Jim Steinlage, President & CEO of Choice Solutions,

We hear a lot of talk about how HR can bring value to an organization, and how IT can bring more value to HR. But what, exactly, does all the chatter about “value” mean?

The obvious answer: HR finds, hires, and retains the right talent to help a company meet its goals; and IT uses data collection and analysis to help HR make the correct hiring decisions.

The not so obvious answer: HR has now moved beyond a traditional role to a more strategic one; and IT is learning to integrate evolving employee expectations into employee experience solutions.

The Changing Workforce

Companies are now having to adapt to a new digital world, one where a generation submersed from birth in technology are demanding more flexibility and autonomy when performing their job. And it isn’t just the younger generations—older workers choosing (or forced) to delay retirement have also embraced the idea of using technology to achieve a work/life balance.

IT and HR Working Together to Increase Value

One of the core facilitators of a flexible work environment is, of course, technology. There are apps that allow employees to remain productive and connected via tablets, smartphones, and laptops. And more organizations are taking advantage of Cloud solutions that let them remotely access files and desktops.

With data technology’s ability to gather more employee information than ever, IT can work with HR to improve the employee experience while readily adapting to changing business needs and trends. Other support includes:

• Exploring new ways to communicate in a more personal and engaging way by removing irrelevant information.
• Integrating AI and using chatbots to create “digital co-workers” and virtual personal assistants.
• Finding ways to develop career mobility options for employees that let them try out new roles and expand their skills while retaining their current positions.
• Increase the ease with which employees can access necessary information from HR.

Perhaps most importantly, HR leadership must be willing to learn how to speak tech so they have a better understanding of the information IT is supplying to them. But it’s not just learning algorithms and acronyms. It’s also about creating insights with that data and being willing to have open conversations about it. What is the data telling you? What will it mean one, two, or three years out?

An Expanding Partnership

As HR continues to evolve, it will find new ways to use technology to expand its role in the organization. Understanding non-HR concepts like data, technology, and AI will be key to making better talent decisions both before and after a hire.

IT can foster HR’s growth by seeking out visionary, game-changing technologies that are flexible, user-friendly, automated, and predictable with tremendous time-to-value return—all things HR cares about.