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Writing at Reworked, Lance Huan writes that employee experience dropped noticeably lower on the attention scale at this year’s HR Tech conference. Instead, everyone’s attention was focused on AI, automation and data-driven technology. He wonders: “Are we just chasing the latest trend or does this mark a fundamental shift away from what makes HR work in the first place — people?”
On the surface, the HR technology industry seems able to focus on only one topic at a time. Years ago, the spotlight was on data, then analytics and then experience. Indeed, experience was such a priority that SAP began pushing the idea of “human experience management” overtaking human capital management in importance, arguing that experience was foundational to successful HR strategies.
Today’s emphasis on AI emphasizes that advanced technology is critical to the future, beginning with the more strategic deployment of the workforce. AI allows workers to hand off rote tasks to computers, the argument goes, which in turn allows them to focus their time on “strategic” work. Why should talent acquisition professionals spend their time on basic screening when AI can present them with a qualified list?
This argument isn’t limited to HR tech. It’s the ubiquitous message of pretty much everyone involved in AI. From what we can tell, no one is talking about what results AI might generate beyond time-savings and increased productivity. The idea that AI will lead to job losses is batted away with the contention that jobs will evolve rather than disappear. In reality, that discounts the notion that employers won’t think very much about the cost savings to be earned if the size of their workforce is reduced.
In the Harvard Business Review, Jay B. Barney and Martin Reeves argue that game-changing technologies of the past – personal computers, steam engines, the electric motor – “went on to become direct sources of sustained competitive advantage for the companies that deployed them” because pretty much every enterprise adopted their use. In other words, in the long run AI won’t change an industry’s fundamentals.
The argument that AI is no substitute for employee experience makes perfect sense because comparing the two is like running apples against oranges – they’re different things addressing different concerns. AI is about more effective technology while experience is about a more effective workforce. HR executives and solutions providers run a real risk of ignoring one in favor of the other. As Lance says, “AI can’t replace the need for engaged, motivated employees.”
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