Streamlining HR Processes with Prashant Khambekar, Harbinger Group

In this episode of the HRchat show, we consider ways to streamline everything from recruitment to retirement and where tech will fit in over the next few years.

The guest this time is Prashant Khambekar, SVP at Harbinger Group, a global technology company that builds products and solutions aiming to transform the way people work and learn.

For 30 years, the firm has been innovating alongside organizations that are in the people business – serving the Human Resources, eLearning, Digital Publishing, Education, and High-Tech sectors.

Questions For Prashant Include:

• What would you say the future of HR looks like? What should HR expect in the future in terms of the evolution of the workplace, HR function, HR process, employee management, or nature of work? 
• AI is replacing huge numbers of traditional jobs, what role do you believe technology will play in the future of HR?
• We all know DEI is a crucial area for HR to manage. How do think technology will shape the space over the next few years? What DEI technologies can HR adopt?
• How will automation and integration help resolve challenges with HR systems or improve HR processes?
• How can technology enhance employee experience?

More About Harbinger

At Harbinger, we understand that building a great solution requires in-depth knowledge of the user, the nuances of the business, and expertise in technology. That is why we provide both end-to-end product development and content services.

Their pedigree in eLearning and building next-generation products has fostered a culture of continuous learning. We experiment with new technologies, easily embrace new ideas, and creatively apply them to our customer’s products. Their products and solutions enable workforce transformation through continuous innovation.

We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast and Iceni Media Inc.   

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the HR Chat Show, one of the world's most downloaded and shared podcasts designed for HR pros, talent execs, tech enthusiasts, and business leaders for hundreds more episodes and what's new in the world of work. Subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hr gazette.com.

Speaker 2: 0:25

Welcome to another episode of the HR Chat Show. I'm your host today, bill Banham, and in this episode, we are gonna consider ways to streamline everything from recruitment through to retirement, and where tech will fit in over the next few years. Geez, this is gonna be a big episode. Listeners, my awesome guest joining me on this particular sh episode is Presant Kabaka, SVP over at Harbinger Group, a global tech company that builds products and solutions aiming to transform the way that people work and learn. For 30 years, the firm has been innovating alongside organizations that are in the people business, serving the human resources, e-learning, digital publishing, education, and high tech sectors. Prashant, it's my pleasure to welcome you to the show today.

Speaker 3: 1:14

Oh, thank you so much. And greetings to you and your audience from Philadelphia. So wonderful to join you.

Speaker 2: 1:22

Beautiful Philadelphia. Do you know there's a city that I haven't managed to get to yet? I've done something like 38 states outta 50, but I, um, and I've been to Pennsylvania a few times, but never been to Philadelphia. I wanna, I wanna go, I wanna go up those steps and, and jump up and down like Rocky. It's on my list, of

Speaker 3: 1:37

Course, yes. It's a, it's a city you full of history and full of art.

Speaker 2: 1:42

So, beyond my reintroduction there, why don't you start by introducing yourself a little bit to the audience and telling them about the mission of Harbinger Group.

Speaker 3: 1:51

As Bill said, I'm the SVP here, and I had the HR business. Uh, so we have been doing HR for a long time. We have been doing it for, uh, roughly, uh, 25 years. And, uh, uh, you know, we, we build systems for, uh, other companies. Uh, so we essentially build systems for you. Uh, we have some products, but mostly we build, uh, and also, uh, manual manipulate the data for you. Uh, the, the company is, uh, you know, fairly stable and well known and, uh, you know, uh, the mission of Harbinger essentially is to help everyone with their work. Uh, so, you know, wherever your workplace is now, you know, we are there and we are helping you as well as the hr, uh, people and the HR staff, the HR executives, uh, to just have, uh, you know, perfectly smooth systems.

Speaker 4: 2:50

If you're enjoying this episode of the HR Chat Show by HR Gazette, why not subscribe and get the latest episodes delivered straight to you several times each week. And remember, for the latest articles and interviews related to what's new in the world of work, visit hr gazette.com.

Speaker 2: 3:06

So, I did mention in the introduction there that this is gonna be an episode where we try and tackle a lot of big issues. And, uh, your, your team were keen to, to ask me to, uh, throw some big questions at you. Okay. So, uh, right off the bat here, what would you say the future of HR looks like? And what I mean by that is what should HR experts in the future in terms of, or sorry, expect in the future in terms of the evolution of the workplace, the HR function, HR processes, employee management, and other areas of the world of work? What a big question to get this one going.

