With the arrival of the fourth quarter of 2024, many companies are rushing to meet the ambitious goals set for year-end. This is where technological innovation is proving to be an increasingly crucial factor, not only to optimize business performance but also to lay the foundation for a 2025 that promises to be equally challenging. This applies especially to the HR sector, which is responsible for managing the company's core asset: human capital.

HR under pressure between emergencies and strategy

The major changes taking place in the job market require HR professionals to constantly redefine their roles and practices to achieve business objectives before the year's end. It's no surprise that most HR professionals (68%) feel under pressure. This is confirmed by a survey conducted by the multinational managerial training company Cegos in March 2024, published in June. "Radiography of HR Departments" is the title of the study, which involved 5,052 employees and 554 HR managers from public and private organizations in nine countries, including Italy and Latin America.

The research provides a snapshot of the main challenges HR professionals face as they build resilient organizations capable of responding to increasing competition in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) global contexts. However, the increased flexibility and adaptability required by this situation should not lead to abandoning strategic thinking. That's why the study reveals that the primary difficulty faced by international HR directors is responding to and solving emergencies (70%), accompanied by a lack of time to invest in the strategic aspects of their work (60%). This pushes HR departments to seek solutions that offer concrete support, allowing them to promptly address daily challenges while also pursuing long-term business visions.

Attraction and recruitment: the main HR challenges for 2024

Among a long list of tasks, the Cegos research highlights four main HR challenges for 2024: attraction and recruitment (45%), talent retention (41%), support for transformation (35%), and skill development (upskilling and reskilling).

That attraction and recruitment are the top HR challenges for the year comes as no surprise, especially in light of the Great Resignation phenomenon that has affected all sectors and levels of work. The HR Innovation Practice Observatory of the School of Management at Politecnico di Milano reminds us that although 56% of those who changed jobs in the last 12 months have already regretted it, the flame of the Great Resignation remains alive, with 42% of Italians either having recently changed jobs or planning to do so soon. With turnover rates soaring, young candidates choosing companies (rather than the other way around, according to 70% of HR managers interviewed in the 34th edition of the Youth and Work Survey by Gidp), and new skills needed to manage the digital and ecological transitions, recruiters are left breathless as they redefine job positions and sift through hundreds of CVs to find the perfect candidate.

Artificial Intelligence and recruitment: technology serving business objectives

A valuable ally in managing HR challenges is technological innovation, which, by automating some tasks and streamlining procedures, has simplified the HR function for 59% of those interviewed in the Cegos study, which also addresses the use of AI. The integration of Artificial Intelligence into HR practices represents a revolutionary potential but remains underutilized: although 21% of HR experts consider AI a strategic issue, nearly 70% have not yet incorporated it into their practices. This data suggests a significant opportunity to transform HR processes, making them more efficient and data-driven.

McKinsey has also weighed in on the use of Generative AI in HR, suggesting that the HR function of the future will be entirely different from today’s. Employees will spend much less time—estimated at up to 60-70%—on automated administrative tasks with the help of Generative AI. This time saved can be redirected towards critical human interactions, improving the efficiency of the function. One use case of Generative AI in recruitment includes creating personalized content like job ads tailored to the context or specific communications with candidates, thus enhancing the selection process. A specific example is the use of AI avatars to provide personalized feedback to candidates.

More generally, Deloitte explains that Generative AI offers three main capabilities to recruiters: generation, summarization, and intelligent search:

• Generation: Creation of original content (text, audio, images) for various media, facilitating the drafting of job ads and promotional materials, and reducing publication and hiring times.

• Summarization: The ability to synthesize relevant information from data, useful for gaining insights about candidates and summarizing interview notes, thus improving hiring decisions.

• Intelligent Search: Use of semantic context for more accurate search results, enhancing the internal talent search.