John Soat, Oracle BRANDVOICE brand contributor, wrote in Forbes about how smart technology in HCM Cloud makes HR more personal.

Smart Technology in HCM Cloud That Makes HR More Personal

Voice-Enabled Digital Assistants

Oracle has added a range of new features to its Cloud-based human resources applications, including extensive self-service functions, “smart” controls, and expanded point-to-point connectivity – all facilitated by a mobile-device-oriented, voice-enabled digital assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The new features derive from Oracle’s overall application strategy – characterized by voice recognition through a mobile interface, an intuitive and pervasive digital assistant, and a recommendation engine whose machine learning algorithms allow it to constantly improve.

“It’s really about how employees are interacting with the organization and how we can enable them to do that in a more efficient, better way.”

-Chris Leone, Senior Vice President of Development for Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud

Along with voice, Oracle’s HCM digital assistant can understand SMS texts and emails. Users can also access it via home voice-command devices. The digital assistant’s natural language processing and ML algorithms help it learn the “intent” behind words and phrases and provide help sorting out resumes or offer recommendations and next steps during interactions with employees. For example, the digital assistant will give employees quick answers to common questions like “Who is my HR representative?” and “What are my benefits?” Kai Petzelt, Oracle Vice President of Product Marketing, it will also remind employees to complete HR processes like performance reviews and offer “prompts” about potential career moves.

Job candidates will also be able to submit their applications using the digital assistant, import data into the Oracle recruiting app from LinkedIn, and ask questions about career options and benefits coverage. Leone explained that a human-centric set of questions allows applicants to experience what it will be like to work at that company.

Experience Design Studio

An AI-powered digital assistant isn’t the only way to bolster the effectiveness of HR organizations and processes. Leone explained that one thing Oracle is focused on is providing a much more personalized experience for every employee and worker within the enterprise.

Oracle’s recently introduced Experience Design Studio, part of its HCM Cloud suite, is a “non-coding environment” that lets HR business managers create “conditional rules” – processes or transactions that an employee is allowed to be involved in. These processes are tailored to that employee’s country, business unit, and role in the organization. It lets them create “event-based business processes” that kick off the next set of HR tasks after a significant change, such as when an employee gets married.

Career mobility is of increasing importance to today’s workforce and to every forward-looking employer who is looking to head off a looming labor shortage and brain drain. That is why Leone said Oracle HCM Cloud is being modernized to focus on enabling employers to provide an environment where their employees understand what their future selves look like.

Connections in HCM Cloud

Leone demonstrated a new Oracle HCM Cloud applications called Connections that runs on the company’s redesigned mobile user interface, Redwood. Resembling a combination search engine and mapping system, it lets employees find people in the organization that are like them, according to Leone.

By using Connections with the HCM digital assistant and its predictive search capability, workers can explore their organization by way of a variety of categories (i.e. skills, departments, people, geography) in order to find a new job or someone who they want to connect with. Leone noted that a company’s HR system is really the only enterprise system that touches every single employee, which is why it is an ideal place to start driving AI and other technology innovations throughout the organization.

To learn more about smart technology in HCM Cloud, check out the additional resources attached below.

Additional Resources

COLLABORATE 20 will take place April 19-23, 2020 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada! Don’t miss this chance to share inspiration, insights, and solutions with your peers, vendors, and the Oracle team! Register before March 6, 2020, to take advantage of Early Bird pricing.

Save the date for Quest Experience Week! This free, four-day event is jam-packed with digital education designed to provide both strategic insight and how-to-education for Oracle users of all levels. Each day is dedicated to a different product and begins with a keynote followed by afternoon breakout sessions. Join us November 12-15, 2019, for conference-quality education from the comfort of your desk!

• Cloud Day: November 12
• Database Day: November 13
• PeopleSoft Day: November 14
• JD Edwards Day: November 15

For more Oracle HCM Cloud resources, case studies, best practices, etc., check out Quest’s Oracle HCM Cloud Content Center. There are resources and training available for all aspects of HCM Cloud, including payroll, analytics, recruiting, and more!