8. The Future of HR: Reshaping Human Resources Management with AI

 As far as the future takes us, most conversations have a hint of artificial intelligence (AI) pinned to it. This new era of AI enhances the organizational capabilities while reducing the involvement of humans, causing for a very autonomous approach in decision making (Basnet. 2024)

Here are a few ways AI would concurrently help HRM in the future: 

1. Recruitment and Talent Acquisition

• Automated screening can be done using AI tools such as ATS (application tracking system), where a large sum of C.V.s can be screened to shortlist the desired candidate.
• Bias-free selection processes can be maintained. However, this is subject to change depending on how it is trained. 
• Chatbots can be used to schedule interviews selectively on a 24/7 format (Upadhyay and Khandelwal, 2018). 

2. Learning and Development (L&D) 

• Personalized skill assessment and training sessions can be carried out. This will aid in resolving a skill-gap within the department. 

3. Workforce Planning 

• During succession periods, AI can help monitor workforce requirements in various departments within an organization to ensure smooth sailing. 
• Pilot projects can be used in orchestrated settings to witness outcome without having to physically do so. 

4. Management of Performance 

• AI can be used to monitor the performance of employees in real-time (Basnet, 2024). 

It can provide a forecast of an employee after the training period, where a certain threshold would be assigned.

5. Employee well-being and engagement

• Sentimental analysis towards employees to acknowledge and portray individual attention to resolve conflicts or issues. 
• Wellness bots to continually monitor an employees well-being. 

6. Ethical and Legal constraints   

• Even though this is normally practiced, data privacy will increase. 
• Inquiries will have a autonomous response to support for the betterment of the employee (Jain, Sharma and Jaun, 2022). 

References 

Basnet, S. (2024). Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Human Resource Management. Available at: ResearchGate (Accessed: 1 August 2025).

Upadhyay, A.K. and Khandelwal, K., 2018. Artificial Intelligence-based recruitment and selection: A review. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, 9(3)

Jain, S., Sharma, S. and Jain, R., 2022. The future of HR: AI and its implications for performance appraisal systems. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 10(1), pp.34–47.

7. SO WHAT’S THE FAULT IN OUR HRS’?

The core "fault" in many HRM departments is the failure to strike the right balance between the two soft and HARD HRM styles. The key faults are as such: 

1. Extreme Lean towards One Side 

• HR departments stick to one extreme: they stick to soft HRM with high loyalty and morale sacrifice their productivity or they weigh more against HARD HRM where they attain a high turn-over but risk practicality and pose to the employees being burnt out. 

2. Misalignment of Cultures

• HRs impose a culture that does not reflect employees needs or company goals, which in turn leads to employees feeling disconnected and unheard.
• Rhetoric and reality are not defined as HRs fail to merge the gap between the two. 

3. Failure to depict and adapt to an Industrial Context 

• HRs must understand key difference between which approach to use in which industry, e.g. call centers and BPOs lean against HARD HRM and startups mainly prefer soft HRM. 

4. Inconsistency in Decision Making 

• HRs have their own personalities and reactions towards employees. This unbiased decision making often leads to certain employees being frustrated, furthermore, confusion between employees. 

5. Neglecting Human Capacity 

Psychological needs of employees are often ignored, resulting in quiet quitting and low motivation, eventually exiting the organization. 

These can be evaded by having a clear structure for HARD HRM where there is strategy and accountability. As for soft HRM, development and long-term engagement and inclusion. The fault in our HRs lies mainly in surpassing the fact that employees are not machines, rather humans that desire the need to be understood, loved and empowered. 

What's the future of HRM? 

6. STRIKING THE BALANCE BETWEEN SOFT AND HARD HRM

Truss et al., 1997 mentioned that most companies do not stick to one particular HRM style, rather they characterize soft HRM and HARD HRM into the aspects to best suit their desired outcome. What if we can create a concreate balance between both? Will it be worth it without sticking to one extreme? 

If the extreme is more towards soft HRM, following criteria will be affected as such: 

• Productivity: high morale but performance may differ 
• Innovation: exceeds creativity but may lack focus and consistency 
• Retention: better loyalty but contains inefficiency 
• Organizational culture: has team work but may lack discipline due to autonomy

If the extreme is more towards HARD HRM, following criteria will be affected as such:

• Productivity: high efficiency short term but suffer burn outs (Paauwe, 2005). 
• Innovation: rigid culture by sticking to protocols.
• Retention: lack of engagement and high rate of cluster cultures. 
• Organizational culture: low emotional quotient and lack empathy 

The impact of this technique is seen in global giants such Google, where HARD HRM is used for performance metrics and analytics but uses soft HRM for employee retention methods such as personal development and employee well-being. 

