Your best HR manager is not human.

Technology in HR: You gotta love it.

Technology in HR: You gotta love it.

Value of Amazon stock in last three years: More than doubled.

Value of Macy’s stock in last three years: Halved.

Choice multiplied by convenience equals empowerment. Amazon offers that. Macy’s less so. What was once an impenetrable strength — human attention and a physical experience — is suddenly a chink in the armor.

If consumers prefer online to stores and shop attendants, why would employees be any different?

Do you want to walk up to and talk to a HR person or sort yourself out online? You know the answer.

Why is Technology so attractive? And, why it may be the best HR manager you have in your team?

Because:

Technology is Egalitarian: Technology is hierarchy-free. When done online, communication need not be ‘cascade’ dependent. Conversation in all directions — up, down or around — is easy and natural. While roles and responsibilities operate in an organization framework, online communication has no prescriptive framework.

Technology is Bias-Free: Problem solution is not influenced by mood of the day, face of the day, time of the day or any bias that is conscious or unconscious.

Technology is Transparent: A group of people, dedicated to a common goal, performs better when everyone in the group has the same information. Technology enables that. Quality of deployment rather than mere possession of information becomes the key success factor.

Technology is Collaborative: Of course, we already know this. Yet, the power of collaboration through technology is seriously under-utilized — even now. A business that has acquired the capability to collaborate through technology is already ahead — based on just this factor.

Technology is Entertaining: Communication, collaboration, analytics, problem-solving, process management and learning: On a great technology platform, all of this can be very engaging. Almost addictive. There are immense possibilities of instant endorsement, reinforcement and the joy of a real dialogue.

Technology is Insightful: With the right aggregation of data and a little training, the doors of HR analytics can open wide. Way more meaningful analytics than the same old stuff on the ‘employee life cycle’. Analytics that goes to the root of value generation by individuals, groups or entire organization units in one combination or another.

With options of HR technology now on cloud and as-a-service, think of technology investment dollars as the cost of a few HR managers. Try the man/woman + machine combination to create your HR team.

To think like that, at first, it would help if you are egalitarian, bias-free, transparent, collaborative, entertaining and insightful.