Dr Neil McBride
The pandemic not only changed the way we work, but the way work is managed and the way human resources are managed. And as more data becomes available to human resource departments there is more potential for using leading edge technologies to analyse it and develop evidence-based decision making.
Commercial applications have become available to control entry to lifts, monitor office occupancy in real time and measure physical characteristic such as carbon dioxide and temperature. Systems can monitor remote and home working. Combined with personnel dataset these provide a rich source for analysis.
Enter People Analytics (PA) which uses artificial intelligence to analyse huge datasets. Using PA sentiment analysis can be conducted, team motivation charted, job applicants selected and resignations predicted. With PA the HR department ceases to be just a business support function and becomes a partner in developing corporate strategy.
But what are the consequences of letting a machine recruit employees, of disbanding a team based on sentiment analysis or excluding an employee from promotion because their departure is predicted by PA?
As AI becomes more and more a part of everyday life, it will determine careers and prospects through the application of PA to every spoke of the talent management cycle.
Work by Neil McBride and Mayen Cunden in the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility and Vincent Bryce at the University, featured in People Management and the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society has begun to investigate the ethical issues associated with People Analytics and to chart the new responsibilities human resource departments shoulder due to the accelerated impact of artificial intelligence. Through understanding the ethical parameters of people analytics a framework for the responsible research and innovation of PA within HR departments will be defined.
Feedback from a talk given for the Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes branch of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Directors suggested that for HR professionals the key issues lie in understanding how AI works, and effectively using people analytics without overshadowing the tacit skills and wisdom of HR professionals. Also, HR departments need to develop the skills to evaluate the plethora of PA systems emerging post pandemic.