Role of HR in managing disruption due to automation is huge: AIMA Director General Rekha Sethi

With automation set to disrupt the way organisations conduct their operations, a big worry emerging for a labour intensive country like India is how the interests of employees can be safeguarded amid rising fears of job losses.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, AIMA Director General Rekha Sethi, shares her views on HR's role during this transitory period and how organisations can ensure a smooth changeover.

HR is adapting to the increasing digitisation and automation of business. The conventional recruiting, training, engagement and leadership development techniques and tools are being replaced by digital apps and platforms. HR is using data analytics, social media, collaborative platforms, chat bots, augmented reality etc to find, evaluate, develop and assign talent.

The frequency of generation change at workplace has increased as technologies and business models are undergoing revolutionary change. HR has to ensure that the older workforce does not get outmoded and new-generation talent continues to flow in regularly. Organisations need cohesion and collaboration among workers of different technological generations and HR has to prioritise intensive training and communication to bridge the skill, knowhow and mindset divides across all generations. Different generations need to be mixed in teams  so that the younger employees refresh the awareness, thinking and attitudes of the older employees and the older employees educate the younger colleagues in organisation strategies, values and culture.

The growth of digital talent markets and collaboration platforms is allowing HR to look beyond the routine recruitment, training and engagement of employees. As workers seek control of their time and work and companies seek flexibility of talent and payroll, HR has to ensure a good employee-contractor mix. However, managing contractors requires HR to upgrade their technological and legal skills and build professional networks within and outside their industry. To engage, motivate and control gig workers, HR needs to prioritise outcomes over availability and focus on incentive-biased fee instead of duration-linked payments.

HR can infuse agility into organisations by providing a flexible and learning workforce. HR has to refresh the organization's talent pool continuously by routinely brining in the latest expertise and reorganising teams to fit the frequently changing customer needs and competition.

Instead of getting rid of employees to make room for autonomous machines, HR needs to reorganise work and roles to avoid business disruption. Autonomous machines need people to train to work with changing business variables and to take decisions and responsibility.  With machines doing the production, employees can engage more intensively with the customers and suppliers and contribute more to innovation.

Innovative ideas and revolutionary knowhow matter more to leadership in the digital economy than industry experience and beneficial relationships. HR has to train young experts for leadership roles by including them in strategic decision making while also training the existing leaders to appreciate new business dynamics and technologies. HR can create reverse mentorship programmes where young, digital native employees teach their bosses how to digitise business and how to build a digital business.

AIMA provides HR thought leadership through HR-specific summits and retreats where top experts share their knowhow with HR leaders and counsel them. Special sessions are held on HR issues in AIMA’s broader management conferences. AIMA will next hold an HR Conclave in February 2020 in Delhi where HR professionals will be exposed to the emerging trends in HR’s digital transformation.

Automation is a key challenge to employment in India, as both manual and the mental tasks are getting automated. However, the solution to the jobs problem is also in technology. The automation-biased economy demands different competencies and HR can use digital apps and platforms to train employees to direct and maintain autonomous machines. Technology can also help overcome the inefficiencies of the job market by matching tasks with workers and enabling easier and faster hiring.