Article: How to hire, engage and manage the digital workforce

Employee Relations

How to hire, engage and manage the digital workforce

Other than traditional sources, hiring managers must explore smaller universities or even different countries which are rich in human resources but lack work opportunities.
How to hire, engage and manage the digital workforce

The pandemic accelerated digital transformation in an unprecedented way. The overnight change that happened after the outbreak of Covid-19 redefined the work culture. Not only work, the hiring process, engaging, nurturing, and managing them also witnessed a dramatic shift in the last two years.

Vaclav Koranda, Vice President of Human Resources and member of the Board of Directors, T-Systems Malaysia, highlighted how to hire, engage and manage the digital workforce in a post-pandemic world.

According to him, digital transformation involves the digitalisation of many processes and the implementation of sophisticated digital technologies. The last two years brought phenomenal changes in the hiring culture. 

“Traditionally, hiring has been done through popular job websites and networking platforms such as Linkedin. However, it might be worth looking into less traditional channels like open source channels, specific websites,” added Vaclav.

“Organising a hackathon to get the desired candidates for a particular job role is also a good idea to be taken up. Besides, hiring managers have the option to connect with the specific specialised agency to tap the right kind of talent,” suggested Vaclav while addressing a session during the recently held TechHR Singapore 2022. 

He, however, cautioned that ambitious and talented candidates might have more than one opportunity when you plan to hire them. Thus, it is advised to expand the candidate pool by exploring talent in other platforms such as smaller universities, outside main cities, or even in different countries which are rich in human resources but lack work opportunities. 

After hiring, developing the digital workforce is the next important aspect that needs to be taken care of. Technology continues to progress rapidly, though, the adaptation of humans to the new technology might be at a slow pace.

To address the slow adaptation to the technology, organisations can have a group of people of mentor-mentee. Generally, it is believed that the adoption of digital technology is greater in the younger generation as compared to the older generations. Thanks to the pandemic, the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants has got narrowed significantly.

“Keeping this in mind, a bunch of people comprising digital natives and digital immigrants can be formed and they can reverse mentor and develop each other as a digital workforce,” suggested Vaclav. Adding that the challenge of HR is to avoid stereotyping and bias while implementing learning programmes that cater to the needs of each individual and help them become digitally savvy. 

The next is work-life balance. It has come to the fore, especially after the pandemic. The new-age workforce prefers to work as freelancers, consultants, part-time workers among others as a measure to maintain a proper work-life balance and devote some time to learning new skill-set. “So, it is imperative for HR professionals to have an impactful CSR programme outlining prospects for career progression. 

Additionally, offering more flexible forms of employment like gigs, contract-to-hire agreements, and flexibility in terms of time and place of work would work for future hiring.

Companies that want to attract and engage digital talent inevitably end up much more diverse than before having to manage on-site, remote, and hybrid employees, freelancers, and gig workers all working together. 

Another aspect that must be addressed is managing multi-generational employees. “It is a must to have good leadership, managerial skills in place, and effective application of techniques to manage the digital workforce in the post-pandemic world,” said Vaclav.

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Topics: Employee Relations, #NewAgeHiring

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