alone solution.
In fact, in the case of mass layoffs, many businesses begin to see high levels of attrition as other employees also leave out of fear of instability.As such, a
HR department’s goal during today’s business environment is as vital as it is simple — it needs to find other ways, instead of (or as well as) layoffs, to improve resource efficiency.
In other words…
HR departments need to learn to do more with less.
How? The answer lies in technology.
Technology has a unique ability to optimise resources, streamline processes, and enhance efficiency, enabling us to achieve more with less time, energy, and resources.In that way, it’s the vessel that can transform the idea of "more with less" from an aspiration into a reality.
So, let’s explore:
- applicable tech solutions empowering HR departments to navigate adverse times and
- provide a shortlist of the technologies HR departments can adopt to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
1 - Upskilling, Training and Development
Investing in increased training and development is a pivotal strategy for HR departments looking to achieve more with less. A great way to think of it is making the most of the talent you’ve already got.
By upskilling their existing talent, organisations can unlock previously untapped potential and therefore boost the productivity of their workforce.
This proactive approach recognises and acts upon the power of knowledge and skills to help the organisation meet its goals more efficiently, that is, with less time and resources. Technology can significantly assist this process, in particular via the platform HowToo.
HowToo is the only online training platform that fuses learning science and AI storytelling to turn your know-how into expert training. And it's designed with accessibility and inclusion at the core.
Built by learning scientists, accessibility and AI experts, this next generation learning platform keeps it simple - making it easy for anyone to create, share and track beautiful digital learning experiences. It includes the essential LMS features without any setup costs, unnecessary fuss or clunkiness.
Its unique AI Create feature transforms raw content into engaging and connected learning driven by storytelling and narrative.
Digital learning content creation is now 10x faster, improving efficiencies and lowering cost, while delivering effective, accessible and engaging learning.
HowToo not only lets you upskill more employees in less time than you otherwise could, but as a result of this improved productivity, it also empowers the entirebusiness as a whole to do more, with less.
2 - Automation through AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools like Chat GPT are on the rise.But beneath all the hype and speculation around the role of these tools in business and society more broadly is an opportunity for HR departments to use them, and amplify their efficiency in the process.It’s no secret that the HR function of a business involves some tedious functions.
So, by streamlining the more repetitive, routine and mechanical elements of the HR function, such as basic communications or data entry,
AI tools free up valuable time for strategic initiatives and creative work. They also help HR departments optimise workflows, enhance decision-making, and create a more adaptable workforce.
Meet Lex - a bot trained on Australian employment that lets you chat to ask questions, write policies, documents and more. As well as supporting HR professionals, it lets the average person level-up their HR expertise, freeing up HR teams from lower-level support. In the future, Lex will be trained on your own company's policies and loaded up with your own templates - imagine never having to deal with first line queries again!
In other words, AI helps HR departments do more, with less.
3 - Internal talent mobility
Fostering greater internal mobility is perhaps the most impactful way that an HR department can improve its efficiency, as well as that of the broader organisation.By promoting internal mobility, companies strategically utilise and develop their existing talent to save on costly external hiring, onboarding, training and development expenses, to foster a dynamic and more cost-effective workforce.So, can HR departments successfully embrace internal mobility?
Well, with GoFIGR, it’s easy.
As an Internal Talent Marketplace platform, GoFIGR is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform designed to collect and intuitively analyse employee skill data so you can supercharge your internal mobility.
With valuable insights collected from your team, GoFIGR allows you to:
- identify your employees’ current skills
- align them with your business needs
- realise your team’s full potential
- reduce the cost of recruitment by upskilling from within
By helping HR teams get the most out of their current staff and minimising the need to look elsewhere GoFIGR enables them to “do more, with less”.
4 - Ditching meetings
Meetings are an essential part of business, however, meeting overload – where you have wall-to-wall bookings with very little time for anything else – is quite common today.Meeting overload can reduce the productivity of your current workforce as they have little time to work on their daily tasks or action items on their to-do list. Meeting overload can also mean that staff keep attending unnecessarily long or unproductive meetings.In tighter times, you don’t have the capacity to spare for that. Enter technology.
Platforms like Fellow can help reduce meeting inefficiencies through transcriptions and enable thoughtful meeting management so that, again, you can do much more with less (meetings).
5 - Use tech to adopt HR best practices and retain talent
During difficult financial and economic times, HR departments must prioritise talent retention.
This is confirmed by Josh Bersin’s conservative Cost of Churn Model, where he found that employee turnover in mid-sized companies costs approximately US $50,000 per regrettable leaver.
That is a sizeable cost which must be avoided at the best of times, let alone during difficult macroeconomic conditions. HR teams need to adopt best practices and create a culture that fosters employee loyalty.
Such practices include but are not limited to:
- Prioritising clear communication (e.g through messaging and online communication platforms),
- Investing in professional development opportunities (e.g through online training modules),
- Recognising and rewarding outstanding performance (e.g through an internal CRM or award system),
- Establishing a flexible work environment to accommodate diverse needs (e.g through remote work capabilities), and
- Encouraging a healthy work-life balance to enhance employee well-being (e.g through online seminars on the topic).
These simple (yet powerful) efforts, all of which can be enhanced by tech, can significantly encourage talent retainment and maximise the value of existing an organisation’s labour resources.
In other words, adopting best practices, along with each of the previously recommended technologies, helps HR departments do more with less.
Are you an HR professional looking to do more with less and improve your HR department’s efficiency?
It’s time you got more out of your existing staff by allowing them to grow their career AND drive your business into its tomorrow.
Don’t let your internal talent go to waste.It’s the ultimate way to build internal mobility, foster a progressive workplace culture and attract top talent to minimise your reliance on the hiring cycle.
Contact GoFIGR today to discover how we can help you foster a future-focused workforce using our internal talent marketplace platform technology.
