HR and IT departments will have to work together to recruit and retain talent

As workplaces return to something that resembles normalcy — whether it's fully remote or hybrid — they're quickly learning that the relationship between IT and HR has become critical to a company's success. 

Whether it's incorporating more AI to streamline systems or revamping their cybersecurity to protect personal devices, the IT sector has seen some of the most growth and investment in the wake of the pandemic, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association, a technology insights nonprofit. That will continue to trend up as HR departments become more reliant on technology.

"The partnership between IT and HR is essential when it comes to improving an organization's culture, productivity and overall collaboration," says Julie Simmons, chief information officer at Coca-Cola bottler and distributor, Swire Coca-Cola. "Data helps business leaders be more predictive and improve the health of the employee life cycle by getting ahead of problems we've historically chased behind. Organizations need both parts of the equation to understand that employee experience."

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The overall loss of everyday in-person contact and conversation has pushed chief human resource officers and chief information officers to work together in order to truly understand how well their employees are not only doing their job, but how they feel about that job. For example, employee sentiment surveys that periodically ask employees how they feel about systems and processes can produce valuable internal data. 

"Technological tools are the silent drivers behind an employee's affinity for their company," Simmons says. "This is especially true as we've seen the introduction of AI, which helps organizations collect data in real time, become more mainstream in the last few years. The burning question for CHRO and CIOs is, 'How are you using the data you have to really understand insights about the employee work experience?' When HR and IT departments work in silos and fail to collaborate, it results in system fragmentation."

Software companies like Humu have begun to step in and fill the gap, providing managers with actionable ways they can get involved in employees' work lives and create a pathway for employees to connect with their managers through technology — which is one of the biggest collaborations IT and HR will see this coming year, according to Laszlo Bock, executive chairman and co-founder of Humu. 

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"Focus on managers — they are the fulcrum that the entire organization balances on," Bock says. "Explicitly budget for experimentation [and] prune software and programs that don't work annually." 

These steps will be critical not only in companies' present retention plans, but will play an integral part in future recruiting plans, too, according to Simmons. 

"Following the Great Recession and Great Reshuffle, organizations are facing a war on talent," she says. "In order to recruit and retain top talent, organizations need to foster an environment where employees are having a great experience every day. Technology and tools that enable people to be successful and do their job are an essential piece of that."