Those Humane Soft Skills: Why Can’t Robots Replace Us?

How to succeed in a new situation

The situation at labor market is changing dramatically: robots are taking more and more duties. How dangerous is artificial intelligence for HR specialists and what shall we do to succeed professionally?
 
According to report of The Future of Jobs 2018 prepared for the World Economic Forum, 75 million working places will possibly disappear by 2022 and 133 million new places will be created.
 

Gartner Research claims that 1.8 million working places will disappear and be replaced by 2.3 million of other ones in the USA by 2020. The reason for that is global digitalization and robotization. 

The Way Artificial Intelligence is Already Influencing HR

 Nowadays, robots are potentially capable of replacing those who recruit line staff. Though not always.
 
If we speak about a more important position, a human being can deal with it better than a robot. While choosing between candidates, soft skills can be more reliable than professional skills and abilities. It is hard to evaluate artificial intelligence correctly.
 
Robotizing hasn’t incited HR department closing even in big companies. We can see some examples to understand more clearly why artificial intelligence is useful for HR. 

Robot Recruiters

Robots speak with candidates by the phone, email, messages or they chat. Robots are responsible for candidate calling, mass interviews thus tremendously declining recruiting expenses. Such virtual recruiters can identify candidate’s emotions and estimate the experience they have according to the criteria. 

Service Works

Robots can be met not only in HR departments but also at big events like exhibitions, festivals and forums. They attract people’s attention, help with navigation and answer simple questions. If robots are equipped with a screen, they can get feedback as one can fill in a questionnaire right on a robot’s body. New designs were continually introduced at Robotics Expo. 

Video Interview Service

Modern designs allow recruiters to create and send questionnaires to candidates and make video interviews. This approach helps to save time and expenses and gives candidates a chance to find work more easily. Platforms use advanced systems of database and artificial intelligence. Such systems have already helped to find candidates for hundreds of vacancies. 

What the Strengths of Artificial Intelligence are

Now robots are not replacing the staff. They only help to use working time more efficiently. Here are the main functions the robots are already carrying out and the ones they are going to have in future. 

Compensation, Privileges and Grading

Compensations and privileged estimation are already being calculated by RPA (programming robots). In fact, such robots imitate simple human activities and actions and can solve some HR situations themselves.
 
Grading is a system of material motivation for employees when a special hierarchy of corresponding position and salary is created. Hierarchy level depends on professional experience and company impact. According to some experts, algorithms will probably substitute human staff estimation in 5-10 years. 

Personnel Office Work

The experiment to transform to electronic personnel office work elicited a number of disadvantages. They include technical difficulties and high price of electronic signature purchase and usage. 3 to 5 years later, after the implementation of electronic personnel office work, artificial intelligence might take it under control. 

Candidate Search for Common Positions

Companies usually try to optimize employment filters. Technologies help them with it. A machine can make hundreds of phone calls at a time and work much more efficient than a human being. Besides, artificial intelligence can call all day long, what is important if we mean different time zones. It can not lose temper even if a candidate is irritated or sounds impolite.
 
HR automatization reduces the amount of load that HR specialists have while recruiting. It allows them to invite only the candidates that perfectly suit the vacancy. HR specialists no longer have to sort out and reject unsuitable CVs. Instead of doing that, they can spend time on recruiting appropriate employees.   

On-boarding and Assessment

Initial adaptation and personnel education include a variety of routine tasks which can be automatized. Bots can help to find telephone numbers, order a car pass or a meeting room for guests. They can also help with employees’ on-boarding, which means to help newcomers get involved in corporate culture and business processes quicker.
 
Artificial intelligence can also evaluate employees. For example, HOFF company has automatized estimation of knowledge, abilities and results of employees. The system helps to warn the staff about different levels of evaluation and about the results. 

Why can’t Robots Replace Humans?

Despite the long existing list of functions that robots are capable of they still can’t totally replace human beings.
 
