Q&A with HR tech influencer Jason Lauritsen

 

Jason Lauritsen
Keynote speaker, author and consultant

 


What area of the HR function will be most impacted by emerging technologies, and why?

I think recruiting and specifically interviewing/selection is likely to feel the biggest effects in the long run. Our model of selection today is still largely predicated on the human ability to evaluate other humans which we know for certain is extraordinarily unreliable. As better science-based tools and practices emerge for evaluation and matching of human capabilities to job needs, I expect a majority of traditional recruiting jobs to become obsolete and replaced by technology.

In acquiring and implementing new technologies, what’s the one or two most common mistakes HR organizations make?

The biggest mistake is treating technology as the solution rather than a tool. Tools exist to facilitate processes, not the other way around. Too many organizations skip over the hard work of first defining the processes needed to solve their specific problems. This leads to falling in love with certain features or functionality of technology that shows well in the sales phase but may not actually solve a specific problem within their organization. It also leaves them trying to retro fit their processes to the technology, which is a recipe for headaches and heart break.

How is HR technology changing the way people work?

On one hand, I’m hopeful that the latest evolution of HR tech tools is building new positive habits around appreciation, seeking and using feedback, learning on the fly, and finding greater agency in managing their own career paths. There are so many great tools out there. Which leads to the other hand, where I worry that all of these tools are actually creating more distractions and unintentionally making us both less productive and creative. Until the functionality we refer to today as “HR Tech” live and work within the tools we rely on to do our daily work, we’ve still got a lot of work left to do. A lot more innovation is still needed.

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