This article explores the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on the HR function, highlighting its potential to revolutionize HR into a more strategic and efficient function. According to a BCG analysis, GenAI has the potential to boost HR productivity by up to 30%, achieved through automated tasks or redirected time toward deeper employee engagement and talent planning. The chart below shows the potential time savings across 8 HR areas, pinpointing HR administration and shared services (20-30%) as the prime areas for capacity release. Other segments, such as recruiting and resources (10-20%), performance and career management (10-20%), and learning and development (10-20%), also stand to benefit.
HR leaders and their teams can use this framework as they determine current time allocation spent in certain HR areas and identify the potential for Gen AI to unlock time and resources that can be reinvested into high-value activities. As noted in the article, HR leaders play a dual role in driving GenAI transformation for both the enterprise and the HR function; one illustration outlines how HR can play both roles. Here is an additional link to 14 slides that illustrate insights from the article, including use-case examples of GenAI in HR.
How GenAI Impacts HR
GenAI transforms HR into a more strategic function with the following impacts.
Dramatically Increased Self-Service. Employees have had mixed reactions to HR self-service in the past. But GenAI offers more conversational workflows and tailored information—just the sort of delivery that could boost adoption as more employees prefer GenAI’s ease of use in addressing their needs.
Productivity and Experience Enhancements. Leaders often use deep consumer insights to offer personalized, tech-enabled customer experiences. These same trends are now emerging for employees. With stronger automation and data insights, current GenAI use cases show three times faster content creation and visualization, automation of greater than 50% of tasks in an onboarding journey, and recruiting engagement rates that are twice as high as when personalized messages were written with GenAI.
In the moments that matter most, of course, employees want to connect with people. GenAI frees HR professionals to engage with the employees they serve and be present in the interactions that deliver higher satisfaction.
Truly Personalized, “Always on” Delivery of HR Services. GenAI-based HR “copilots” will guide employee and manager careers in real time. The technology helps HR know employees better: the rhythm of their work, the learning and development they require, when they may need a vacation, and if they would benefit from reminders of annual goals or other strategic programs. Managers can also customize onboarding plans, inspire high performers, and receive alerts to reconnect with a disengaged teammate.
A Comprehensive, Data-Driven Talent Ecosystem. Many companies have invested to better understand employee skills and drive talent upskilling and career planning. The question now is how to use this skills data to drive meaningful talent decisions across the business, not just in specific areas.
GenAI’s ability to join less structured data sources will enable more interconnected use cases, including talent assessment, developing career pathways, talent sourcing, and learning and development, as seen in the slide below. All this leads to a skills-based talent ecosystem linked to the company’s workforce strategy.
