Don’t Fear the Future

HR Technology in the Era of Drones, Robots, and Infinite Data

Steve Boese August 2014

Presenter Info •  Steve Boese •  Co-Chair HR Technology Conference •  HR Exec Magazine Technology Editor •  Co-Host of HR Happy Hour Show and Podcast •  Co-organizer HRevolution •  Blogger at Steve’s HR Tech •  Your New Best Friend

There are two ways to think about the future.

One  way  is  to  plan  for  a  future  that  will  be    only  incrementally  different  and  almost    indistinguishable  from  the  present.  

 The  better,  (and  more  interesting)  way  is  to  

envision  a  future  that  will  be  almost  unrecognizable  from  today.  

 “The  future  will  be  new  enough  that  we  will    be  uncomfortable,  we  will  be  unprepared.”  

Prologue

So what does this rapid acceleration in technology innovation mean for the HR/Talent professional?

It  means  new  ways  of  working,  new  sources  of  talent,  and  

increasingly,  new  technologies  that  will  make  us,    at  times,  uncomfortable  

 Today,  we’ll  discuss  how  some  of  these  future  technology  

trends  and  how  they  might  help  shape  work  and  workplaces.    

And  by  the  end  of  the  talk  you  will  think  I  am  crazy,    or  that  I  just  might  be  the  sanest  person  you  know  

1.  Wearable  technology  2.  The  Internet  of  Things  3.  In  Data  We  Trust  4.  Making  peace  with  the  robots  5.  Wrap-­‐up,  Q&A  

Agenda

1

<not just for the geeks and nerds anymore>

Wearable technology

What is Wearable tech?

58% of employees would be willing to use wearable tech if it enabled them to do their jobs better.

Wearable at Work?

Kinds of things made possible

‘Wear’ is your opportunity in HR? •  Health  and  Wellness  –  Augmenta,on  and  expansion  of  organiza,onal  

wellness  ini,a,ves.  Manage  challenges,  track  success  against  goals.  Prove  your  ‘Biggest  Loser’  jam  is  working.  

•  Workforce  planning  and  alignment  –  Ability  to  track  responsiveness,  fa,gue  levels,  outside  s,mulus  and  then  provide  insight  to  make  staffing  plans  and  adjustments  

•  Produc7on  –  Beam  real  ,me  video  from  customer  sites  to  HQ  and  team  members  for  review  and  assistance.  Crowdsource  solu,ons.  

•  Customer  service  –  Facial  recogni,on  tech  and  insight  to  provide  personalized  service,  tailored  responses,  and  customer  history.  Movement  trackers  like  iBeacon  to  alert  staff  on  customer  movement,  tendencies  

•  Talent  Management  –‘Glass’  applica,ons  for  interviewing,  delivering  learning  content,  and  in  onboarding  apps.  Huge  poten,al  here.  

2

<do I really need my toaster talking to my refrigerator?>

The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things

•  Connect GPS, vehicle sensors, delivery statuses to transmit route, driving, and performance data to HQ

•  Identify potential and emerging issues with fatigue, stress, or undetermined performance problems

•  Incorporate talent management and coaching and mentoring elements

•  Compare data pre and post interventions to assess effectiveness

Example: The IoT at work

3

In Data we Trust

<Or would you rather just play the odds?>

The Data Explosion

Where your data resides

Traditional sources of HR/Talent Data: HRIS, ATS, Talent Systems, EE files, resume DBs, Excel files, piles of paper on someone’s desk…

Where new data actually resides today:

Social networks, smartphones, cloud storage services, personally activated cloud productivity services, with third parties…

A Word About The Types of Analytics

Turn Data into Opportunity •  Hiring: Data science applied to

finding which candidates are best fits and most likely to succeed

•  Performance: Use data on historic trends, employee profiles, managerial impact to predict performance

•  Compensation: Data to determine which compensation levers have the most business/talent impact

•  Retention: Flight risk identification and suggested remedial actions

•  Productivity: Quantify and track success of new employees

4

<believe me, you should>

Making peace with the robots

•  Industrial: Smarter, more flexible, and cheaper robots like Baxter

•  Healthcare: Companions for elderly and sick, assistants for human healthcare workers

•  Service: Automated servers, bartenders, cashiers, cooks, gas station attendants…

•  Agricultural: Tractors, pickers, herding, fertilizing

•  Knowledge work: Financial advice, research, accounts, customer service, telemarketing

The Robot in the next cube

The Robot Opportunity •  First: Understand how/where/why

automation makes business sense for your organization

•  Next: Assess the ability and applicability of increased automation for your company scenarios

•  Then: Step back to evaluate workplace readiness and acceptance of robot or other automation technology

•  Remember: Some theories suggest the most productive outcome is humans and robots working together

Four Closing Thoughts…

Wearables – You simply can’t underestimate the impact that wearables can have, especially for front line and field workers. Think about augmenting worker capability and improving customer service. IoE – As machines connect to the internet, communicate with each other, and change how humans interact with them, ability to improve people performance will be significantly enhanced. Think about how machine data can mashup with people data to make better business decisions Data – Every job in HR is going to become at least some kind of a data analysis job. Since you will have more data than ever, think about what critical business questions need to be answered. Think what could you do if you had the answer to… Robots– While they seem kind of distant, allow yourself to think about a workplace with much more robot/human interaction. Where could automation make your company better, faster, and where is the technology heading?

That will enthuse or confuse

One last thing… The challenge is how do you get your HR organization and your leaders to think about

technology and people with a slightly longer view.

?

Missing me one place, search another...  steveboese@gmail.com steveboese.squarespace.com HRTechConference.com hrhappyhour.net Twitter: @SteveBoese LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveboese