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EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES AND ORGANIZATIONS WITH INTELLIGENT HR TECHNOLOGY

The use of intelligent technology is resulting in significant value – and
challenges – for HR. In our report, we provide a summary of survey findings as
well as our perspectives on how organizations can leverage intelligent tech to
improve the experience for employees at work.

 * Facebook
 * LinkedIn

SAP White Paper | PUBLIC
Empowering Employees and Organizations
with Intelligent HR Technology

Contents
Introduction 3
Part I: Is HR ready to embrace intelligent technology? 4
Part II: How do employees feel about intelligent technology at work? 6
Part III: How are organizations balancing intelligent technology and data
privacy? 9
Part IV: How can organizations empower employees with intelligent technology? 10
Conclusion 12
Appendix 13
2 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

In HR, use cases of intelligent technology – for example, artificial
intelligence
(AI) and machine learning (ML) – are becoming increasingly common
Whether it’s used to identify the right talent for employers, to provide
targeted skills and learning recommendations for employees, or to leverage
chatbots that improve service delivery across the organization, HR is
beginning to realize the significant value that intelligent technology can
offer. Yet according to research by IDC1, understanding where and how
to implement intelligent technology is one of the top 10 challenges HR is
grappling with today HR needs guidance as to where these technologies
will offer the most value, both to the organization and to employees, and
which use cases will be met with the least resistance Better understanding
employees’ comfort, preferences, and concerns related to the use of
intelligent technology is critical to ensuring organizational success and that
intelligent technology will enhance, rather than detract, from employees’
experience at work
To help better understand the impact of intelligent technology2 on employees
and organizations, the Growth & Insights team for SAP® SuccessFactors®
solutions hosted interviews with 41 HR leaders from SAP customer
organizations and conducted a survey of 1,378 employees from around
the globe
Our research focused on the following questions:
• What is the current state of organizational adoption of intelligent technology
for HR use cases, and what future trends are on the horizon?
• How do employees feel about the idea of intelligent technology at work,
generally, and about intelligent technology for specific HR use cases?
• What are the critical privacy and ethical considerations related to the use of
intelligent technology in HR?
• How can organizations facilitate the right conditions to increase employee
acceptance and foster adoption of intelligent technology in HR?
1IDC, Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Modern Human Resources Strategies
and Opportunities, 2022, Doc # US49130622, September 2022
2 Since originally conducting this research, advances in generative AI and Large
Language Models (LLMs) have attracted significant public attention on
the impact of intelligent technologies across all aspects of our lives. While
the present research did not look specifically at generative AI models such as
ChatGPT, our broader focus and findings related to intelligent technology in HR,
generally, would have applicability to this use case.
Introduction
Intelligent technology
is defined as any
technology that can
perform human-like
activities, such as
learning, problem
solving, or decision
making, without the
assistance of a human
3 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

“Non-Active” (44%)
• These companies were grappling with
immaturity of org from digitalization
perspective generally, often dealing with
existing legacy systems
• Unsure where or how to start their journey
with intelligent technology and are seeking
external guidance
• May have adopted very simple use
cases (for example, chatbot) but have
not considered adoption across
employee journey
“Reactive” (22%)
• These companies were often in process
of broader digital transformation, and
viewed adoption of intelligent technologies
as a priority
• Waited for technologies to prove
themselves before adopting, but now feel
prepared to act
• Question how quickly they can mobilize to
deliver more mature vision
“Proactive” (34%)
• These companies tended to be early
adopters of technology in general, staying
abreast of major trends and new/emerging
technologies
• Actively adopting intelligent technologies
across employee journey, though use cases
still tend to be relatively basic
• Sometimes have small team dedicated to
building these technologies in-house
Part I: Is HR ready to embrace intelligent
technology?
It was important for us to first understand organizations’ levels
of maturity related to intelligent technology adoption Were
organizations aggressively adopting these technologies, waiting for
them to first prove their value, actively avoiding adoption (unsure
Figure 1: The three maturity levels of organizations’ intelligent technology
adoption in HR
of where to start), or, somewhere in between? Not surprisingly, our
results showed a wide dispersion of maturity across the organizations
we spoke with
4 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

