I thoroughly enjoyed the recent HR Technology Conference & Exposition. For me it was certainly the best of the 3 post-covid events and had a real energy and dynamism with lots of conversation and interaction. The Expo floor was full, and whilst certain topics (I’m looking at you AI!) seemed to dominate many of the chats there was – for me – a clear liveliness around making better workplaces, using data to gain real insights to help and support, and a focus on the role of leadership to guide during uncertain business – and political – times.
Five things stood out for me:
Retention as the New Recruitment
I see a noticeable shift toward focusing on employee retention rather than solely recruitment. Investment in employee experience, engagement, and well-being is now a major priority for organisations. I have been talking about this trend quite a bit this year and certainly those I spoke to at HR Tech agreed that their focus had shifted towards retention.
Upskilling and Enablement
Organisations are increasingly focused on supporting their employees’ development by providing opportunities for upskilling and enabling them to be their best selves at work, especially in a time of global uncertainty. People want access to what they need to know, as and when they ned to know it, and organisations are investing in this.
Impact of AI on Engagement
While AI can offer significant productivity and efficiency gains, I am concerned that it could diminish employee engagement by taking over tasks that people enjoy, potentially leaving them with less fulfilling work. We do need to be careful about how we use AI to replace creative and more human tasks.
AI’s Role in Sentiment Analysis
I see AI being increasingly used for sentiment analysis and gaining insights into how employees feel, which helps leaders and managers better understand the workforce’s mood and engagement. There is a definite shift towards gaining better understanding of who our people are thinking and feeling and the positive impact of tools such as recognition.
Putting the Humanity into Human Resources
This is something I’ve been speaking about this year and it was good to talk with attendees and vendors who see the need for a more personal, human approach to how we hire, engage and retain our people. I think that while we are still exploring ways in which AI can help us understand things like mood and sentiment, we need to be able to trust it, though I do remain a bit sceptical about potential over-reliance on AI for decision making without ensuring depth and understanding behind its recommendations.
During the event I was able to record a podcast episode on HR Happy Hour with my friends from H3 HR Advisors Trish (McFarlane) Steed and Steve Boese about what we had seen at HR Tech that had impressed us and what we thought the future might hold.
You can listen to our full conversation here:
Talent Trends & Insights 