Digital Economy and Human Resources Managers

In the first week of MOOC, I learned a lot about the digital economy. The fourth industrial revolution is mentioned in the course to show the development of science and technology, and more importantly, the impact of these developments on society. Therefore, this article will mainly discuss the development and change of occupations in the context of the digital economy. I chose the career of human resources manager as an example to analyze the changes caused by digital reasons such as new technology.

According to relevant academic articles, the process of human resource management is mainly divided into 5 stages: strategic planning, selection, preparation, performance measurement, and repatriation (Brewster, 2016). Because of Oxford University’s research on job role automation, we know that human resource managers are less automated jobs (Schwab, 2017). However, in the two stages of selection and performance measurement, it is still greatly affected by the digital economy. In the period when digital technology is not developed, human resource managers mainly rely on the interviewee’s personal resume and interview results in the selection process. The way interviewers express their abilities is relatively simple. With the development of digital technology, first of all, the interview channels have been greatly expanded. For example, some sites like GILDTM and TalentBin, collect information such as career history and social networking sites to assist companies in employee selection. For both interviewers and managers, the probability and accuracy of directional selection is improved, which greatly improves the work efficiency of human resource managers. Because of big data, managers can more quickly and comprehensively collect data to make optimal decisions.

Another significant affected stage is performance measurement. In the initial performance appraisal, managers evaluated employees based on attendance and task completion. With the rapid development of the digital economy, companies are equipped with advanced sign-in systems. The machine helps to record attendance more efficiently and reduces labor costs. The development of information systems is mature and can provide managers with powerful data collection and analysis functions. With the help of the system, managers can accurately record and evaluate employees’ work performance according to the evaluation criteria. In subsequent management, this information can also be used for analysis to provide employees with a more scientific training strategy. In addition to being useful in assessment and career planning, information technology also provides technical conditions for communication between employees.

These changes have made the work of human resource managers more efficient and have promoted other aspects of human resource management. Many technologies generated by the digital economy can improve human resource management, such as information technology and artificial intelligence. Some scholars believe that IT may help speed up and improve administrative, operational and planning decisions related to human resources (Turulja, 2016). I think such a development is in line with the current situation of the digital economy and will bring more changes and advantages to human resource management in the future.

The impact of the future digital economy may be in two aspects, a more personalized management system and automation of work procedures. On the first aspect, the existing information management system is to establish a unified assessment standard for company employees. In the future, the evolution direction of the system is mainly to develop appropriate management procedures based on the personal characteristics of employees. On the other aspect, the development of new technology makes it possible to automate more tasks. Among these technologies, the most widely used are information systems and AI (artificial intelligence). Perhaps one day AI will be able to complete the interview job. There is an interesting case about this assumption. In March 2017, the machine won the third nplace in the annual industry competition organized by the well-known North American company named SourceCon (Stroud, 2017). It is worth noting that the robot screened out suitable candidates in only 3.2 seconds. The first place took 25 hours, and the remaining participants took an average of 4-9 hours. This example allows more people to see the possibility of digital development in the human resource management industry.

As a summary, the development of the digital economy has a positive role in promoting human resource management. It can help people do the job more efficiently. In the future, digital technology will also bring more development opportunities for this industry. I believe that the digital economy can also have a positive impact in other industries.

REFERENCES

Brewster, C., Vernon, G., Sparrow, P., & Houldsworth, E. (2016). International human resource management. Kogan Page Publishers.

Schwab K. The Fourth Industrial Revolution. London: Portfolio Penguin; 2017.

Stroud, J., Stroud, J., & Archive, A. (2020). Human vs Machine: Who Sources Best? The Results of the 2017 Grandmaster Competition. Retrieved 14 February 2020, from https://www.sourcecon.com/human-vs-machine-who-sources-best-the-results-of-the-2017-grandmaster-competition/

Turulja, L., & Bajgorić, N. (2016). Human Resources or Information Technology: What is More Important for Companies in the Digital Era?. Business Systems Research Journal, 7(1), 35-45.