• Cost
• Stakeholder buy-in
• Accountability for delivering results
• Inconsistent priorities
• HR excluded from technological investment
conversations
Organizational
• Lack of AI authority
• Varying legal from country to country
• Uncertainty
• Data leaks/hacks/security risks
Legal
• Complicated integrations
• Data quality and availability
• Work needed to trainchatbots
• Biased data and algorithm development
Technical
• Distrust
• Lack of perceived value
• Tech overload/fatigue
• Change management required
• Lack of education about tech purpose
& operation
Employee
However, organizations also cited a number of
challenges that make increasing their maturity
feel like an uphill battle:
Figure 2: Reported challenges to adopting and using intelligent technologies in
HR
Importantly, nearly all organizations we spoke with indicated a desire to
increase their maturity, the most popular reasons cited by HR leaders
being to:
1. Ensure the longevity of their business
“If we continue to use old technologies as a business in the tech space, we
are doomed.”
2. Improve employee experience (EX)
“EX is everything. If we can improve it through AI/ML, that’s reason
enough to adopt.”
3. Make better use of their data
“Data is abundant today, and AI is the differentiator for how to make that
data meaningful and use it to drive meaningful change.”
4. Retain top talent
“The world is changing and if you don’t retain your talent, you’re in trouble.
The shift became very clear as a result of the pandemic.”
5 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Where are organizations investing today? What trends are on the horizon?
A key differentiator amongst those more and less mature organizations
was the breadth of their adoption of intelligent technology Although less
mature organizations tended to have adopted only a single use case or
several basic use cases in one HR area, more mature organizations had
explored adoption of intelligent technology across the entire employee
journey Interviews with our customer organizations revealed that
HR Area Use Cases Current
Priority
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 5
Future
Priority
Recruiting
Learning
Employee Engagement
Internal Mobility
Analytics*
recruiting and learning were the two highest priority areas for adoption
as of today, but interestingly were expected to be deprioritized in the near
future to make room for use cases that support employees and internal
mobility
CV matching, automated scheduling &
interviewing, chatbots, “Tinder Profile” for
employees
Learning recommendations/“pathways”
(what employee needs now, next, and what
skills org needs), VR learning
Chatbot (for admin and more complex
tasks), HR self-service & ticketing Intelligent
employee engagement platform
Skill profiles and career paths, opportunity
matching, succession identification
Workforce planning, skill planning
Figure 3: *While our primary focus is employee-facing examples of intelligent
tech in HR, there are also “back office” use cases HR currently/plans to
leverage.
Key HR areas and use cases: Current and future adoption priorities
6 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Part II: How do employees feel about
intelligent technology at work?
Our research revealed that decisions related to the adoption of intelligent
technology do not sit solely with HR, but rather span across other
decision-makers in the C-suite as well as legal, compliance, and other
groups However, we would argue that employees too should have a voice
(whether implicit or explicit) in the intelligent technology and use cases
that an organization implements
Indeed when we asked employees what they felt were the biggest
motivations behind companies adopting intelligent technology, the more
negative sentiments (for example, “to get employees to work longer and
harder” or “to automate or eliminate jobs”) were rated as the weakest
motivations, while positive benefits such as “to help employees do their
jobs more effectively” or “to give employees more flexibility in how they
work” were rated as the strongest
And, when it comes to responsible adoption, it turns out that employees
genuinely trust their employers. Our survey data shows that 75% of
employees agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I trust that
my company would only adopt intelligent technology that benefitted
*% of employees who selected “yes” vs “no”
Employees rated the following reasons the strongest
motivations behind companies adopting intelligent
technologies:
1. To improve company’s overall efficiency
2. To help employees do their jobs more effectively
3. To give employees more flexibility in how they worked
Employees rated the following reasons the weakest
motivations behind companies adopting intelligent
technologies:
1 To provide employees with a more personalized experience
2 To automate or eliminate employees’ jobs
3 To get employees to work longer and harder
Although the media has often depicted employees as being fearful of and
resistant toward intelligent technology at work, our employee survey data
paints a more nuanced picture The apprehension may exist, but so does
a sense of optimism and excitement about the potential value that these
technologies bring
Optimistic
80%
Excited
74%
Distressed
26%
Content
75%
Apprehensive
44%
Afraid
25%
Figure 4: Employees are generally positive about intelligent technologies at
work
Emotions elicited by intelligent technology*
employees” and 81% agreed or strongly agreed, “I trust that my company
would use intelligent technology responsibly ”
Taken together, these findings suggest that employees are not inherently
starting from a baseline of skepticism or distrust Therefore, organizations
have an opportunity to secure and build upon that trust by creating the
right conditions whereby intelligent technology enhance – rather than
detract from – their experience
Trust starts by understanding the specific use cases that employees are
comfortable with, and those that they feel are invasive or not beneficial.
7 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Assessing employee acceptance of intelligent technology use in HR
We asked employees to rate their comfort with 22 different HR use
cases of intelligent technology (the full list appears in the Appendix)
Across all use cases, only 23% of our respondents would be considered
“promoters” (for example, proponents of intelligent technology,
in general) whereas 35% would be considered “detractors” (for
example, skeptical of intelligent technology, in general), leaving 42%
as “passives” (for example, do not have a strong sentiment toward
intelligent technology, in general). This indicates, first, that employees
are indeed discerning about the application of intelligent technology in
the workplace, and second, that organizations have an opportunity to
increase overall acceptance and adoption by turning those employees
who are currently “passive” into promoters
People want technology to enable them
• Calculating the number of hours I spend working each day
• Answering my basic HR questions
• Completing basic HR tasks
• Suggesting relevant HR documents and instructions
• Suggesting learning courses I should take
• Calculating my pay increase
Figure 5: Turning detractors into passives and passives into promoters: Where to
start and what use cases to avoid
People do not want technology to evaluate them
• Conducting my exit interview when I leave a company
• Analyzing my performance in a job interview
• Assessing how well I communicate with others
• Determining my fit with a job I applied for
• Determining how well I am able to withstand challenges at work
• Measuring my stress at work and risk of quitting
• Analyzing my leadership (for example, how often I provide
feedback or recognition to coworkers)
Our take on these findings is not to suggest that organizations should
only adopt administrative use cases of intelligent technology, nor is it
to say that organizations should automatically and necessarily avoid
use cases where intelligent technology is used in a more evaluative
sense Rather, we believe that these results can be used to help
organizations know “where to start” – in other words, which use cases
are likely to be met with least resistance and can serve as a “foot in the
door” to further adoption And for those use cases that do encounter
resistance from employees, we urge organizations to take employee
sentiment into account and to consider how they can increase
employees’ sense of trust and comfort We discuss best practices
for increasing employees’ acceptance and adoption of intelligent
technology in part IV
When we dug into the data to understand which specific use cases
employees most and least preferred, we found that employees felt
most positively about instances where intelligent technology enabled
them to do their work more effectively, such as finding relevant
documents, answering basic questions, or identifying learning courses
they should take Employees felt most negatively about use cases
where intelligent technology was used to evaluate them, such as to
assess their performance, fit with a job, or skill level.
8 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

