In the conversation with BW People, Shyam Verma, CHRO, JK Technosoft shares his own experience and observation about the evolution of technology and AI specifically in the HR department; how technology is helping every organization to afloat during this pandemic; and how would the future look like.

How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted the IT industry? What steps JK Technosoft is taking to keep the work afloat in this worldwide tension?

Pandemics have affected life in different epochs since time unknown to mankind. However, the emergence of COVID-19 has a huge impact on the global economy. The IT industry at the same time is witnessing new realities while adapting the “new normal”. The IT industry is in the middle of another disruption with the accelerated remote working, rapid deployment of automation/digital solutions, and lower up-front costs.

JK Technosoft is working relentlessly to tackle the situation. IT companies require heavy manpower and due to restrictions in the movement of people we did face some difficulties initially in smooth functioning. Employees are the real asset of every organization, thus; safeguarding them from any critical situation is the foremost responsibility of any organization. The process of Work from Home has always been a part of work culture in JK Technosoft so the transition of implementing remote working did happen without any glitch. But a complete lockdown made us relook at the overall processes and operations to ensure smooth functioning while operating from home using collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, Cisco WebEx, and other online tools.

All in all, technological intervention and the adoption of digital solutions helped us to stay afloat in spite of the times of crisis.

How companies are evaluating employees' performance while working from home? How will you decide the incentives and promotions this year using technology?

While working from home, the major challenge in front of the companies is evaluating the employee's performance. The major factor that is considered while evaluation is Time in general. But, at JK Technosoft our evaluation is based on the performance of the employees based on the quality and quantity of the work that is submitted. Time is a necessary factor, and if quality work is submitted in time or prior to the allotted time, it is considered for evaluation. Also, we keep a check on the result, or the outcome obtained from the work submitted and this helps in evaluating the employees for incentives and promotions.

How JK Technosoft is keeping the workforce engaged while employees are working 24*7? How is technology playing a predominant role in keeping the workforce engaged?

JK Technosoft believes in hiring an efficient workforce of tech-wizards. Due to our existence and experience in this field for the past 26 years, we are proud to be skilled at the optimum utilization of the right talent at suitable positions. This has resulted in the best outcomes for the company. For JK Technosoft, technology matters, but its employees are of utmost importance. We have a multi-tiered reward and recognition system which helps us to reward those who deserve and have given the best performance in their field. We are also planning soon to organize onboarding, Thank You Awards, and our annual recognition awards as a virtual event this year given the current situation.

The current situation demands companies to transition toward the next normal and plan across multiple horizons. Crisis and recovery demand agile leadership. Humility, Transparency, and forward-thinking strategies are the basis of our regular employee- leadership meetups/connections. In addition, to keep the employees “highly engaged” fun team activities are organized such as online quizzes, yoga challenge, best out of the waste challenge, and Online Team Scavenger Hunt, to name a few. These activities not only help in employee engagement and maintaining employee morale but also boost their spirits.

How technology is helping your organization to afloat in this pandemic? Tell something about the projects and achievements you gained amidst COVID19?

Technology plays a phenomenal role in helping enterprises to keep business afloat during the ongoing adversity. Digital Solutions focused on Integrated Intelligent Automation, Customer Experience and Analytics will result in increased productivity and reduced costs.

Bringing in a revolutionary change and setting an example, JK Technosoft went-live with the implementation of a supply chain solution for ImpelPro SCM Solutions on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV platform, while the entire team was working remotely from the confinements of their home spaces.The specialty of the project lies in its implementation where none of the parties met in person owing to the Government’s orders on social distancing.

High-tea parties, Celebration, and monthly team lunches play a vital role in keeping employees enthusiastic? How technology is compensating for this?

While all these were helpful in the pre-COVIDcontext when everyone worked from the office; engaging employees remotely is another ball game altogether, where physical office culture needs to be transitioned to the virtual workplaces.This not only helps in maintaining the personal touch but also ensures employees do not feel isolated. Thus, virtual recreational activities. Video calls and virtual team meets can uplift the mood and enthusiasm of the employees in these bleak times.

How emerging technologies like Chatbots, AI will become an important part of the HR department in the near future?

Artificial Intelligence has found its way into almost every IT company and the HR department has not escaped from the magic of AI in this wave of technology. The integration of Artificial Intelligence with HR can be a way of reinventing HR and can be a key enabler of better employee experience. This helps in making better decisions for functions such as talent management, recruitment, payroll, reporting.

HR department equipped with AI results in better onboarding experience, training enthusiasts, engaging employees, etc.

Hereby, even though AI and chatbots have become successful in establishing a proper role in the department, the need for humans still exists and is valued as much as it was before. We must get ready for accepting the new structure of workforce design where humans and robots work together.

Is JK Technosoft planning to come back to work or will continue working from home?

JKT has always planned steps in time to avoid last-minute decisions or last-minute rush. In the current situation, we are working with the local authorities and would follow the guidelines given by them. Our prime objective is to safeguard our employees and would take a decision to keep this as our primary focus. We are still monitoring the situation, but also exploring the options of long term and short-term work from home.

Since ages, there have been debates around how “How Future of workplace looks like”. What are your views on this? Will technology replace humans?

JK Technosoft believes in constant evolution. We believe that in the future there would be a change in leadership from authoritarian to a liberal one. The influence and adoption of digital solutions such as RPA, AI, Chatbot, IoT, Blockchain, etc. will overtake human efforts but, there would still be a need for moderating and maintaining the technology, which is where humans will come into play. As stated earlier also the future workplace will be more like human employees working with digital ones. The workforce is more valued by JK Technosoft than technology. Hereby, quoting all the possibilities of the future workplace.