Towards an Automated, Vigilant, and Strategic HRM Function in Industry 5.0

Introduction

The HRM function is witnessing a drastic change in how it operates in industry 4.0 as more and more applications of automation and robotics are coming into the picture. In the wake of this digital revolution, many managers are constantly updating themselves in terms of the latest tools and technologies being used in the HRMS. At the same time, some are still sceptical about using people analytics and other technological advances in the domain. In both US and China, many solutions related to the application of AI and automation in HR function are being deployed so that the people in HR function can partner for a transformational journey which will improve the overall function and efficiency at work (Brin, 2019). No wonder, as we move towards the next industrial revolution, robots will start working alongside humans in the manufacturing sectors and in other service sectors, the robots will be helping the humans to maximize the efficiency of the processes. It is the collaborative efforts of the man and the robots that will thrive in the industry 5.0 where the robots will continue to play its active role in the manufacturing process whereas the humans will step in, with their creative part providing the feedback in the manufacturing process before creation of the final product and thus by complementing each other in the production process, the collaborative robots will play an important role in industry 5.0 (Østergaard, 2016). As per the latest report by Cognizant, with the ushering of AI and automation, the human resources professionals need to play the role of being the detective of the HR data where they can investigate the different patterns of data originating from IT systems, a survey of employees, attendance systems etc., and thus understand the behavioural patterns of the employees and be aware of the pulse of the organization through the employee sentiments and emotions (Brown et al., 2020). In this regard, the role of HR managers must be much more than just remaining confined to the traditional HRMS software and interacting with humans on an ad-hoc basis. This chapter thus focuses on the revised role of HR in the upcoming industrial revolution, i.e., industry 5.0 and how they will be contributing to the overall organizational success. The first section of this chapter focuses on reviewing the literature, while the subsequent sections focus on constructing the conceptual frameworks based on which the HRM functions would be operating, while referring to the relevant literature. The author also raises a few questions further on what could be the challenges and the road ahead while stressing on the fact that it will be the HR managers who will be playing a more controlling, strategic and vigilant role while upgrading themselves to the latest technological offerings required in this function.