Your company’s human resources department could get less human

Some of the
questions you ask your human resources department could soon be answered
by, well, non-humans.

Image source: http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2014/09/24/8479/ 

That’s the concept
behind Talla, a Boston-area start-up that has developed a chatbot to do some of
the more mundane tasks that HR departments carry out on a daily basis. That
includes explaining company policy, surveying employees, collecting information
or training new hires.

The Talla bot
operates inside enterprise group messaging software, such as Slack,
HipChat or Microsoft Teams, which has increasingly become an alternative to
email as a method of digital communication within companies. Employees send
messages to the chatbot just as they would a human, and it uses language
processing software to understand the message and respond accordingly. Some
1,200 companies have installed Talla, about a quarter of whom use the service
regularly, said Talla chief executive Rob May.

Robots promise to
be a disruptive force in the global economy. Some technologists and economists expect they will
inevitably replace low-wage workers, such as drivers and factory labor. As artificial
intelligence continues to become more sophisticated, robots may eventually
displace humans in less manual roles. Already, bots are being employed in
fields as varied as law, journalism, medicine and engineering.

Does that
mean human resources will comprise only bots? Maybe, but not for several
decades, predicts May, who founded the company last year. In fact, he says the
introduction of chatbots to HR allows the human staff to focus on tasks that
require a greater degree of intellect and touch.

“What’s actually
going to happen is you’re going to allow the human resources department to be
more human by automating away a lot of their grunt work,” he said.

“HR spends a lot of time doing these
low-level, monotonous tasks and not really being as strategic and engaged as
they would like to be,” May continued. “What you’ll find is that more of
the work that does not involve collaborating with or interacting with other
humans is the kind of work that will be automated away.”

We are in a world
of constant change. It comes as no surprise that human resource professionals
may see a change in their department. Even though robots seem like a huge
threat to many, this could be an opportunity for your HR department to focus on
tasks that require more human touch, focus, and interactions. Scared your
company can’t keep up with the changes? Converge HR Solutions is an expert team
of professionals and we’d love to help. Visit
our website for more information visit https://convergehrsolutions.com/. Contact us directly at info@convergehrsolutions.com or 610-296-8550.

Article source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2016/12/07/your-companys-human-resources-department-could-get-less-human/?utm_term=.b33d1691c543

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Our Monthly Newsletter

Name(Required)
Email(Required)
Newsletter(Required)
white converge hr logo

Reducing time spent on HR operations

Allowing you to focus on growing your business

info@Convergehrsolutions.com

610-296-8550

1055 Westlakes DR, Suite 300, Berwyn, PA 19312

Skip to content