Can AI make human resources more personal? Many HR leaders seem to think so.
This story originally appeared on WorkTango and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Can AI make human resources more personal? Many HR leaders seem to think so.
Like it or not, generative artificial intelligence will likely be part of your daily work life in the near future. While most companies have taken a wait-and-see approach to implementing AI technology—in 2017, just 6% of companies used AI, per the National Bureau of Economic Research—the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022 offered a number of practical ways to implement generative AI's new capabilities in everyday work life.
WorkTango analyzed research from Gartner to see how human resources departments plan to use AI. Gartner fielded the survey among 179 HR leaders on Jan. 31, 2024. HR leaders tend to hold C-suite roles, such as chief people officer or chief of talent, and are responsible for driving decisions that shape the relationship between management and employees.
While the human aspect of HR is irreplaceable, company leaders have found that AI can relieve employees of low-level tasks and free them up to handle more complex situations that may provide higher job satisfaction. Customer service chatbots and voice-assisted AI can handle simple calls, freeing up employees for more complex questions that are more interesting to tackle. AI can also quickly summarize data to allow employees to focus on higher-level analyses, assist with software coding, and delegate tasks.
Researchers have found that when workers use AI within its capabilities, it improves work performance by up to 40% compared to non-AI users. This has led more companies to jump on the AI bandwagon, with 1 in 3 companies implementing it today, according to McKinsey.
HR leaders feel the need to leverage AI tools sooner rather than later. Gartner found that while fewer than 2 in 5 HR leaders have researched or implemented AI tools, over 3 in 4 believe that their departments will need to use AI by 2026. Many HR functions could benefit from using AI, particularly mundane, repetitive tasks that would free up workers' time to do more advanced work. From recruiting and administrative tasks to learning and development, HR leaders are starting to understand how AI can help them manage and improve an organization's workforce—while maintaining privacy and confidentiality.
Interview questions
Recruiting and screening potential hires is a key aspect of HR, and there are opportunities for acceleration in this area. According to Gartner, 28% of HR leaders plan to implement generative AI Large Language Models to help them streamline the interview process. These LLMs can be particularly helpful when potential hires interview with multiple departments.
HR teams can prompt LLMs to write targeted interview questions specific to the job opening and required skills. AI can also support interviewers by transcribing and summarizing live interviews. This allows teams to focus on the interview rather than note-taking and removes the need for follow-ups due to incomplete notes. Hiring companies could benefit from a more efficient hiring process, and they can also shorten the waiting game for potential hires.
Research
Gartner found that 29% of HR leaders plan to look into AI tools to help their teams with the learning and development aspects of their roles. Generative AI tools can help HR employees research content to build better learning modules.
According to consulting firm BCG, HR staffers spend 10 to 20% of their time on people development, training design, and delivery. AI implementation could drive a 10 to 25% gain in efficiencies. This would enable HR professionals to develop and deliver higher-quality training and implement more responsive interfaces to promote internal training opportunities. Companies can also use the money saved to develop higher-quality video content.
Writing job descriptions
HR leaders told Gartner they were interested in leveraging AI to reduce time spent on mundane tasks, with 41% looking into AI tools to help write job descriptions and capture skills data. LLMs can help companies write updated, accurate job descriptions that lack bias and contain the right information to attract the best candidates.
Companies that use these tools do find they still have to customize AI-created job descriptions to match their corporate branding, but AI saves them from having to start from scratch. LLMs can also summarize job descriptions to highlight key information HR workers need to know.
Administrative tasks
Gartner reported that 42% of HR leaders were exploring the use of AI tools to support HR operations administrative tasks, including policy development and document generation. According to BCG, administrative tasks eat up the largest portion of HR employees' time, anywhere from 20 to 30%.
Generative AI tools can develop onboarding materials, automate tasks, streamline payroll administration, improve data management, and improve internal reporting. Other department managers can interact with these tools in a conversational way that's more intuitive than remembering how to use a myriad of tools and systems. BCG notes that AI tools have the potential to increase efficiencies for administrative tasks by 25 to 50%. Automating time-consuming tasks using AI can help human resources professionals focus on people-centric tasks, including employee experience and well-being—a priority for many HR professionals according to a 2022 SHRM report.
Additional research by Wade Zhou. Story editing by Alizah Salario. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Michael Flocker.
