More than four years ago, Amazon was in the news for all the wrong reasons. This time the Seattle-based company had discovered a problem with its development and use of artificial intelligence to hire job applicants. The problem? Their AI allegedly discriminated against women.
Fast forward to today’s headlines, and the human resources profession is faced with the same dilemma: When screening job candidates and making employment decisions, is the risk of algorithmic hiring tools worth the reward?
Short answer: Proceed with a great deal of caution. If an employer relies on a third-party vendor’s automated decision systems, it cannot simply stick its head in the sand. It will need to understand the software or explore other areas of risk mitigation. That is, using AI or other automated tools is fraught with risks, especially in the absence of recognized industry standards.
Fortunately, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has guidelines for the use of software, algorithms and artificial intelligence to assess job applicants and employees. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division also has released guidance on algorithms, artificial intelligence and disability discrimination in hiring.
As impressive and robust as HR technology has become, leaders need to consider the implications and fallout of relying too heavily on data-centric programs. On the contrary, if you fail to leverage the software readily available to “meet your employees where they are,” you risk being tone-deaf and out of touch with your employee population.
To cite this month’s HR News magazine article written by Neerja Kumar: “How employees communicate, collaborate and connect will drive organizations to enhance productivity, foster workplace culture and, most importantly, retain talent. Employee experience (EX) is primarily defined by technology and workplace tools used by the organization. According to a recent Qualtrics research report, only 30% of employees say their experience with their organization’s technology exceeds their expectations.”
The primary challenge for organizations is to “move to a comprehensive EX platform that provides access to everything needed to be successful on daily basis in the hybrid or remote work model,” Kumar writes.
“To accomplish this, various HR and EX elements need to be seamlessly integrated with each other to develop an employee-centric culture. By reducing the number and complexity of technology tools, and by keeping them relevant to business key performance indicators, organizations can facilitate adoption of technology and drive engagement and productivity. Choosing an integrated EX platform is not simple.”
According to a recent PwC report on technology at work (we don’t have a link to this report, do we?), employees still value the human touch. Hence, organizations need to pay close attention to what their people want and choose their EX tech investments carefully. It is critical to understand what EX looks like from the employee perspective. It is important to know what to digitize and what to manage via human interactions.
The 2022 Federal Employee Job Satisfaction Report
This month, HR News contributor Gerome Q. Banks, Ed.D., analyzed a random sample of responses to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s 2021 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS)—and found that four of the 2019 predictors of federal employee job satisfaction have moved up on the 2021 list and one predictor moved down. There also were three new additions to the top 10 list, and one predictor held on to the top spot this year.
Personal accomplishment led the 2019 list and still topped the list in 2021. According to the findings, public sector employees around the world exhibit a high level of job satisfaction and their satisfaction is, in part, is due to a high degree of personal accomplishment.
New Editor Makes Impact to IPMA-HR Publications
Allow me a special welcome and shoutout to my friend and colleague, Mark McGraw, who contributed two features to this month’s lineup, both based on sessions he attended at the IPMA-HR Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. McGraw has more than a decade of experience covering HR-related news, and his coverage of musician Kai Kight’s keynote and the success of a city’s new well-being with behavioral access program provide some key takeaways for HR professionals to consider as they navigate an increasingly complex work environment.
27 October 2022
Category
HR News Article