We wanted to understand the extent to which HR’s stated current and
future areas for intelligent technology investment matched up with the
areas that employees feel most comfortable and receptive toward
Our data suggests good alignment in general, but two particular areas
where HR and employees disagree are the use of intelligent technology
for recruiting and career pathing
Where are HR and Employees aligned?
Both HR and employees like intelligent technology for:
• Learning new skills
• Development opportunities
• HR self-service
Both HR and employees dislike intelligent technology for:
• Sensitive data
• Evaluation (of performance, potential, etc )
• Employee monitoring
Where are HR and Employees misaligned?
HR and employees disagree on the use of intelligent
technology for:
• Recruiting automation
• Career pathing
Are HR and employees on the same page?
Again, we do not include these findings to suggest that organizations
should avoid consider adopting intelligent technology for these two use
cases Rather, we want to reiterate the importance of understanding
employees’ concerns around recruiting and career pathing use cases
specifically so that interventions can be designed to increase trust and
acceptance
Figure 6: Use case desirability: Are employees and HR aligned?
9 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Part III: How are organizations balancing
intelligent technology and data privacy?
Perhaps more than any other topic, the privacy and ethical
considerations related to the use of intelligent technology have been
front and center in the popular and business press The organizations
we spoke with as part of our research echoed the critical importance of
data privacy and compliance, with many taking a “better safe than sorry”
approach, adopting the strictest possible privacy standards (for example,
GDPR1) even when not required by law
For employees, key privacy and ethical concerns relate to levels of
transparency as to how the intelligent technology works, the accuracy
and equity of decisions generated, and the sources of data used by the
technology
Indeed, when asked about a variety of different data sources, our survey
results show that employees are most comfortable with intelligent
technology accessing work-related data sources such as work calendars,
active status, time tracking, and e-mails, and least comfortable with
intelligent technology accessing data related to their physical body,
such as their tone of voice, eye movement, body language, or facial
expressions
While this result on its own may not be altogether shocking, it is an
important reminder that in the case of intelligent technologies, the
“means” are just as important for organizations to consider as the “ends ”
Calendars
Active States
Time Tracking
Emails
Internet History
Calls
Chat Communication
Texts
Tone of Voice
Physical Movements
Eye Movement
Body Language
Facial Expression
3 5
3 4
3 3
3 2
3 1
3 0
2 9
2 8
2 7
2 6
2 5
1GDPR – The General Data Protection Regulation, a data privacy and security law
in the European Union.
“Can and will this data ever be used
against employees? Can we delete
records and be sure that the data is
deleted everywhere in the system?
What are and aren’t employees
comfortable with? These are all
extremely important questions to
us ”– HR leader
Employee Comfort Rating
Figure 7: Certain data sources are more likely to violate employees’ privacy
expectations
10 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Part IV: How can organizations empower
employees with intelligent technology?
1. Provide employees with more information about the purpose and
scope of the technology
To make employees feel more comfortable with and willing to use
intelligent technology, transparency is key, as one of the HR leaders
we interviewed stated Indeed, of 44 interventions tested in our
survey, we found that “Providing employees more information about
the data intelligent technology uses” (#1) and “Providing employees
more information about how the intelligent technology works” (#2)
were rated most important to increasing employees’ willingness to
use intelligent technology It is also in organizations’ best interests
to provide employees with more transparency around where their
data is stored, how it will and won’t be used, and the rationale
behind organization adopting the intelligent technology In fact,
“Understanding the benefits associated with the use of the technology
(for example, “what’s in it for me?”)” was rated the second most
important intervention by those “detractor” respondents in our survey,
suggesting that this information is particularly important for getting
more skeptical employees on board
2. Ensure decision accuracy and equity
One of the biggest concerns associated with the use of AI discussed
in the popular and business press is bias. In fact, IDC1 predicts that
by 2025, 50% of the Global 2000 will increase data scientist diversity
by 50% to help mitigate AI bias and errors in development and model
training According to our own employee survey data, “Conducting
tests to ensure decisions and recommendations generated by the
intelligent technology are equitable” was the third most important
intervention overall to increase employees’ willingness to use intelligent
technology However, when it came to those particularly skeptical
employees (for example, “detractors”), this was rated the most
important intervention, followed by other accountability mechanisms
such as “Establishing an organizational fairness officer or ethics board
to be responsible for implementation ”
When it comes to introducing intelligent technology in the workplace
and driving a positive experience for employees, our research suggests
the following best practices:
3. Give employees autonomy where possible
It is important that employees have a sense of autonomy and
ownership when it comes to their data As discussed earlier, many of
the organizations we spoke with are taking an extremely conservative
approach to data management and asking critical questions around
ability to access and delete data permanently This is top of mind for
employees as well. Our survey data shows that employees rated “The
ability to access any data collected by intelligent technology upon
request” and “Allowing employees to opt out of any systems collecting
data that they are not comfortable with” as the #4 and #5 most
important interventions (out of 16) for increasing their willingness to
use intelligent technology
“Rarely can you overcommunicate
to employees – especially when it
comes to adoption of technology ”
– HR leader
1IDC, Futurescape: Worldwide Future of Customer and Consumer 2022 Predictions,
2022, Doc #US48297321, October 2021
11 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

