Study on the Impact of Technology on Human Resource Jobs & Skills September 2020 Contents Preface iii 6. Transforming HR for Businesses 107 1. Executive Summary 1 7. Future Evolution for HR 111 2. Methodology 9 Afterword 116 3. Overall Findings 18 Appendix 119 a. Impact and Skills Analysis 120 b. Glossary of Terms 213 4. Overview of HR Functions 43 c. Industry Participants 217 4.1 Chief Human Resource Officer 45 4.2 Operations and Technology 48 4.3 Performance and Rewards 55 4.4 HR Business Partner 61 4.5 Talent Attraction 67 4.6 Employee Experience and Relations 73 4.7 Talent Management 79 4.8 Learning and Organisation Development 85 5. Career Transitions for Roles Highly Impacted by Technology 92 ii Preface The Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) jointly commissioned Willis Towers Watson in 2019 to study the impact of technology on the Human Resource (HR) sector in Singapore, specifically on changes to jobs and skills in the sector. The study focused on a three to five year timeframe to analyse the impact in detail and identify actions to help shape the future of the HR sector in Singapore. The study aimed to answer three key questions – what technologies will impact HR in the future, how jobs will change i.e. jobs and tasks that will be displaced, those that will be augmented, and new jobs and tasks that will emerge, and which skills will be critical to perform these roles, particularly the technology-related skills that HR professionals will require to perform jobs of the future. The study concluded that technology will disrupt the current state of HR considerably and provide HR the opportunity to deliver higher value to the business by leading the strategic people agenda while improving HR service delivery. In the subsequent chapters we will explore the key technology trends impacting HR, and the impact of these on the HR operating model, jobs and skills. iii 1. Executive Summary 1 1. Executive Summary This report seeks to address the following: With COVID-19 impacting business operations and profitability, more organisations are beginning to adopt technology to reinvent jobs and tasks, as well as Technology trends shaping the use a wider talent ecosystem to deliver work in a cost- Human Resource (HR) sector effective way. Jobs are also being redesigned to deliver higher value-add to manage economic pressures, demographic shifts and workforce expectations for Impact of technology on ways purposeful work. of working in HR In Singapore, these challenges are pronounced due to an ageing population. Additionally, Singapore’s multi-generational and diverse workforce has differing Evolving HR operating model levels of exposure to technology. As the country evolves to stay competitive and reduce reliance on labour- intensive work, businesses will also need to find effective Impact of technology on HR and sustainable ways to build workforce capabilities. The unique, long-standing tripartite arrangement among tasks and jobs unions, employers and the Government further helps to develop and promote initiatives that build future-ready skills in the local workforce. Impact of technology on future skills for HR professionals This presents a unique opportunity for the HR function to redefine how work can and should be done and play its part to address businesses’ evolving Expectations from HR in workforce and skills needs. the future As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) unfolds, the impact of technology on the way we work will be unprecedented in scale, speed and scope. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and the Internet of Things will alter business models and jobs in every industry. Technology is already changing the way we work through remote access, virtual meetings and online collaboration tools. The recent business continuity planning measures taken by organisations in response to the COVID-19 outbreak have accelerated the use of these mechanisms. The continued use of remote working is driving a mindset shift as well as innovation in areas of employee engagement, productivity, and reconfiguration of workflows. 2 1. Executive Summary Exposure to high quality consumer applications in Technology trends everyday lives has raised employees’ expectations of a shaping HR high quality and seamless experience as they navigate the workplace. HR needs to design and deliver an Our research, which includes more than 60 employee experience ecosystem with services and interviews and 230 survey responses from business tools that enhance engagement, productivity, and leaders and HR professionals, as well as industry positively impacts business outcomes. scans across four countries [1], has identified three key technology trends at the heart of HR transformation. Mobile applications are already widely used to make performance management, learning and development and onboarding Trend 1: processes more personalised and seamless. Advent of intelligent automation Going forward, HR professionals will need to embrace innovative service delivery approaches and platforms Service delivery and transaction processing for employee engagement initiatives, such as peer-to- are increasingly being streamlined through intelligent peer recognition, collaboration platforms, interactive . Our survey found that intelligent automation applications and self-service models. automation solutions will be amongst the top five changes impacting HR in the next three years. Intelligent automation covers a spectrum of Trend 3: solutions: from Robotic Process Automation Shift from basic data analytics (RPA), which allows for large scale error- towards predictive analytics free processing of routine tasks, to Artificial and modelling Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), which are automating complex Data analytics is evolving at a cognitive processes like CV screening. rapid pace due to the exponential growth in data collection resulting from the AI is also increasingly being applied in the form of social deployment of technology-enabled platforms. robotics (e.g. chatbots) for first-level query resolution. The advent of intelligent automation enables HR to have In our survey, this emerged as the most important area more bandwidth to focus on strategic activities such as impacting HR in the next three years. Organisations workforce analytics and building future capabilities. have access to large amounts of real-time data, as well This unlocks the potential of the workforce to improve as increasingly sophisticated analytical capabilities. This future performance and productivity. is driving the use of predictive analytics and modelling as well as analysis of intangible metrics such as organisation branding through analysis of social media, Trend 2: talent sentiment analysis and organisational network Rising expectations of employees analysis. HR should find ways to effectively harness this data to proactively mitigate talent risks, influence for consumer-grade applications business decisions and investments on workforce capability building, performance and productivity to There is an increasing demand for organisations enhance business outcomes. to provide consumer-grade employee experiences. [1] The industry scan was conducted across US, UK, Sweden and Singapore. 3 The large amounts of sensitive employee continuous investment to enhance jobs, encourage data being collected increases the importance of data continuous learning and reskilling, and strategic security, as well as governance mechanisms. As the workforce planning and workforce transformation using custodian of employee data, HR is being tasked to advanced and predictive analytics. HR will redesign evaluate ethical considerations behind employee data jobs to enable companies to tap into more diverse talent collection and usage. groups, including contingent workers, older workers and those with special needs. Additionally, HR must These three technology trends are enabled by leverage technology across talent processes to better the prevalence of cloud-based platforms, which allow reach out to a diverse workforce and deliver a more secure storage of and remote access to large quantities personalised employee experience. of data and applications. Such data is collected, stored, processed and analysed in real time, enabled by better HR has to elevate its capabilities and value-add internet connectivity and computational power. through technology integration, for better data-driven decision making. In particular, the ability to create data linkages across talent and business metrics will provide greater insights that support strategic workforce Impact of technology trends planning, and objective approaches to identify and retain the best talent for the organisation. This helps eliminate on ways of working in HR other inherent biases and creates a diverse and skilled workforce. Greater use of intelligent automation and As articulated in Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) predictive analytics will also support data-driven talent global study with the World Economic Forum on “Shaping decisions and enable automated service delivery. People Strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution [2]”, these technology trends will lead to a re-invention These key themes that will transform the way of HR’s role in the future, to one that drives business HR will work in future are summarised in Figure 1. transformation and productivity. This will involve Figure 1: Five key themes transforming the way HR will work in future [2] HR4.0: Shaping People Strategies in the