As AI continues to transform the workplace, Ashu Sawhney, DCB Bank’s HR head, emphasises the enduring value of human connection. She believes that soft skills like empathy, creativity, and adaptability will remain essential, even in an increasingly automated world. This balance enhances operational effectiveness and ensures that employees feel valued, understood, and connected.
Can you elaborate on DCB Bank’s initiatives to leverage AI for complex HR tasks? Are there any areas where AI has been particularly impactful?
AI is changing the way we work and think. Seemingly repetitive tasks are done at the click of a button and assist us in complex HR tasks. AI has worked well for us, particularly in areas like recruitment for resume parsing, application tracking systems (ATS), and data management for sharp analytics. For us, AI has been impactful in screening resumes and it has led to an estimated time save of around 30%. It is a great tool to collect data unobtrusively to help make decisions about talent, cost, engagement, et al. We are trying to create an ecosystem in which redundant and repetitive tasks can be automated. It will also help in decision-making regarding people matters, thanks to the insightful data analytics it can provide. It will also promote continuous learning and increased productivity.
AI has been introduced in some domains and it shows great support to us. Continual feedback on employee sentiment and pertinent data analytics are some of the areas where AI has been particularly impactful.
How do you envision generative AI transforming DCB Bank’s HR processes?
Why worry about the future, when it is already here? AI is already transforming the way we work. At our organisation, we have started incorporating this through applicant tracking, sentiment analysis, and advanced data analytics. Wellness through technology will continue to grow through gamification, online doctor consultations, and on-site health checkups.
Going ahead, I am sure that AI will help improve employee experience during onboarding, job mobility, and engagement. AI will also be a great aid to us in the Learning and Development space, by being an aid to “teach” compliance, HR processes, etc through quizzes and other interactive gamification. It will help in differential rewards and recognition, based on employees’ likes.
Beyond recruitment, how is DCB Bank utilising new technologies to enhance employee engagement, performance management, and reward & recognition programs? Can you share some specific examples?
There are various touchpoints where employees and technology interact. Our HRIS system improves employee experience which helps track employees from recruitment, selection, onboarding, salary, and even exit. Employees, and even ex-employees, can access their documents and pay slips online. We are working to integrate chatbots and AI-integrated tools to make this experience more meaningful.
At DCB Bank, we are always keen to hear what our employees think. We have created multiple feedback channels, some of which are industry benchmarks, in getting the pulse of the people. AI is helping refine this through sentiment analysis at specific touchpoints in an employee’s career cycle. For example, understanding feedback after major events like appraisals is a great source of input for us. Similarly, the mood-o-meter to check mood at the end of the day shows stress and underlying EWS (early warning signs).
Besides, the Bank’s online Rewards and Recognition platform is a great way for employees to show appreciation and also be on the receiving end for goodies, badges of honour, and more. This is displayed like a notice board where all can see who is recognised and for what. We have a round-the-clock doctor assistance service available and walkathons to encourage healthy living. Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) also allows chat and online counselling sessions for employees and their family members.
Our promotion process, which is in itself a unique method, is also administered online. It involves a test or interview basis your grade/level. The test is taken online and the feedback from interviews is captured in real time for ease of evaluation. This helps in managing the entire process smoothly.
While technology automates many tasks, are there aspects of HR that require a human touch? What skills are becoming crucial for HR professionals in the age of automation?
Technology is important but human touch is required to sense the emotions of the employees and respond. AI can replace routine tasks, but not empathy and emotional intelligence. It will free up our time to excel in talent nurturing, connect, and strategy building. While mundane, repetitive tasks may reduce, what you do with the data and information collected will be crucial.
Since, software and AI will be taking over and automating more and more routine tasks, soft skills will become more important than ever. In particular, soft skills such as creativity, adaptability, and communication will become even more in demand.
We will also need to become more adept at using these AI techniques to make decisions about talent, performance management and engagement. We would like to intertwine high tech and high touch. The help desk would be the first step to reach out for a routine query, and the employee can reach out to their HR Business Partner for more in case of further queries.
If budget weren’t a constraint, what single emerging technology would DCB Bank prioritize for HR and why?
It is hard to ascertain a single all-encompassing technology, given the rapid changes we see. The ever-evolving tech space makes any technology obsolete almost instantly.
Having said that, I believe that any technology that would allow a wing-to-wing (pre-hire to post-departure for the organisation) experience to employees – past, present and future, would be the one to watch out for. I would like Data Lake to be the core for real-time updates.