These days you can’t turn the corner or switch websites without reading an article about the ‘talent crisis’. The message? We are in the midst of the largest talent gap our technology industry, and most industries, have ever faced. What surprises me is how many of these articles talk about the great resignation, retirement acceleration, and underemployment as a trend that happened due to the pandemic when in fact all the statistics would lead you to believe that this was a trend that had been growing over the past decade and just reached its boiling point a few years early due to the pandemic impact.
The reality is the employee experience at many companies has floundered over the past decade leaving our industry without a solid pipeline of talent, and with a turnover issue as employees burn out on the constant pressure, risks, and demands of a role in a technology-rich business environment. Make no mistake, almost all companies are now technology companies, and so more and more employees are beginning to walk down the path of employee burnout and employee disengagement. So today I want to chat with you a little bit about how Blockchain can change that game and how to identify a partner who can help you with this journey to excellent employee experiences using blockchain technology.
Secure Employee Data
Let’s start with a basic employee experience that should always be on offer: secure employee data. No employee wants their personal data to be hacked, that’s a truly bad employee experience. Your human resources policies demand that we gather more and more data about our employees but your practices to secure that data need constant improvement to deliver the type of employee experience security-conscious employee demands. Enter blockchain. Handling sensitive employee data related to pay, healthcare, finance, banking, disciplinary records, performance records, expense reimbursement, and more seamlessly for your employee data protection.
Since all the data that your HR department maintains is at risk of being hacked and exploited, it is critically important that safeguards are implemented to prevent fraud and maintain security. As the hackers get more and more creative blockchain is quickly becoming a game-changer for human resources to ramp up their security posture. Blockchain has proven to be highly effective for risk management. Access to the blockchain is limited and controlled and even those with access can’t arbitrarily or intentionally make changes to the record. This limits both internal fraud and external hacks of sensitive employee records delivering that all-important basic employee experience right of secure data for your firm.
Need help implementing an HR solution? Look for ecosystem partners who offer HRIS platforms today and are savvy in the use of blockchain technology for secure data.
Blockchain for the Retail Associate Employee Experience
How about the employee experience for store associates? Can blockchain improve their days? For this one let’s use the recent news that the FDA may make blockchain use a requirement for tracking food safety. This was no surprise to Walmart, which has been using a blockchain database to track produce it receives from suppliers to reduce contamination, recalls, and offer better insights into their local grower programs.
How does this improve a retail store associate’s day? Imagine what happens when a recalled product has been sold at a retail chain. The returns, the customer calls, the customer complaints, and the sheer act of ensuring all product is off the shelf can turn an already tough job into a nightmare job in a moment. Using blockchain technology retailers like Walmart are taking that burden off the store associates and placing it on the manufacturer, getting ahead of the trends, and limiting customer impact.
This is a win for the employee experience. Look for partners who have experience with tracking the condition and status of items using blockchain to find the right partner to help you automate and protect your customers and employees from these negative experiences.
Implement Innovative Thinking
Blockchain will also eliminate the need for many repetitive tasks, long a negative impact on the employee experience. At a recent blockchain summit, a CEO of a highly funded startup estimated that blockchain could make 30–60% of current jobs redundant, by enabling people to share data securely with a common record driving complexity and repetitive activities out of the business as well as their jobs.
As a result, to thrive in this new blockchain world, organizations need to apply fresh and innovative thinking to ensure their workforce is ready for the coming changes. Using blockchain technology to eliminate these routine tasks, reduce costs and transform how your business operates will help support the development of innovative new products and entirely new careers as we transform to a truly digital workplace.
Identifying a partner who can help you identify the future of your business, impact on employees, and how to improve your employee retention because of an improved employee experience would be time well spent.
While the concept of blockchain playing a role in the future of work and the resultant employee experience may seem futuristic at first, the prospects and potential are enormous, and they are coming quickly. This technology could not only streamline processes but also reshape the way we search for jobs and build the right teams. It’s a good time to think about your employee experience, why it’s leading to turnover or difficulty in hiring, and how you might use the right blockchain expert to help overcome those issues.
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