Across the region, innovators and visionaries have been creating tools with the power to transform how people are managed. Now, they have a unique chance to help shape the strategy that will define how those tools are used.
The digital revolution is no accident: it happened because people wanted it to. However, the shift in how we interact with machines, computers and each other coincided with further shifts in globalization and demographics and today, as we see the digital revolution creep into the world of work, disparities are emerging on the global business playing field.
Deloitte’s Middle East Human Capital Trends report listed digitisation as one of 10 defining HR trends for the first time in 2016, indicating a “major shift” in leadership priorities, according to the data. When ranked in comparison to regional and global markets, digitisation placed 10th globally but eighth in the Middle East, highlighting an appetite for advancement. However all is not as it seems.
Organisations – and specifically their HR functions – have faced many challenges over recent years and now they find themselves faced with many more.
HR’s digital transformation isn’t just changing the application process and experience, but helping to connect, engage and monitor workforce members, both in-house and freelance – as well as AI and “machine talent” – throughout the employment lifecycle. It’s a huge concept for a department still mired in paperwork.
Around the world, digitised HR departments are turning to management software with capabilities to monitor wellness and measure employee motivation. Cloud features heavily, along with mobile and the migration of HR services and support, as well as employee data. Further, the use of analytics is gaining pace, with organisations building teams and solutions “aggressively”, according to Deloitte.
Despite the region’s willingness to embrace the changes that have emerged to date, the trickle-down effect has been slow, indicating an urgent need for leadership and a case for strategic direction. This presents a significant opportunity for those creating the tools that are transforming the workplace.
According to the commentators, the top tech disruptions for 2018 are set to be feedback, engagement and intelligent analytics tools; blockchain; changes to payroll and shift scheduling; and a swing in focus from automation to productivity.
Organisations can’t meet these challenges alone. Supporting them to connect with innovators who are dedicated to enhancing how we interact in the workplace, the Human Capital Forum 2018 takes place 2 – 3 May, 2018, at the Oberoi Hotel Dubai.
The Forum unites 150 HR Officers, CEOs and senior talent practitioners to benchmark their practices, learn, build relationships and, crucially start work on the foundations of a digital HR strategy that incorporates both tools and targets.
With more than 16 hours of business-focused networking time over two days, in addition to a packed agenda of influential and insightful discussion, the Human Capital Forum provides an unrivalled chance to put the technology changing tomorrow, in front of the HR leaders of today.
To find out more about the Forum, click here.