The core challenge of Digital transformation is much more than technology — it’s acknowledging the deep social shift underway. Any transformation involves collaborating, learning, communicating, and working differently.
At the heart of this shift stands the social dimension, driving new ways of interacting and, with them, the emergence of collective intelligence.
In this movement accelerated by AI, HR professionals play a crucial catalysing role: they ensure that digitalization strengthens the human experience, that technological choices remain guided by ethics, and that the organization stays firmly in the driver’s seat rather than becoming a passive observer of its own transformation. As AI reshapes our practices, ethics is no longer peripheral: it becomes the compass that ensures every innovation truly serves employees and the company.
These transformations call for HR processes that are more human, more adaptable, and more connected to the reality of the employees’ actual experience. Here are the six pillars of an effective and sustainable HR processes:
Rather than offering catch-all recommendations, I invite you to examine your processes through three simple tests.
🔍 Question 1: The Value-Added Test
If you stopped this HR process today, who would actually notice?
Exercise: Identify your three main HR processes (annual reviews, onboarding, absence management, etc). For each one, ask yourself:
“If this process disappeared tomorrow, what would we lose? Would there be a real impact on employees? On the business? Or just a checkbox in a dashboard?”
Scenario: Think of a recipe you often make— which ingredients truly change the final taste, and which are just there out of habit?
A useless HR process is like decoration on a cake that nobody eats.
🔍 Question 2: The Agility Test
Are your HR processes ready to cope with an unexpected event tomorrow morning?
Exercise: Imagine a reorganization or crisis (merger, collective layoffs, sudden shift to remote work). “How quickly could you adapt your HR processes to this new reality?”
Scenario: Think back to the COVID-19 crisis—how long did it take you to digitize your processes? An agile HR process is like a well-packed travel bag: ready at any time, without having to reinvent everything.
🔍 Question 3: The Human Test
How do your employees describe their first day at work?
Exercise: Ask three recent hires about their onboarding experience. Listen to their words: “Did they feel welcomed, supported, connected to something meaningful? Or did they experience paperwork, impersonal emails, and cold interactions?”
Scenario: Compare it to joining a sports team—what makes you want to stay?
The act of registering with the team at the front desk… or being welcomed by teammates and feeling like you belong?
HR processes are not an end in themselves — they exist to serve people and performance. In the era of digital and AI transformation, our challenge is not to choose between automation, ethics, and humanity, but to reconcile them with intelligence, responsibility, and agility.
From theory to action: now it’s your turn to transform — one process at a time.
Call to Action 💬 And you—what is your biggest challenge with your HR processes? Share your experience in the comments; your insights enrich collective reflection.
By the same author:
Change Management and Business Continuity: Reorganizing While Preserving the Human Dimension
Repenser les RH : participez à TruGeneva 2025 à Genève
Gestion du changement et continuité des activités : réorganiser sans perdre l'humain
Processes Yes, Rigidity No: The Agility Imperative
Processus oui, rigidité non : l'impératif d'agilité
HR Processes in the Digital Age: Balancing Automation, Humanity, and Agility
Processus RH à l'ère de transformation digitale : entre automatisation et humanité, comment rester agiles ?
Sources:
Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1996). Organizational learning II: Theory, method, and practice. Addison-Wesley
Blueway. (n.d.). Le rôle du Business Process Owner
Bondarouk, T., & Ruël, H. (2009). Electronic Human Resource Management: Challenges in the digital era. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(3), 505-514
Brandon Hall Group. (2021). Employee onboarding: A process for the future of work. AllenComm
Bridges, W. (2009). Managing transitions: Making the most of change. Da Capo Press
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268
Deming, W. E. (2000). Out of the crisis. MIT Press
Elliott, D., Swartz, E., & Herbane, B. (2010). Business continuity management: A crisis management approach (2nd ed.). Routledge
Gallup. (n.d.). Why the onboarding experience is key for retention
Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. Macmillan
Marr, B. (2012). Key performance indicators: The 75 measures every manager needs to know. Pearson
MyRHLine. (n.d.). Onboarding : définition, enjeux et tendances
MyRHLine. (n.d.). SIRH - Système d'Information Ressources Humaines
Oreg, S., & Berson, Y. (2019). Leaders' impact on organizational change: Bridging theoretical and methodological chasms. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 272–307
Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients' reac
Prosci. (n.d.). ADKAR: A model for change in business, government and our community
Womack, J. P., & Jones, D. T. (2003). Lean thinking: Banish waste and create wealth in your corporation (Revised ed.). Free Press.
Image: filadendron via iStock
Titulaire d'un Master en Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations et certifiée CAPM, j'accompagne depuis 13 ans les organisations à travers divers secteurs—du CICR au secteur bancaire, du trading aux cabinets d'audit—dans leurs transformations, leurs opérations RH et programmes de bien-être et de cohésion d'équipe. En tant que HR Operations Manager, j'ai développé une approche unique alliant rigueur académique et pragmatisme opérationnel. Cette double perspective m'a permis de comprendre les dynamiques humaines au-delà des apparences tout en restant ancrée dans l'action concrète. Je suis convaincue que les meilleures organisations sont celles qui placent l'humain au centre, non pas comme un slogan, mais comme une pratique quotidienne.