Speaker 3: 3:44

Yes. Um, HR is already challenging and, uh, you know, overall it is going, going to get, uh, more and more challenging. The, the main, uh, point I would say is diversity. Uh, there is a diversity in all different aspects, uh, where people are concerned. Uh, so there is age related diversity in the workforce. Uh, so, you know, there are older employees, there are younger employees, and, uh, they have, uh, different ways of, uh, looking at the world. Uh, the, there is, uh, uh, you know, uh, so many, uh, different, uh, compliance laws that we have to take care of. Uh, one of the things, for example, is, uh, you know, the, uh, indicating the pay scales, uh, that is going to, uh, that is coming up and, uh, you know, uh, already started in some states of the us. Uh, so that's another thing. And then, uh, there is, uh, diversity in terms of locations. Uh, people are, uh, there in the OR organizations across, uh, different locations, different states, different, uh, laws, uh, different, uh, attitudes. And sometimes, uh, you know, uh, organizations are multi-country, uh, so there is like multiculture, uh, to be taken care of, uh, as well as different concerns. And of course, the, the laws, uh, uh, there, uh, so there is, uh, that diversity, uh, the, uh, you know, there is, uh, gig work. Uh, basically not everybody is like, uh, taking, uh, you know, full-time jobs. So you got to accommodate, and again, the, the laws that are related to that, uh, uh, they come in. Uh, so, you know, that's, uh, getting more and more complicated. And the other aspect is the individuals, uh, uh, you know, uh, mental wellbeing and personal wellbeing, and I hope that affects work. Uh, so you got to like, you know, account, uh, and take, uh, care of that. Also, uh, the, the other main theme is personalization, which is that everybody wants kind of like, uh, personalized, uh, uh, things at the workplace. Uh, so personalized benefits, you know, so if, uh, one person is married and has young children, then their expectations in terms of benefits are different from somebody who is, you know, maybe single and taking care of an elderly relative, you know, so they would want, uh, different benefits. And, uh, kind of like that personalization aspect, uh, personalization of work as well as benefits, rewards, recognitions, all of that, uh, comes into play. So, you know, it's, uh, it's, it's a challenging, uh, uh, future out there.

Speaker 2: 6:35

Let's talk a little bit about ai. AI is replacing huge numbers of traditional jobs. I remember seeing a sta a few years ago saying, by 2024, it would replace a vast number of, of traditional jobs, more menial jobs. Uh, and we are rapidly getting to 2024. What role do you believe technology will play in the future of hr? And maybe you can paint a bit of a picture of some of those traditional roles that are being replaced.

Speaker 3: 7:06

What AI will do is kind of like reduce some of the ted, I mean, you know, so we, we definitely need, uh, food and clothing, and we need all, all the material things that, uh, that are there. We need buildings to be built and, and for us to live in them, we need doctors to help all us and all the related people, you know, for help. Uh, so all those things are, are kind of basic, but, uh, wherever there is like, uh, you know, uh, tedious tasks to be done, then some of those tasks can be taken up, uh, by, by technology. Uh, so, and artificial intelligence is just one technology. Yeah, it's, it's getting better and better. Uh, but, uh, you know, uh, the, the use of, uh, chat bots and all, uh, will help us. Uh, but, uh, it's not going to like, uh, replace people. People will, are definitely needed, and it's going to be kind of like a joint work where there is going to be a little bit of, uh, AI and, and a little bit of, uh, people work, and it's going to be, uh, a combination. So, you know, it, I would say that<laugh>, especially based on my biases, I would say that it's a good thing, you know, it's going to help us. There are lots of, uh, other technologies that, uh, you know, that are, uh, that are important. I mean, even something simple like, uh, mobile, uh, with, you know, mobiles, uh, in the workplace and helping me out with the tasks. Uh, so that's, uh, going to be like, uh, useful. And, uh, everybody wants like, uh, the simple interfaces now, you know? So, uh, you know, we are in a, kind of like a consumer economy. We use lots of apps and so on. Uh, so, you know, all the technology that is there, uh, should have a nice and smooth and easy interface. So, yeah, it's a, it's a combination of multiple things, I would say.

Speaker 2: 8:59

Excellent. Thank you very much. Let's talk a little bit about d e I now, if we may. Uh, we all know that d e I is a crucial area for HR to manage, and there's been thankfully, uh, way more investment over the last few years. Uh, unfortunately a lot of that was brought on by the murder of George Floyd. Um, but that also saw a, a big change in attitudes at, at, uh, at the corporate level in all size organizations. How do you think technology will shape the space over the next few years? And what d e i technologies can, can HR adopt or perhaps should they be adopting?

Speaker 3: 9:38

Yes. Uh, I believe that, uh, you know, d e I is, uh, very, very important, uh, uh, going forward. Uh, I mean, essentially it is like, you know, the, the makeup of our, uh, civic body, uh, our communities, and that will get reflected in the, in the, in the workforce. Uh, so, uh, technology is going to be important in, in multiple ways. The first is, you know, where do you stand? Okay? Uh, and so like, uh, just look at the data, you know, what, uh, data do you have? Like how many people do you have of different types, you know, whether it is, uh, race, uh, uh, by race or by disability, or by any other orientations or, or cultural, uh, values, you know? Uh, so, uh, first is to do the analytics and try to see where you are. Uh, part of that is also like, uh, to do the surveys and to kind of like, get the information Yeah. As to where, uh, where you're, so that's, uh, like the first thing where technology can help, it can help with the, with the analysis of data. Uh, the other is, uh, more specific things like, uh, doing text analytic. Uh, so, you know, uh, we have a lot of, uh, textual information flowing through, uh, you know, when we, uh, uh, address each other over emails, for example, or even the text of this, uh, particular podcast, you know, uh, so, uh, you know, how we do our branding, internal, external, how do we do, uh, job descriptions? What do we put in those job descriptions? How do we do performance reviews? And what do we put in there? Uh, you know, how do we like when we recognize employees and say, oh, this person did a great job. Uh, so all that, uh, text, you know, whether there are any biases, do we assume that okay, people will come from a certain background or have certain priorities and, uh, you know, uh, concerns uppermost in their mind. Uh, so, you know, uh, a lot of text analysis can bring out, uh, what biases are there. And then once we know what those biases are, then we can take action to, uh, to correct them. Another thing is, uh, what is known as organizational network analysis, which is, uh, basically trying to see how the organization is actually working and who's talking with whom, who is not talking with, uh, uh, another, are there any clicks that are forming? And why are they forming? And whether there are other people are being kept out and so on. Uh, so, you know, if you look at those, uh, uh, uh, interactions, then it'll, uh, give us a, a sense of where we are, uh, whether the organization is homogenous or whether, you know, people are not, uh, getting integrated into, uh, the organization. Uh, learning technology is important, uh, so especially like, uh, nudge learning. Uh, so you can like, uh, deliver nudges and reinforce the learning, uh, with regards to like, you know, uh, sensitization of people, how they can improve, how they can be more inclusive, uh, how they can make, uh, meetings more participatory. Uh, you know, all of those things we can, uh, we can deliver through, uh, through nudge learning technology. And of course, I mean, even like, uh, simple initial learning is, is important. What I believe is, uh, one, uh, important thing is connecting people. So, you know, tools which will connect, uh, different people and get them to like, uh, talk. And, you know, when people talk with, uh, each other, then they realize the, the things that are common to them. And then, you know, the, in generally when, if we say, Hey, there is a lot of, uh, you know, people are different, actually, people have a lot of things in common. And, you know, it is the common, uh, aspirations and goals and mo motivations, uh, that are more important to us. So communication, technology is important. And the other, uh, thing is like, okay, when things go wrong, then how do we, like, you know, take action? Uh, so complaints and whistle blowing and so on. Uh, so secure mechanisms for, uh, that, uh, will encourage, you know, uh, some things to, to come out. Uh, so, you know, uh, blockchain is one technology. Uh, I am personally involved in blockchain. Uh, so I believe that this can be a trusted, secure channel, uh, for complaints and whistle blowing, uh, but it need not be only blockchain as long as, uh, people trusted, uh, you know, the mechanism, uh, that will have the desired effect. Uh, so essentially, uh, you know, there are all these various aspects, uh, of technology that can help d ei.

Speaker 2: 14:32

Okay. Wow. I think we covered a lot there. Good work, good work, Shaw, and we spoke a lot about AI earlier on. You've also spoken a wee bit about automation. How will automation and integration help resolve challenges with HR systems or improve HR processes over the next couple of years? Based on what, what you are seeing right now?

Speaker 3: 14:52

People are using lots of different systems, and there is good reason for it, you know, uh, so one system doesn't take care of everything and, uh, you know, you need different systems to handle different aspects. But the, the point is that, uh, you know, with, uh, workflow automation and integration, uh, ultimately what we want is the smooth transfer of data and a smooth experience for, uh, uh, you know, the, the, the, the ultimate goal of these, uh, systems. If you take, for example, performance management, right? And performance management could lead to like, uh, bonus for somebody, then, uh, the, the, the moment of the, you know, you kind of like achieve a, a, a good performance, it can trigger off, uh, bonus into the payroll system. Uh, so that kind of like, uh, connection is, uh, is good, or it could like, uh, be is something that is lacking and therefore points to a learning, uh, you know, a possibility. And so, you know, uh, if you are in the, uh, in the performance system and you say that, Hey, okay, you know, attending such and such course, or doing, uh, you know, some university credits, uh, will help, then you can like, uh, connect it to the, uh, learning system or to possibly some, uh, reward system and, you know, take it forward from there. Uh, so, so essentially, uh, uh, you know, the, the main point is to have a smooth experience across all the systems that are there, uh, that are helping us.

Speaker 2: 16:25

Okay. Thank you very much. Uh, how important do you think is the employee experience then for hr? Now, this is something we talk about a lot on the HR Chat podcast, uh, often from the conversations that I have with folk, um, we<laugh> we follow up on the fact that, uh, the employee experience is often, um, shaped by the client experience. So perhaps you can talk a little bit about that and talk about how can technology enhance the employee experience in 2023?

Speaker 3: 16:55

Oh, yeah. Uh, I mean, employee experience is, I would say, paramount, you know, uh, and it affects, uh, everything that, uh, that we do. I mean, part of the employee experience has nothing to do with technology. I mean, you know, whether you ex, uh, kind of like, uh, encourage, uh, flexible work hours or say casual dressing or have mixers, uh, so that people can enjoy and so on. So all that, uh, helps the employee experience. Uh, but in the, uh, you know, specifically when it comes to technology, uh, then technology and it's smooth interfaces is very, very important. Uh, like I said, uh, you know, people who want, uh, kind of like an Instagram kind of experience or, uh, you know, similar, uh, and so, uh, wherever they are, they want the information. Uh, they want the information to be, uh, you know, uh, accessible in an easy, smooth manner. And so, uh, you know, so that is, uh, important. Uh, like recruitment, if you take for example, you know, there are like, uh, candidates have to jump through hoops and, and so on, and that experience has to be, uh, good, you know, so the proper information at the proper time and, uh, available whenever people want it, you know, if the candidate wants, uh, some information, uh, at whatever midnight, let's say, then whether that information is available to them and they can act on it, uh, take it further. Onboarding is very important because, you know, that's kind of like, uh, the first step into your organization. And so, you know, uh, providing proper information, uh, providing videos that are specific to the, uh, to the employee, uh, employees being able to like, kind of, uh, uh, select and possibly get personalized information about what their benefits would be, how their location works, how their bosses, and how their teams work, that is important. Uh, then, you know, it, it, it's super pervasive. It, it is across all kinds of, uh, areas in hr. So performance, uh, for example, you know, whether that, uh, is captured in a regular manner, uh, and, uh, smoothly. So one of my customers, for example, uh, you know, they had, uh, the performance management kind of like built into the email system. Uh, so, you know, you indicate an email saying, Hey, work is done. Uh, you know, and, uh, you say, Hey, great. And that, uh, remark, the great remark goes into the performance, uh, management system. And, uh, you know, uh, it's, you don't have to do anything extra, uh, to like, you know, put, uh, the remarks in the performance management system, and it's always tracking it, right? Uh, so you don't miss out on like the, the good things,<laugh> or the, or possibly the bad things. Uh, so, you know, so that's, uh, that's kind of, uh, uh, important for the overall employee experience. Even something simple like time and attendance. You know, like people clock in and clock out. Uh, so we have a customer who has like a great, uh, uh, you know, idea, which is to basically like, you know, uh, just have cameras and you kind of like say, Hey, you know, I'm coming in, uh, with one gesture, and you are, uh, you know, clocked in automatically and you wave to the camera when you are leaving the, uh, the office and it, uh, checks you out. And so, you know, uh, you don't have to like, uh, have a card, you know, if there's facial recognition, so it knows who you are, and it knows what time you're coming in, what time you're going out, and so on. So you knows, uh, something like this is just going to enhance the, uh, the employee experience. Uh, so yeah, uh, you know, the employee experience, I would say is, is, uh, very, very important. And it covers all aspects. So, you know, technology has to be kind of like, uh, smooth and nice. Uh, and, you know, the, the important thing is that HR people are, you know, employees too. Uh, so, you know, the software that they use and the interface that they have, the information that they have, uh, whether they have information at the fingertips or they have to do like lots of, you know, go through different screens to get that information. All that is, is important too. Uh, so, you know, employee experience, I, I consider that as of prime importance.

Speaker 2: 21:18

And as mentioned in the intro, harbinger services, the HR e-learning, digital publishing, education, and tech sectors, of course. Can you, can you briefly now share, uh, one interesting HR tech success story, a use case, a client case study perhaps, and as part of that, share how your team helped your client create that success story?

Speaker 3: 21:43

Oh, okay. Uh, yeah. I mean, there are, uh, so many different, uh, success stories. You know, we have been in this space, uh, like I said, for more than, uh, 20 years. Uh, one, uh, very important thing is, uh, you know, uh, we have been associated with the company for, uh, about two decades. And, uh, the product is about, uh, information about policies and frequently asked questions that, uh, that employees, uh, uh, have. And so, you know, we have been working, uh, on this, uh, for, uh, for decades, multiple releases, of course, uh, hundreds of, uh, end customer, uh, companies, uh, are the clients and the number of, uh, employees that are affected are in the millions. And so we are very proud of the fact that, you know, uh, we have, uh, provided this information, uh, wherever the employees want, whenever they want it, in a nice manner, uh, you know, reducing the load on the, on the HR people to address those questions. And, uh, you know, uh, self-service that works just, uh, beautifully and smoothly and intelligently also, you know, so, uh, when there is like, uh, for example, you know, people ask a question in a one certain manner, uh, then we, you know, use the, the best type of, uh, uh, search mechanism and say that, okay, you know, maybe this is what you mean, and then we provide, uh, that specific answer. So that, uh, to me is, you know, not only is that, uh, is that, uh, relationship valued, but the fact that we have brought, uh, smiles to so many people across the decades, uh, that's, uh, very important, uh, success story. But, uh, you know, what, uh, kind of like, uh, motivates me is that, you know, rather than, uh, resting on past successes, uh, I'm happy to like, you know, make your vision, your audience's vision, uh, come true. And, you know, I look forward to that success.

Speaker 2: 23:49

Well, we are coming towards the end of this particular interview. Uh, before we do wrap up for today, um, perhaps you can share with our listeners how they can connect with you. So for example, I'll send you a LinkedIn connection request. Sir, perhaps you'd like to, uh, point people in that direction, maybe, um, share your email address, maybe your super cool and all over Instagram and TikTok and other places, and of course, how can they learn more about Harbinger Group?

Speaker 3: 24:15

Yeah. So, you know, uh, uh, of course, uh, the Harbinger Group website is there. Uh, you can contact us at, uh, contact@hopergroup.com. Uh, we have, uh, like I said, we have services, we have, uh, good products. Uh, so we have, uh, for example, the Polestar product, which, uh, helps, uh, performance management one-on-ones to take place. We have a sprinkle zone, uh, natural learning product. Uh, so our website talks about that. Uh, we have the skim through product, so you know, if you are like, uh, looking through videos and you want to get to a specific, uh, spot to find out information, whether it's part of the onboarding, whether it's part of learning, uh, you know, so you can quickly find that also for video interviews where, you know, uh, you are interviewing a candidate and you want to like, find the spot in the, in the video where you want to like, uh, recheck something, you know. So the skim through product is good. Uh, so we have these, uh, products and like I said, we are good at services, you know, so we can create systems for you, we can do your data for you, uh, analyze the data, do artificial intelligence. So yeah, uh, you know, uh, you can reach out to me personally. Also, I'm on LinkedIn, uh, Prashant Baker, a fairly unique name, so, uh, you are most welcome to connect to me as well as the company through contact at group.

Speaker 2: 25:46

Excellent. Well, that just leads me to say for today, thank you very much for being my guest on this episode of the HR Chat Show.

Speaker 3: 25:52

Such a pleasure, bill. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Thanks for listening to the HR Chat Show. If you enjoyed this episode, why not subscribe and listen to some of the hundreds of episodes published by HR Gazette? And remember, for what's new in the world of work, subscribe to the show, follow us on social media, and visit hr gazette.com.