Improving HR Activities With Low- and No-code Development
More businesses are exploring low- and no-code development, which enables employees outside of IT to design and develop software solutions to problems specific to their function. A low-code development platform requires users to have little or no coding experience, increasing accessibility and feasibility for many functions and teams, including HR professionals. Similarly, no-code platforms require no coding experience.
More HR departments and professionals are leveraging technology to reimagine common or time-consuming processes. In addition to time savings, some organizations may experience successful business results when they embrace the right technology for the workplace.
This article explores how low- and no-code development tools can support everyday HR activities and allow more time for higher-level or strategic job functions.
Understanding the Trend
Low-code development is becoming a trend across all technology and industries. According to Gartner research, implementation of low-code software development is growing by more than 20% per year. The global market for low-code development platforms was $13.8 billion in 2021 and is estimated to reach $29 billion by 2025. Furthermore, Gartner predicts that 70% of new applications developed by companies will use low-code or no-code technologies by 2025—up from less than 25% in 2020. Adoption by small and medium-sized organizations and an overall increase in digital transformation efforts are likely drivers of this growth.
Low-code capabilities may be on the rise since they can support remote-work functions, such as workflow automation and digital tools. This technology will likely increase as more organizations develop sustainable remote and hybrid workplace strategies and low-code technology awareness continues to grow.
Additionally, this technology can be a solution to address a lack of software engineers or IT professionals in an organization, allowing virtually anyone to be a developer.
Reimagining HR Functions
HR is an example of a department best armed with low- and no-code resources; given the wide range of responsibilities, these practitioners can directly control the design and development of their solutions. They can build websites, mobile apps and employee portals that manage various aspects of the HR portfolio. This unique advantage allows HR professionals to build such tools while applying their business logic and expertise. With technology, HR professionals are empowered to reconfigure or build the solutions they need to do their jobs better or more efficiently.
As a jumping-off point, HR professionals can leverage low- or no-code tools to address departmental pain points or regular processes, such as the following:
Recruiting candidates
Managing the candidate pipeline
Hiring candidates
Onboarding employees
Tracking employee status
Training employees
Facilitating payroll
Handling reimbursement requests
Administering benefits systems
Automating workflows
Managing talent programs
In general, this type of development could improve HR systems that heavily rely on spreadsheets, emails and legacy systems, which slow down departmental functions. Some low-code platforms from well-known software companies include Amplify Studio (from Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Power Pages, Oracle Cloud Human Capital Management and Salesforce Platform. This type of evolving technology can help HR professionals shift their focus from administrative or time-consuming tasks to high-impact tasks—like strategy, employee engagement and change management.
HR and recruiting professionals are also likely to have a shallow learning curve with low-code development as they are likely already competent with spreadsheets and other technology platforms. Since they’re familiar with using digital platforms, HR professionals may be on a faster track for learning and mastering these development tools.
Summary
Since low- and no-code applications can help HR professionals streamline menial tasks and focus on higher-level job functions, it’s beneficial to start thinking about how these options may fit into improving HR functions or other current processes. Low- and no-code technology can also help streamline processes and activities across the organization or increase efficiency in other departments. Fortunately, HR’s specific skill sets can be helpful and equipped to partner with IT and other departments to best incorporate low-code technology.
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This HR Insights is not intended to be exhaustive nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as professional advice. © 2022 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.