How to Use Technology to Build a People-Centric Work Culture

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With the rapid changes in HR and technology — especially A I— the future of work looks very different than it did a few years ago.

There have been great strides in HR, technology, sustainability and culture.

As a software company founder, I’ve witnessed the evolution of HR firsthand. From when we were a team of 10 to scaling up to 70-100 employees and now leading a team of over 400, I’ve seen the practices we’ve adopted and those we’ve moved away from.

I’ve also been part of our journey to embrace technology as we mature, recognizing the critical role of automation in our daily operations.

Additionally, I’ve experienced the shift to remote work during the pandemic — how technology supported us, from employee screening to onboarding, and how we managed engagement programs remotely. It reinforced the value of tech-enabled HR processes in our organization.

In this article, I’d like to share a few ideas on using technology to achieve a sustainable culture.

What do we mean by a “sustainable culture”?

Sustainability is as simple as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

When we hear “sustainability,” most of us first think about green initiatives and environmental impact. But that’s only one leg of the stool.

There are three pillars of sustainability — the Three Ps:

Profit (Economic)
Planet (Environmental)
People (Social Aspect)

These three interconnected pillars are essential to creating a sustainable future for our businesses and our world.

While environmental sustainability has received significant attention, organizations increasingly recognize the importance of focusing on the other pillars of profit and people.

Without sustainable profit, organizations can’t ensure a viable future, and without sustainable practices for people, organizations fail to harness their most significant resources.

Technological advancement and digitization can significantly impact the three pillars of sustainability in the HR context.

1. Profit

The Profit pillar revolves around efficiency and cost reduction, data-driven decision-making and global talent access.

To increase efficiency and reduce costs, my company adopted an HR management system (HRMS) to facilitate our HR processes. By automating routine tasks such as payroll and employee onboarding, we reduced administrative overhead, saved time, and consolidated resources. We’ve freed our HR team to focus on higher-value tasks like employee engagement and talent development.

The HRMS also helped improve employee onboarding. We don’t overload new hires with policy documents. Instead, we use an AI bot that retrieves data about policies, organizational structure, designations, etc., from our HRMS. New employees can use the bot to ask any questions relevant to them, such as what to do in certain situations and who to contact for specific types of help.

To enable us to make data-driven decisions, we created a data lake from the various tools we use. The data lake feeds dashboards that give our Employee Relations (ER) team a holistic view of our resources, which is particularly useful for appraisals and performance reviews. ER representatives can see how many features the employee worked on, what their defect percentage is, how many times they were praised by clients and colleagues, etc.

2. Planet

To make our company greener, we rely on paperless operations, remote work/telecommuting and sustainable resource use.

We implemented a company-wide digital document management system that allowed us to move away from paper-based contracts. This digital transition saved millions of sheets of paper and significantly reduced our environmental impact. It also reduced the costs associated with document storage and printing.

During the pandemic, we shifted to a permanent remote work model. We operate a hybrid model, drastically reducing the need for more office space. This shift reduced the company’s energy consumption and our employees’ commuting emissions, aligning with both our sustainability and financial goals.

Speaking of office space, we reduced our energy usage by 40% over our old space in part by fully utilizing IoT. We can now track real-time data on lighting and cooling, contributing to our overall sustainability targets.

3. People

The third pillar concerns employee well-being, diversity and inclusion and continuous learning and development.

People can’t do their best work when they aren’t healthy — physically and emotionally. Our Employee Well-being Program includes a dedicated wellness hub accessible via digital platforms. The program provides virtual access to mental health services, physical wellness tips, and mindfulness resources. This initiative has improved employee satisfaction, reduced burnout, and increased employee retention and performance.

Another tool that enhances retention is our comprehensive learning management system (LMS), which offers employees access to online training and courses. By investing in continuous learning, we equip employees with skills for future roles while building a more skilled and agile workforce.

It’s about people

At the end of the day, the heart of sustainability is people. AI can help us make smarter decisions and automate tasks, but we humans still give it meaning. After all, a bot might be able to onboard a new employee, but can it truly appreciate a good cup of chai with them afterward?

Sometimes, the best solutions come from a good old-fashioned chat.

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