Nowadays, it is unimaginable to spend a day at work without using a piece of software or hardware. The Internet and smartphones have already changed the business landscape. People in the HR sector are perhaps those that are affected by it the most, as they do not only have to efficiently use technological innovations but to also know a lot about them in order to stay on top of their HR game.

If anything, it is very challenging to stay tuned to the latest developments in this field, especially if you have a lot to do and you don't have time to read about new business software and tech solutions. This is why I’ve decided to cut through the noise and provide you a list of 4 technology trends your have to know about.

Automation Software
 
We all know how labor-intensive manual processes can be. They do not only affect the productivity of the workforce, but they also make employees more prone to making errors. The new trends is on the rise, and it is the one that will completely remove boring and repetitive tasks from the plates of employees in numerous industries.

Automation software is designed to use AI powered robots to automate various business processes. Instead of humans, software bots are now taking charge of repetitive and boring tasks, thus enabling employees to stay focused on more important tasks at hand.

Automation software has advanced so far that it is now capable of analyzing all of the company’s processes and identify the ones that should be automated. For HR managers, this leads to streamlined workforce management. Among other things, this software uses Optical Character Recognition to convert all your paperwork into a digital documents.

AI Powered Chatbots
You know how energy and time consuming it is to answer to all those candidates’ questions. This can easily become a problem for HR when the company is expanding and when they have to hire an entire batch of new employees. Don’t worry, this challenge can be easily fixed by the newest solution - AI powered chatbots.

Basically, chatbots are a piece of software that can be integrated to some of the most popular communication channels, such as Facebook Messenger and Viber. These chatbots are able to provide information, ask questions and make appointments. Chances are that some of your colleagues are already using them.

Chatbots in the HR sector are commonly used to collect candidate experience feedback by asking qualifying questions, answer FAW and schedule interviews with an HR officer. In-house, they can be used to enable employees to schedule vacation days and time off.

Blockchain
 
After delivering cryptocurrencies, Blockchain technology started to spread across the industrial landscape. It is already present in the hospitality and healthcare industry. Chances are that it will soon arrive to HR as well.

What is it that Blockchain tech has to offer that makes it so popular? The answer is data security. Companies can use it to store personal information about employees and job candidates in a secure manner. Only the personel with the right permissions can view the data. On top of that, thanks to Blockchain, in order to edit the data, everyone on the “chain” has to agree before the changes are made.

This closes doors to all sorts of manipulations and will definitely make HR practices as transparent as never before. We can also expect to see a first decentralized talent market, where Blockchain powered platforms will match companies with employees best suited for the job.

Performance Software
Performance management is very important function of the HR department in any organization. If you have ever been part of a performance management team, then you know how time consuming it is. All those meetings, paperwork and performance reviews become an even harder burden for HRs in large companies.

Thanks to Cloud technology and the rapid development of business software, HR can now enjoy the benefits of performance software. It streamlines these HR efforts by enabling them to identify the areas for improvements, process copious amounts of data in a matter of seconds and deliver actionable reports to shareholders.

If you are in the HR line of work, knowing about these 4 technological trends used in HR practices can help you become better at what you do. As you can see, some of these trends, such as Blockchain are only emerging, leaving us to wait and stay tuned to their latest implications in HR practices.