Artificial intelligence is imperfect and unusual. The society is not still ready for recruiting digitalization. Robots are strange to candidates and their functions are limited. For instance, if the settings are wrong, a robot can reject an appropriate candidate and do harm for a company. They do not understand humor or sometimes can’t differentiate an answer.
 
Robots save time but not money. Nowadays, the majority of work is performed by human recruiters in a cheaper way as they are more efficient with finding candidates for vacancies. Artificial intelligence can be of some help at the level of simple or initial recruiting. It is not a complete replacement but is more like automatization of processes and reducing the amount of routine duties with mass line staff recruiting, not with top positions.
 
Robots, which are introduced in a company, do not lead to reducing the amount of HR specialists but it contributes to their adaptation, development and education. HR work is not only recruiting. It also includes deep communicative processes which require qualities like empathy, personal involvement and human energy that sometimes should be exchanged.
 
Automatization of top management recruiting is the very last option that can be implemented. In the near future artificial intelligence is unlikely to threaten this sphere. It is said that robots can’t replace HR specialists as well as people of some other professions. They can’t achieve advanced level of expertise and replace humans with HRD and HR partner functions. If robots manage to deal with line vacancies, they don’t seem capable of dealing with top management. This is the situation when one can’t follow the script. It requires unexpected decisions and deep thinking which robots are sure to fail.
 
A machine can’t recall a conversation, understand body language, evaluate personal qualities or value of a candidate. One can’t discuss career problems or complain to a robot. 

How can an HR Specialist Succeed in a New Situation?

To be in demand, an HR specialist has not only to be able to evaluate candidates’ experience and skills. It is important to learn to use analytical mechanisms, new technologies and digitalization for solving some particular tasks. 

In future people, who can control robots and use their strong sides for recruiting efficiency, will be in a great demand.

The more professional and competent an HR specialist is, the more unlikely he or she is going to face replacement.
 
The sooner specialists achieve new professional levels to create scripts for artificial intelligence, the better it is. In this case a robot can be of some help but not of some threat. It is important to work, focus and study more. Technologies only increase the speed of perceived information and the opportunities but not the meaning.
 
Another way of development is specialization. New developing spheres like biotechnologies, IT, machine teaching, AR, VR, analytics and high-tech projecting require people of specialized expertise. So, HR specialists for such personnel recruitment are in need. Recruiters who are capable of cloud computing, algorithm search of IT specialists and evaluation of personal qualities according to data can be indispensable. 

HR improvement will deal with education, motivation and personnel development.

In spite of fast technology development, artificial intelligence can never become a person to have tea with or to complain to. It can be done only by an impartial and humane HR specialist. Such human vibes are impossible for any kind of artificial intelligence.
 
It is important to be able to present HR skills and achievements. Each HR specialist has to improve their soft skills like communicating, public performing and promoting professional skills.
 
It is important to understand that technologies are not a threat but they are opportunities. If we speak about professional development, strong sides should be developed and technologies should be used for solving employment tasks.  

Check list “Can a robot replace you?”

Which of the statements describe you? How many times can you say “yes, it’s about me”? Check if robots threaten your career.
 
1. I always learn to work with new technologies. I am not afraid to automatize my work.
2. I am ready to have artificial intelligence under my control, to prepare scripts or teach machines.
3. I know analytical mechanisms and I can quickly work on incoming information.
4. I have ambitions. I want to become HR director or a high-quality hunter.
5. I can focus on my work. I am ready to work hard to succeed.
6. I have a special expertise which is demanded for HR specialists (IT, biotech, VR, AR, medicine).
7. I specialize not only in recruiting but also in personnel educating, motivating and developing.
8. I have a developed emotional intelligence. I reach understanding with different people. I can give advice or sympathize.
9. I love my job. I don’t show indifference or don’t wish to change it.
10. I always improve time management, communicating and presentation skills. I am not afraid of public performing.
 
If you answered “yes” less than 5 times, we strongly recommend you to think about your future in the profession. The more affirmative answers you have, the less is the possibility that robots can replace you.