The ability to evolve has been the defining quality that has shaped human existence. This evolution has brought forth many advancements key among them being technology. The main goal of technology is to aid humans. But the effects technological innovations such as AI have had are both negative and positive. Technology advancement in human resource management has received a mixed reaction.
While many believe that technology will revolutionize the field of human resources and make it better. Some fear that the unintended consequences of technology will be more detrimental. This view is not pessimistic in any way. It becomes justified by early indications that show that technology strips away the humanity that is so desired in every human resource department. This article will explore the perils of moving away from traditional human interaction. It will also explore the push towards technologies such as artificial intelligence and other innovations.
The advances of technology effect on HR will include:
More Unemployment
Technology advancement in the human resources field is set to lay off even more workers. This is due to the process of automation. As more machines replace human labor, more and more workers will have no work. This is a dangerous situation as many trained workers cannot easily switch their careers. Additionally, greater productivity and efficiency will be the driving force of every company.
This will put many human resource departments in a precarious position. This is because they will have to find a way of defending the workers’ jobs as well as improve the company’s productivity. But technology advancement is disruptive. The estimated job loss due to automation may reach approximately 90%. With no workers at companies, it will be impossible to initiate or facilitate any real human interactions.
Historically, technological advancements have done little or nothing to add employment. As the world population continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, what the future needs are more jobs for humans. The core of every human resource department is the worker. The rise of unemployment due to technological advancement may eliminate the need for a human resource department.
Loss of Human Contact
Many companies are rushing to adopt chatbots and other technologies. This will minimize the level of human interaction in the human resource department. Such technologies are efficient because they can model human relationships. These bots will eliminate the use of direct human contact in human resource management. Machines can only mimic or pretend to understand what humans are going through.
Using chatbots in human resource management may lead to a dissatisfied customer base. People want to feel connected to other humans. This is a basic social need and eliminating this in the human resource field could prove very detrimental.
Inability to Keep Up with Technological Trends
The numerous technological innovations that are currently in place don’t mean that humans are advancing at the same rate. The pursuit of progress becomes unjustified when one cannot keep up with the pace of what is changing and the effects of that change. Many companies still don’t fully understand some of the technological advancements.
This makes it very hard to implement successfully as workers need time to undergo training and adapt to the change. But as soon as one training course is over, another begins. This is because technological innovation changes how human resource management works. This creates a cycle where workers are always trying to play catch-up with the trends. This results in a lot of wasted time.
Companies should focus on team-building exercises. This will build the relationship workers have with each other and their clients. This is more beneficial than trying to keep up with trends that are always changing.
Less Human Activity
The technology advancements in human resource management are applicable using technological devices. Using devices such as laptops makes people immobile as they have to sit for long hours. This essentially reduces physical human interactions.
Less human activity is also harmful to your health because it can lead to obesity and increase the risk of developing high blood pressure. Reducing human contact in the workplace may lead to low morale among workers and lower productivity.
Over-dependency on Technology
Over-reliance on technology may become the undoing of many companies. Although technology is efficient, it can still be vulnerable to cyber-attacks and viruses. These could lead to loss of vital company information. The human resource department may end up losing vital worker information such as their details. Over-reliance on technology may also make workers less productive in their duties.
Human interaction between workers could also come under serious threat from technological advancement. This is because more companies will focus on creating a virtual rather than a physical workplace. This may save the company operating expenses of paying for an office. Such over-dependence on technology may result in huge losses. It may also make companies more preoccupied with what technology the company needs, instead of the needs of workers.
Ethical Dilemmas
Artificial intelligence technology does not have any sense of right or wrong. This quality is very important in the field of human resource management. Technological advancement may lead to more ethical dilemmas for companies. This is because you will have to choose whether to do the right or the easy thing. Technology cannot reason out such dilemmas as humans. It may decide to lay off more workers as a way of improving efficiency.
The unintended consequences of using artificial intelligence are also beyond your control. This is a very big peril of adopting such technology in human resource management.
Poor Social Well-Being
The use of technology to stay in touch may lead to poor social interactions. This may negatively affect the relationship workers have with each other, their friends, and their families. Such relationships are crucial to a person’s well-being. Technology advancement threatens to plunge humans into a society devoid of any real human relationship. This may lead to an increase in cases of depression and suicide.
Moving into the Future
There is no doubt that technological advancement will continue to shape many aspects of human life as time goes by. But the perils of technological innovations such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality will be mostly felt by human interactions. This threatens to tear the very fabric of human resource management. This will be the case if companies fail to integrate the needs of workers in the new systems. Balancing the need to make your company more productive and your workers happy is the new dilemma that will face every business as they move into the future.