References 

Truss, C., Gratton, L., Hope-Hailey, V., McGovern, P. and Stiles, P., 1997. Soft and hard models of human resource management: a reappraisal. Journal of Management Studies, 34(1), pp.53–73.

Paauwe, J. and Boselie, P., 2005. Best practices…in spite of performance: Just a matter of institutionalization? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(6), pp.987-1003.

5. A case study: GOOGLE'S HRM STRATERGY

 

We're well aware of google as an organization, and its a dream for some to be an employee at google. 

Google uses both SOFT and Hard HRM as well! Surprised? Just google it! Let's run through on how exactly they managed to get desired outcomes while co performing both soft and hard HRM. 

Soft HRM at Google 

Table 1.  Shows the Soft HRM approach at google (Eddusaver, 2023)

	Google's Practice	Explanation
Employee Development	120+ hours/year of training and  leadership coaching	Investment in growth and not just output
Innovation Culture	Allocation of a 20% time for passion projects	Supports creativity and autonomy in making decisions
Employee Voice	Weekly TGIF (Thank god it’s Friday) meetings with leadership	Transparency and bottom-up communication between groups
Well-being & Perks	Free meals, gyms, mental health support, childcare and other extras	Focus on employee happiness and work-life balance while maintaining results
Inclusive Culture	Diversity and Inclusion programs and Employee resource groups	Recognition of diverse human capital and having an open mind
Internal Mobility	Encouraged to switch teams and projects	Career growth and internal promotions prioritized

Hard HRM at Google 

Table 2.  Shows the Hard HRM approach at google (Eddusaver, 2023)

	Google Practice	Explanation
Workforce planning	Algorithm based decisions via headcounts	The HR is directly linked into the strategies
People Analytics	Data driven prediction where needed	Employees are evaluated via models and metric
Performance Management	Objective and key results ranking systems	The organizations upholds a strong focus on employee’s performance.

As stated, Soft HRM and HARD HRM approaches are used technically to depict a desired result. This shows the outcome of how Google reached out globally as the world's best search engine. 

Its inspiring how far an organization can go to achieving their goals, lets go through a brief idea of how you can start applying these in your organization.  

References: 

Eddusaver. (2023). Strategic Human Resource Management at Google: A Case Study on People Analytics, Recruitment, and Employee Development. [online] Available at: https://www.eddusaver.com/strategic-human-resource-management-at-google-a-case-study-on-people-analytics-recruitment-and-employee-development/ [Accessed 1 Aug. 2025].

4. A Guideline: HRM styles and how to choose them.

 
Its vital to be able to instill your core values and understanding to your employees, from the onset. However, most of us as leaders fail to identify the approach that is needed to be used. 

Here is a step by step guide to achieve the right approach as per your industry.

1. Understanding the core difference between soft and HARD HRM. 

Table 1.  Features and how they differ from each HRM (Gerguri, 2023). 

Feature	Soft HRM	HARD HRM
Perception of employees	Valuable assets and human capital	Headcount or liabilities
Main focus	Well-being and improvement of the employee	Reaching KPIs, increasing productivity
Strategy in scaling up	Long term talent engagement and innovation	Controlled output at high rates for a short assessed time.

2. Assess the overall commitment of your organization 

Table 2. Shows a series of self-assessment questions 

Questions	If yes = SOFT HRM	If yes = Hard HRM
Is innovation needed?	Autonomy and creativity	Not needed
Is it a knowledge based industry?	Invest in development making people your main asset	Stick to SOPs and lose talent
Is rapid scaling required?	Autonomy to people, may slow changes	Controlled environment = desired output

3. Decide your company culture 

Table 3. Preferred HRM style for certain industries

Business model	Best HRM style
Start ups	Soft HRM
Call centers/ BPOs	Hard HRM
Healthcare and Education	Soft HRM

These guidelines will help you start your pursuit in figuring out the best approach (Cregan et al., 2020). 

