Technology's role in attracting & retaining employees

The challenges in finding, recruiting and retaining employees have never been more difficult. The University of Lincoln’s Head of Reward, Ian Hodson, speaks to HR Grapevine about how technology is now more than just a business function enabler. Instead, technology "is a cornerstone of company culture where paper laggards lose out to the forward-thinking technologically advanced organisation," he says.

Why do you think technology is so important to HR?

Just as technology is having a transformative impact on every industry and business, so too is it impacting recruitment, retention and motivation of staff. A mere five or ten years ago, businesses would often provide better technology than employees would have at home. That has completely flipped, and it is the employee that now has the latest gadgets, laptops, apps, and smartphones.

With the culture of the peer review where TripAdvisor will tell you where the best places to go are, we’re seeing the rise of workplace reviews with sites like Glassdoor, which review every aspect of an employer from its culture, hiring practices, salary, and perks. Expectations of employers are far greater and with technology moving at a pace, getting the ‘wow’ factor is increasingly difficult.