The future of HR: 7 ways to use AI and machine learning in your human resources department

AI and machine learning have almost endless applications, but these are some of the top ways they’re influencing the future of human resource management.

1. Increasing efficiency with AI

To increase efficiency, many companies now use AI to handle low-level tasks that require little to no human input. For example, using AI may help you reduce the amount of time it takes to find the right hire for a critical job opening, as it’s capable of screening hundreds of résumés in a matter of minutes. This makes it much easier to determine if each applicant has the required education, skills, certifications or years of work experience to succeed in the role.

Read more: Welcome to the Future: How Artificial Intelligence Is Improving Recruitment

AI is also helpful for payroll processing, as it’s capable of calculating the correct amount of tax to withhold and determining how much to deduct for things like health insurance premiums, commuting benefits and (401)k contributions. When you have AI handle these activities, you can focus on managing employees and making complex business decisions.

2. Preventing errors with machine learning

Human resource management has come a long way in the last few decades. Instead of writing things down on paper, you can now create employee records and manage them with comprehensive human resource information systems (HRIS).

Although digital records are much easier to manage, there’s always a risk that someone will make an error when entering Social Security numbers, contact information and other data. At best, these errors can lead to incomplete records; at worst, they can create compliance issues for your company.

Machine learning algorithms can flag typos, incomplete records and other data-entry errors, ensuring your records are as accurate as possible. Additionally, a computer can review thousands of records in much less time than it would take you to search for mistakes in just a few files.

Related: 16 HRIS Tools for 2023

3. Using chatbots to improve HR service

As an HR professional, you’re responsible for dozens of activities, but few are as important as providing excellent service to applicants and employees. The quality of a company’s HR department can make a big difference in attracting and retaining talent, but you may not have time to craft a custom response to every query you receive.

To improve HR service without increasing costs, many companies are now using chatbots to handle routine matters. For example, if an employee needs to know where to find open enrollment paperwork, a chatbot can provide a link to the download page. This allows employees to get immediate responses to their questions without taking members of your HR team away from critical tasks.

HR chatbots also make it easier to engage with applicants, as they’re capable of answering simple questions or providing more information about common topics. A chatbot may even be able to pull data from your HRIS, ensuring that each person receives information tailored to their current stage in the selection process.

4. Personalizing candidate and employee experiences

Sending personalized messages shows employees that you care about them. It can also help you build brand loyalty in the marketplace. Unfortunately, the average HR professional is way too busy to write hundreds of personalized messages each week. Until now, the solution has been to send templatized emails.

Fortunately, the future of HR is about more personalization, not less. AI and machine learning make it possible to send personalized messages without having to review your records and come up with something new to say. You can even set up automated sequences, ensuring that each employee or candidate receives the right message at exactly the right time.

5. Improving your learning and development program

With the right learning and development program, it’s possible to increase employee satisfaction, address skill gaps and develop an appropriate succession plan for your company. L&D professionals have many responsibilities, from conducting needs assessments to developing comprehensive training programs. Fortunately, AI and machine learning can make it much easier to handle these responsibilities.

Here are just a few ways these tools can help you improve your L&D program:

• Idea generation:If you’re not sure what type of training to provide, AI can help you come up with ideas based on each participant’s role.
• Training transcripts:Your employees may benefit from having transcripts of each training session for reference, but creating transcripts from scratch isn’t always feasible. If you record a session, you can use AI to transcribe the content.
• Summaries:Employees don’t always have time to read books and training manuals. If you don’t want them to miss out on important information, you can use AI tools to “read” these documents and provide bite-sized summaries.
• Assessments:Once you deliver a training program, you need a way to determine what attendees learned. Pre-tests, post-tests, quizzes and other assessment tools are helpful, but it also takes a lot of time to create them. That’s not the case if you’re using AI to shape the future of HR at your company. With AI tools, you can easily create assessment questions and answer keys.
• Training activities:Lectures have their place, but employees may benefit more from role playing or job shadowing . If you’re drawing a blank on what to do during your next training session, you could use AI to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas.

6. Enhancing real-time compliance

As an HR professional, you must comply with a variety of employment regulations. You may also have to submit monthly, quarterly or annual reports to prove you’re in compliance. Missing a reporting deadline has serious consequences, so you need some way to stay on top of everything.

AI tools can make it easier to track deadlines, produce compliance reports and stay abreast of changes in the law, making them essential for HR departments across the country. Because AI reduces the need for manual data entry, it may also help you avoid errors in your reports.

Related: What You Should Know About Compliance Programs

7. Making better management decisions

It’s clear that AI and machine learning can help you with a wide range of administrative tasks, but don’t forget that they also make it easier to manage employees. Management involves planning the work of a department or business unit, organizing resources, controlling those resources and leading team members as they complete assigned tasks.

AI and machine learning can help you with all of these things. For example, AI tools can make it much easier to create schedules based on your business needs, a critical aspect of managing resources effectively. These tools also have predictive capabilities, which may help you determine which employees are best-suited for specific tasks. Artificial intelligence may even help with resource allocation during an important project, saving your company time and money.