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 been both negative and positive. Technological advancements in human resource management is inevitable to have its pros and cons.
While many believe that technology will revolutionize human resources and make it better, some fear it will be detrimental. This view is not pessimistic in any way. It becomes justified by early indications that show that technology strips away the humanity 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.
Here are eight ways that advances in technology can affect your HR:
More Unemployment
Technology advancement in the human resources field will lay off even more workers due to automation. As more machines replace human labor, more and more workers will have no work. Additionally, higher productivity and efficiency will be the driving force of every company.
Technology advancements will put many human resource departments in a precarious position. Improving profitability and productivity becomes a priority; workers can lose their value within the company. 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, 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. Distancing human interaction, with the hope to scale for more profits, will decrease social interaction, especially in the human resource department. Such techniques 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. Feeling connected is an essential 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 do not mean that humans are advancing at the same rate. The pursuit of progress becomes unjustified when one cannot keep up with the pace of change and the effects of that change. Many companies still don’t fully understand some technological advancements.
Technological advancements make it very hard to implement as workers need time to undergo training and adapt to the change. But as soon as one training course is over, another begins. Technological innovation and human resource management require continual updates. This pace creates a cycle where workers are always trying to play catch-up with the trends.
Companies should focus on team-building exercises. These exercises will build the relationship workers have with each other and their clients. It’s beneficial to try to keep up with trends that are always changing.
Less Human Activity
The technological 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.t This substantially 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 Technological Advancements
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 essential 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 advancements. More companies will focus on creating a virtual workplace rather than a physical one. Although the operating expenses of a company can drop significantly in the short term, the unintended consequences outweigh the benefits for most small companies in the long run. 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 (AI) technology does not have any sense of right or wrong. The use of a moral compass is essential in the field of human resource management. Technological advancement may lead to more ethical dilemmas for companies because of the decision one must make; they 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.
Poor Social Well-Being
The use of technology to stay in touch may lead to degraded mental health. This new way to HR 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 connection. The lack of relationships 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 shifts such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and remote working will affect human relationships. This shift threatens to tear the very fabric of human resource management. This distancing of social connections will make it challenging uniting workers’ needs into the HR system as we know it today. Balancing the need to make your company more productive and your workers happy is the modern dilemma that will face every business as they move into the future.
