What does robotic process automation mean for HR operations?

Putting the human back in HR

Many proponents argue that bots will improve jobs rather than replace them. "Bots can streamline nearly any process in HR and recruiting, putting the 'human' back into human resources," noted Forrest Whyte, senior vice president at RPA software provider Automation Anywhere. With manual processes reduced, HR team members will have time to take on more complex tasks and provide the human touch when employees require assistance. Yet HR teams need to be aware that RPA can significantly alter company culture and should take a people-first approach before deploying automation.

RPA adoption trends in HR

Two significant factors are driving robotic process automation in human resources, observed Dan Staley, HR technology leader at PwC.

First, leading HCM vendors have been building RPA and intelligent process automation into their software.

Second, large organizations are upskilling their workforces, procuring RPA tools, teaching employees how to use the tools and encouraging them to experiment and share ideas. Organizations and software vendors have created websites where their user community or workforce can post and publish bots that automate certain HR functions. "Even if some of the ideas only save minutes a day," Staley said, "it promotes the usage of these tools and builds the necessary muscle to recognize the larger automation opportunities."

In addition, Whyte found that RPA is graduating from an educational type of project in which HR teams experiment with a few bots to more widespread applications. Many HR leaders now understand the benefits of automation, he explained, so companies are ramping up automation deployments for faster recruiting and onboarding to increase efficiency and improve employee experiences.

While there has been an uptick in RPA over the years, it is still a lower-growth area for small to mid-sized business, as HR teams look first to their HR system vendors to provide built in functionality to reduce manual processes, such as automation through workflows, simplified user experience and interfaces that allow data to be pushed from one system to another.

Does RPA eliminate HR jobs?

A pervasive concern in HR is that RPA bots could eliminate many jobs. "The 'robotic' label," Staley said, "can sometimes be confusing -- or frightening -- to those in HR who are tasked with the people agenda." Many fear robots are coming for their jobs.

It seems more likely that many jobs, as well as the human skills needed for them, will change over time but will not be eliminated. For example, the role of HR transaction processor has already been reduced, thanks to manager and employee self-service capabilities. This trend should continue in HR, Staley said, as RPA reduces the time spent on non-strategic repetitive tasks to focus on more analytical, decision-support activities.

New digital skills will be needed so HR can understand the power and capabilities associated with RPA technology and continually seek out areas for deployment. Although HR teams will not necessarily have to program RPA bots, they will need to understand how to harness their power. Transactional steps are reduced in favor of more communication, verification, strategy setting, management and analysis.

Without RPA, for example, a recruiter would have spent most, if not all, of the day sifting through resumes to find the best match, sending emails to candidates, and tracking and reporting to hiring managers the status and rationale for a hire. With automation, the recruiter would instead articulate the hiring procedures to an RPA bot and work with business teams to ensure their hiring needs are programmatically defined. The recruiter could then verify and validate the results. By avoiding the paperwork, the recruiter would have more time to spend building a more diverse candidate pool and follow up personally with the best candidates.

Best practices for implementing RPA in HR

"Though RPA is often viewed as a way to save time and money by replacing employees, most RPA initiatives will have no substantial impact on headcount," said Gartner's Harris. However, RPA implementation will require organizations to redesign roles and workflows. Harris believes the adoption of RPA will increase demands for new skills to support higher-value tasks.

HR leaders should consider the most effective ways to enhance digital dexterity and build social-creative skills where RPA is deployed. As frequently performed tasks transition to RPA, managers will face new challenges in measuring employee productivity, maintaining a positive corporate culture and communicating with teams about the benefits and challenges of automation.

When implementing RPA in HR processes, Harris suggested the following considerations:

• More broadly determine the use cases for HCM.
• Create an automation journey across all HCM processes.
• Identify areas where process optimization and automation can reduce handoffs and labor costs, especially in highly repeatable workflows.
• Engage expertise from colleagues outside HR with business process mapping to learn where RPA is working internally and who is skilled in RPA implementation.
• Establish a community of practice to continually develop and scale expertise in-house.

Potential challenges when implementing RPA

While RPA can have a positive impact on the HR team, there are potential challenges organizations should be aware of so they can address them at the outset. Consider the following challenges:

• Employee concerns about RPA replacing team members.
• Assuming everyone on the team has the skill set and aptitude to use RPA tools.
• Ignoring data privacy as new tools are introduced and access is granted.
• Trying to use RPA for every manual process might not provide substantial productivity benefits.
• Overlooking the costs associated with buying and licensing tools, training and professional services.
• Complex processes automated through RPA might require advanced skills not available on the HR team.

George Lawton is a journalist based in London. Over the last 30 years, he has written more than 3,000 stories about computers, communications, knowledge management, business, health and other areas that interest him.

Eric St-Jean is an independent consultant with a particular focus on HR technology, project management and Microsoft Excel training and automation. He writes about numerous business and technology areas.