B-AIM PICK SELECTS- Using Technology to take faster HR decisions

"The use of HR analytics is allowing us to gain insights into how to spot and retain talent," says Vikram Bector, President & Chief Human Resources Officer, Piramal Enterprises

It's been happening for a while. The pandemic ensured that digital transformation of Human Resources (HR) processes in large corporations is happening faster. The availability of data coupled with analytics is providing corporations with a better understanding of the psyche of their employees and take decisions faster.

Vikram Bector, President & Chief Human Resources Officer, Piramal Enterprises says: "The use of HR analytics is allowing us to gain insights into how to spot and retain talent. Almost 80 per cent of our hiring is done internally. That's a huge financial return on investment." The big advantage is that data helps businesses uncover trends and identify potential problems before they even happen.

One of the biggest issues businesses face is tackling attrition. Piramal discovered that if an employee is posted at a location over 1,000 kilometres from their hometown, there is a greater chance of them leaving the organization. Similarly, with the 60-70 data points that they have on each employee, the attrition model could predict with 80 per cent accuracy on which employees could leave the organisation. That helps it plan well in advance to fill vacancies.

The digital transition in Piramal started nearly five years ago. It implemented global technology major, Oracle's Taleo recruitment system to automate the acquisition process from job requisition to offer rollout. The usage of technology has meant lower costs too. Bector points out that Piramal has been able to reduce 1,200 days of HR efforts through usage of chatbots and automated reporting.

Piramal has moved the entire performance management system online. Therefore, while providing greater transparency, it is possible for an employee to see where she is in terms of targets.

In the middle of the pandemic, Oracle introduced an HR tool to help customers keep employees safe during COVID-19. It provided HR professionals several ways to take necessary actions to keep employees safe. As the lockdown has been eased, it is providing help on how to safely bring employees back to the workplace. Prasad Rai, Vice-president, Applications, Oracle says: "Our HCM cloud has helped the group businesses to standardize processes while keeping different compliance requirements in mind. With our embedded AI and ML capabilities in our HCM cloud application, Oracle applications have enabled the HR function at Piramal to provide data-driven insights to their management team in real time."

The big challenge that Bector faces is diversity in an organisation that is spread across the world. That means having common processes and customisation.

With the rising data analytics ability, Bector sees a future where there will be automatic sorting of profiles, followed by online personality tests and digital joining. That's yet to happen, but is not too far way.