4. Be thoughtful about notifications, nudges, and reminders
As intelligent technology becomes a bigger part of employee’s working
life, so too do the nudges and notifications these technologies generate.
While 81% of surveyed employees said they rely on notifications and
nudges at work to complete tasks and 67% feel “positive” or “very
positively” about receiving notifications, nudges and reminders at
work, employees also expressed some concerns. Employees’ top-rated
concerns related to notifications, nudges, and reminders were:
1. Receiving too many notifications and nudges that are irrelevant
2. Not receiving notifications and nudges that are relevant
3. Receiving notifications and nudges at inconvenient times
When asked about how their experience with nudges, notifications,
and reminders could be improved, employees said the following
interventions would be most impactful:
1. Allow users to set custom nudges, notifications, and reminders
2. Allow users to choose the type of notifications, nudges, or reminders
they receive
3. Allow users to choose when they do and do not receive nudges,
notifications, and reminders
5. Drive an innovative and supportive culture
Successful implementation of intelligent technology requires more than
a focus on the technology itself. There are also important cultural drivers
that can “make or break” the success of intelligent technology as far as
employees willingness to accept and adopt. Indeed, our research found
that employees who were more likely to be “promoters” of intelligent
technology overall tended to be those who 1) worked for organizations
with stronger innovation cultures (for example, work environments
that nurture creativity and innovation), 2) perceived having more
organizational support, and 3) had stronger trust in technology,
generally.
By working to drive an innovative and supportive culture, and provide
the resources and training necessary to generate a high level of trust in
technology, we can facilitate an environment where employees are more
likely to accept intelligent technology.
Top 5 most impactful interventions amongst:
Full employee sample
Give employees more information about the data smart
technology uses
Conduct tests to ensure decisions and recommendations
generated by smart technology are equitable
Give employees more information about how the smart
technology works
Provide employees with more information about the
benefits of using new technologies
Conduct tests to ensure decisions and recommendations
generated by smart technology are equitable
Provide employee with more information about how the new
technology works
Allow employees the ability to access any data collected by smart
technology upon request
Establish an organizational fairness officer or ethics board
to be responsible for implementation
Allow employees to opt out of any systems collecting data about
they employee that they are not comfortable with
Providetheoptionto “humanoverride”decisionsmadebysmart
technology
121 “detractors”
Figure 8: Research best practice #1: Provide employees with more information and
assurances of equity
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 5
12 / 13Empowering E mployees and O rganizations with Intelligent HR T echnology

