Managing talent in the age of IoT

OVER the last couple of decades the role of human resources (HR) has evolved extensively. Technology has played a pivotal role in this. Computer-based tools and greater access to data have resulted in a shift for the HR function from focusing on specific employee decisions to aligning talent management processes.

The impact that cloud-based business execution technology has on HR can be likened to the impact that global positioning satellite (GPS) technology has on the use of street maps. It allows companies to take information off shelves where it was rarely accessed and put it in the hands of decision-makers in a format they can readily use.

If all this amounts to a paradigm shift in the HR function, then the mother of them all is just waiting to happen. The 1990s were the age of the PC when about a billion people got connected. In the 2000s came the tablets and smartphones that have managed to connect about two billion people.