Oracle's Ronnie Toerien says HR leaders are crucial to the success of both the organisations they represent and the country as a whole.
Oracle will be sponsoring the first-ever CHRO award for strategy and leadership, the winner of which will be announced during an exquisite gala dinner on 27 November 2019 at Summer Place in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, where the CHRO of the Year will also be announced.
When it comes to human resources, Oracle HCM development and strategy leader for Africa Ronnie Toerien says HR leaders are crucial, not only the success of the organisations they represent, but to the economic prosperity of the country as a whole. This is because change is endemic in today's business world, and the ability of employees to see a future for themselves (and plan for it) is critical to the success of the organisation.
Of course, this is supported by a learning platform that is responsive to both employees' needs and the needs of the organisation. These learning platforms also deliver learning in the way that employees prefer to learn, typically through YouTube like quick videos which can be embedded directly into business processes to provide “just-in-time” learning. This is all delivered in a single place, so employees need not become HR experts themselves to understand how to leverage these processes.
Says Ronnie: “South African organisations face a challenge: despite unemployment being at 29 percent in the second quarter of 2019, the ability to attract and retain skilled staff remains exceptionally difficult. To exacerbate this challenge, as organisations embark on large-scale projects to deliver digital innovation, skill requirements are constantly evolving. This creates pressure on organisations' training and development capabilities, as well as increasing the complexity of workforce planning.
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“However, mastering these challenges is critical to the success of the overall business; improving customer experience is a key priority for many organisations, and the employees are the ultimate custodians of that experience. Therefore, those who can navigate these waters are ultimately the beneficiaries of significant competitive advantage. Based on this, many leaders ensure that they leverage all the capability of the modern Human Capital Management (HCM) platform as a key contributor to their success.”
Ronnie believes that one of the key challenges faced by HR leaders is related to scale. If the recruitment campaign is successful, the next hurdle is trying to ascertain the quality of the candidate being hired. With a modern HCM platform, technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) can be brought to bear in this critical stage of the recruitment process. AI can prioritize candidates on factors well beyond the simple job profile, including criterion like cultural fit to the organisation, expected length of tenure or propensity to accept. These technologies can ensure that the hiring manager has as much information as possible on which to base their decision and is therefore empowered to choose the best candidate.
Blockchain capability can also ensure that education, qualifications and experience are validated and Digital Assistants can help a candidate find relevant information about either the job being applied for or alternatives that they may be suitable for.
