How HR Can Drive Digital Transformation Amid The Crisis

Much has been said about expediting digital transformation in the times of pandemic. It is no different when it comes to how HR can leverage technology to drive home a clear people advantage for the organisation. “Citizen Developers” a term coined for non-tech teams to build apps without coding using low-code platforms, empowers non-tech HR practitioners to custom design applications and negate the dependency on IT teams. 

Given the  present day workplace reality  and the new normal amid the crisis of coronavirus, the HR department is at the helm of digital transformation alongside the IT Teams, working to put in place a comprehensive response system to the pandemic, all while answering employee questions, limiting friction to daily operations, and boosting employee morale. Low-code tools in the market have risen to the occasion, offering features to speed up everyday workflows, automate processes 10 times faster. 

Digitizing HR functions through app development will mean the elimination of redundant manual tasks, lesser paper and email trails at work, no more running around employees for dependencies, speeding up of request and approvals through workflows and creating overall self-serving portals for the workforce, giving each employee and the HR team to focus on more strategically important business tasks. 

Low code applications will be responsible for more than 65% of application development activity

Gartner reports that “by 2024, low code applications will be responsible for more than 65% of application development activity.” These platforms solve the challenge of integrating multiple technologies while taking care of budget constraints and skills and competencies requirements. 

When it comes to software-based solutions the mind runs to the IT that can be time consuming and expensive. Low-Code is changing that very mindset. Apps can be built within days with pre-built UI modules and drag and drop user interfaces. What low-code made possible, that would otherwise would have been huge investments and downtime, was the opportunity for a a lot of the SMEs as well as large enterprises to quickly build and launch custom digital tools to overcome the challenges faced, without paying huge sums of money on software, hiring developers or going through month long cycles of development. 

A common misconception to ‘low-code digital transformation’

A common misconception to ‘low-code digital transformation’ is that everything gets custom built from the ground up. But that is not the case. Sometimes it can be as simple as adding another layer on top of an existing enterprise system, say an Employee Onboarding process, where you only add a layer of technology that automates aspects of the process that is custom to your organization’s reality and what the users need. 

The agile opportunities with low-code are not limited to digitizing day-to-day HR processes alone. There are HR digital transformation success stories. One such story if about creating a Virtual Assessment Center to help clients keep their leadership development plans on track amidst pandemic. With no coding experience, HRs were able to create the application in just two weeks. The app held capabilities like live proctoring, case studies, role-playing, basket exercise, psychometric analysis, real-time analysis, integrations with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts as well as the client’s go-to psychometric tool. Low-code also provides the added advantage of enabling simplified iterations with drag and drop, pay-as-you-go options available. 

Such programmes otherwise would have required participants from across geographies  come together which included massive budgets and resources. Effective talent management and skill development programmes are being  virtually executed with the help of low-code application platforms. They are getting executed in the most cost-effective and time-saving manner at times where business continuity remains a prime priority of organisations. 

Paradigm shift in digital transformation solution development

What we are witnessing with this technology is a paradigm shift in solution development. With the power to create given into the hands of the business users, the outcomes are highly innovative solutions. These solutions the organizations can reliably use in the future. These low-code tools come with pre-built enterprise features and standard security certifications that make IT approvals fast and easy. With IT-sanctioned low code tools, CIOs can advertently overcome Shadow IT as well. 

About Aneesh: 

Aneesh Dhairyawan has close to 9 years of experience as an HR professional, both strategic and operational nature. This spans across Manufacturing, Technology and Financial Services sectors. This includes 5 years with Deloitte Human Capital Consulting and 2.5 years with Cerebrus Consultants. He has been responsible for leading engagements on Leadership Development, Talent Management, Competency Framework Creation, Employee Engagement and Manpower Planning.

Aneesh has also worked in a Corporate HR role in Citigroup Global Services at the start of his career. He has spent the last 4 years building and running Authenticook.com, a Food Tech startup. Aneesh Dhairyawan brings together a unique combination of HR Consulting, Corporate HR and Entrepreneurial experience. 

About DronaHQ: 

DronaHQ is a Low-Code App Development SaaS platform for building business apps (Mobile & Web) and automating business process operations for SMB, Enterprises, Business Units & IT Depts. Offering compelling development productivity gains, speed of delivery of apps while ensuring rich end-user experience. 1 million+ users of Apps built on the platform, 3000+ enterprise-grade apps. ISO 27001, SOC II certified. Presence in Mumbai, Bengaluru, SFO, London. Explore HR Solutions with DronaHQ now.

Originally published at HR.com