Together, our research with HR leaders and employees paints a complex
picture when it comes to the future of intelligent technology in HR With
employees expressing both apprehension and optimism, trust and skepticism,
organizations find themselves in a unique position. Those that choose to
prioritize employees’ preferences, comfort and trust will inevitably see greater
long-term acceptance and adoption of intelligent technology, and ultimately
generate a more positive experience for employees at work
Conclusion
13 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Evaluative use cases
• Determining your fit with a job you applied to
• Analyzing your performance in a job interview
• Evaluating your knowledge, skills, and abilities
• Evaluating your personality traits and interests
• Analyzing your leadership (for example, how often you provide feedback
or recognition to coworkers)
• Assessing how well you communicate with others
• Determining how well you are able to withstand challenges at work
• Determining how engaged you are during virtual meetings
• Evaluating your progress against your work goals
• Calculating your pay increase
• Evaluating your readiness for promotion
• Measuring your stress at work and risk of quitting
Appendix
Administrative use cases
• Answering your basic HR questions (for example, “what are the company
holidays?”)
• Completing your basic HR tasks (for example, requesting a day off work)
• Suggesting relevant HR documents and instructions (for example, how to
apply for parental leave)
• Conducting your exit interview when you leave the company
• Calculating the number of hours you spend working each day
Developmental use cases
• Suggesting learning courses or training you should take
• Suggesting career paths you should pursue
• Suggesting jobs or projects in your company you would be good at
• Suggesting people in your company who could be your career coach or
mentor
• Prompting a development conversation with your manager
Below is the list of all intelligent technology use cases included in our global
employee survey
14 / 13Empowering Employees and Organizations with Intelligent HR Technology

Lauren Bidwell, Ph.D., Senior Research
Scientist, SAP SuccessFactors
Caitlynn Sendra, Ph.D., EX Product Scientist,
SAP SuccessFactors
Talya Bauer, Ph.D., Cameron Endowed
Professor of Management, Portland State
University
Donald Truxillo, Ph.D., Professor, Kemmy
Business School, University of Limerick,
Ireland
enUS (23/03)
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