Technical Processes, Business Processes, Business Rules, Automation & AI: A Journey to the Future of Work
Recently, I have been thinking about how to best explain to a 5th grader why HR can’t just go from having varying processes to adopting AI overnight. I’m using a 5th grader as a barometer here because I’m trying to figure out the simplest way to explain this without using industry terms and in a way everyone can conceptually understand, regardless of whether they have HR experience.
Here’s how I look at the transition to AI from the angle of completing a jigsaw puzzle:
Being handed a mystery box of puzzle pieces and dumping it all out on the table: This is like the starting stages where you are looking at the technical processes from a system. Just as you recognize the puzzle pieces you’ve laid out on the table as a jigsaw puzzle and assume they should be put together somehow, technical processes provide a limited view of the HR world. Most of the time, it is a click A, go onto B, click B for C, or click B twice for D type of scenario. You have a vague sense of what is meant to do, but you are not seeing the whole picture
Seeing the picture of what the puzzle is supposed to resemble: This is like understanding the business processes that surround the technical processes. It’s the visual glue that puts all the random clicks into an orderly fashion so that it makes sense in a bigger picture. For example, instead of “insert job title here, click next, insert job description here, click next, insert worker type here, etc.” (which is like place this piece here and see if it fits), you now have something called “How to Create a Job Requisition” (the whole picture) that ties system steps into everyday work activities
Completing the borders of the puzzle first: You are now venturing into the ‘business preference’ part of this evolution. Once you know this is a jigsaw puzzle and what the intended outcome of that jigsaw puzzle is, you can now decide how you want to complete the puzzle. Some prefer working from the borders first, while others want to focus on the more visually distinctive image. Regardless, this stage is like setting up business rules on top of business processes. It’s where you get to determine your preferences on top of a standard technical and business process setup. There are no right or wrong answers here; it is truly dependent on the person or the business’ preferences
Deciding that you are a “do the borders first” person and doing that repeatedly for every puzzle: Now that you have locked in your preferences in how you want to do things, you will likely pick out the corners and border pieces every time. That is conceptually how automation works at a high level: determining a preferred and repeatable way of doing things and getting machines/tech to repeat that task
Getting the “Autocomplete” button for your puzzle: now that steps 1-4 are completed, AI becomes the Autocomplete button. You provide the puzzle pieces (technical process AI needs to work on), give it the complete picture (business processes), set your preferences (business rules), and let it connect and augment existing automation together to create the puzzle on your behalf
I’m sharing this because adopting and using AI is a journey. Without laying the groundwork on tech and business processes, it is incredibly challenging to implement AI. Inevitably, one will have to go back to standardized processes and business rules because of AI.
As many potential AI solution users are still waiting to see how the technology and market evolve, this might be a good time to look at the foundational setup around processes and business rules. Because AI or no AI, getting the basics right will allow any HR function the flexibility and agility to adapt to changing workforce needs and technological advancements.