In every role played by human resources professionals, there is an element of communication. It’s critical that job openings are described accurately and each interview has to be conducted in a way that the key information is communicated and extracted from the interviewee.

Even HR responsibilities like workplace manuals and coaching involve a lot of communication, whether that means in-person meetings, written manuals, or regularly checking in with a new hire.

As technology has changed, communication has changed, too. And being able to use the most comfortable communication tools of the up-and-coming workforce is critical to being an effective HR professional.

Learning the Ropes

Whether you’ve been in HR for decades or just starting your new HR role, it’s critical that you understand how important electronic communication is to today’s employee. Most employees will now expect the vast majority of communication to come via email.

They may even expect to hear from you via social media or text messages rather than phone calls. As Generation X becomes more prominent in the workplace, so will online employee evaluation instead of paper versions. There are a wide range of digital tools such as Recruiting Software out there that human resources professionals can use in order to manage all such communications efficiently.

Instead of seeing the digital transitions as challenges, realize that there are good reasons for the shift from paper to digital. Electronic communication is just more efficient than paper communication.

Online evaluations can demonstrate the data to you quickly and the way you need it in ways that paper evaluations cannot compare to specially if you are evaluating large volume of applicants. Learning how to use HR technological solutions will help you to improve efficiency as well as improve communications between the HR office and the rest of the staff.

Hiring in the Digital Age

And then there’s the hiring side of an HR department. Hiring an employee using paper forms may take days sometimes weeks even.  While having employment forms on paper can be comforting, you once again sacrifice efficiency if you require that a paper copy be sent to your office.

In today’s digital age an online From Management tool such as Onboarding System can offer HR ‘best practice’ in employee form management, they will enhance legibility of information, making it less susceptible to misinterpretation and reduce the time to process new hires.

Digital communication will allow you to review many more candidates in a shorter amount of time, plus you’ll be able to compare them quickly and efficiently. This is the initial evaluation and you’re making it relevant by making it digital. During the next round, consider adding video to the process. Some HR companies are even promoting job opportunities with a video description and then asking for video interviews.

Being Available to Employees

Another role of the HR staff is to be a confidant or point of contact for employees. Complaints about workplace problems will come to you. If you make sure that you are communicating with employees in the ways that make them comfortable, you’ll be opening the right door to them. But remember that not everything is better in digital format. Sometimes it takes a friendly smile and an in person conversation to find out how things are really going.