References 

Gërguri, F. (2023). Hard and Soft HRM Approaches: A Comparison. [online] Employee Experience Magazine (EMEX). Available at:
https://www.emexmag.com/hard-and-soft-hrm-approaches-a-comparison

Cregan, C., Kulik, C.T. and Bainbridge, H.T.J., 2020. The influence of calculative (hard) and collaborative (soft) HRM on the layoff–performance relationship in high-performance workplaces. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), pp.217–234. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340890052 [Accessed 1 Aug. 2025].

3. DOES SOFT OR HARD HRM IMPACT AN ORGANIZATION’S CULTURE?

Human Resources Management (HRM) plays a vital role, as they are the initial access points in an organization. They are responsible in making sure that employees with less diverse or at closely aligning cultures get through. This paves way for a symbiotic relationship between HRM and work culture.

This symbiosis can be defined in three variables: management time, management constraints and market characteristics. In other words, some organizations pay more attention on the selection, recruitment and training, some of them are involved with increasing customer service by directly proportional methods of maximizing employee performance. Employers decide on the culture that suits their processes in a wider aspect, to suit and influence a wider crowd. This culture revolves mainly around experiences, beliefs, values and assumptions that are pre-set through socializing and learning. It is acquired from a cluster of individuals in the “same room”.

When HRM practices do not conform to individuals, they may feel uncommitted, unsatisfied or uncomfortable. This will eventually lead to the employee’s low performance. Furthermore, since HRM is dedicated in recognizing talent that best suits their corporate culture, this is often the best way to differentiate itself from internal competitors (Janićijević, 2021).

As individuals, personal development is something that we strive for, when working in an organization. Confidence and self-esteem cater to the outcome of an employee. An employee who retains cleanliness and beauty will suit in a culture where beauty and cleanliness is prioritized, and vise versa if the employee does not match the societal culture of the workplace.

These incidents can be interchanged depending on the type of HRM being used, either soft or HARD HRM. 

To be able to depict what culture best suits your organization, go through to the guidelines of HRM. 

References

Janićijević, N., 2021. The Impact of Culture on Human Resource Management. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350551645_The_Impact_of_Culture_on_Human_Resource_Management [Accessed 28 Jul. 2025].

2. A HUMAN’s AURA

 

The side that matters? Humans are creatures that crave attention and empathy. The Soft HRM approach supports this ideology, and mainly revolves around the treatment of employees via commitment, as valued assets that exert high quality, a competitive advantage over others while maintaining integration of HR strategies and policies. Moreover, employees are given freedom and autonomy at work in all areas after they have been trained and trusted.

Is soft HRM good?

In an organizational perspective, soft HRM is practiced to build long term competitive advantage by the emphasis on a flexible work culture where the outcome is a dedicated work force with maintained quality throughout.

What's the other side of it?

In the case that this method is not implemented in a proper manner, there might be issues between employees. This is due to the fact that these employees are able to take autonomous decisions, and this practice may pose as a risk to the organization in a long term perspective if it is misused.

When it comes to soft HRM, it revolves around employee training, empowerment and transformational leadership. Transformational leadership poses to motivate individuals to rise up beyond their own expectations and the organizations'. Empowerment drives an employee to create ideas and boost productivity. Employment training relates to more knowledge while understanding people and the organization (Tsou et al., 2025). 

To find out if soft HRM and HARD HRM styles impact an organizations culture, move on to the next blog. 

 

References

 Tsou, H.-T., Chen, J.-S., Mai, K.-S. and Jade, L.L., 2025. Soft HRM practices fostering service innovations and performance in hospitality firms. Sustainability, 17(3), p.895. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17030895

1. TOOLS AND MACHINERY

 

This refers to the overall outlook on the “hard” HRM approach emphasizes mainly on strategic business objectives and treats human recourses as a mere factor in the production line, in other words an employee rather than a person. It is often seen as a kinship related to scientific management, and is highly suitable in mass production industries (Druker et al., 2010).

In this approach, an organization assumes power over every employee’s activities mainly to secure a competitive advantage, in the following nature: (1) marginalizing the interests of employees and other stakeholders, (2) agreeing to a unitarist perspective where both the interests of the employer and employee must align, (3) aligning personal and professional goals of the employee, and (4) external and mutual interest of both employer and employee (Shrestha, 2020).

Is HARD HRM good?

• ·        This method provides short term efficiency (e.g. during deadlines in mass production lines)
• ·        Employees are clearly held accountable as each task is individually defined.

Is it bad?

• ·        Low morale of employees as they do not contain autonomy.
• ·     Employees often feel like tools of a production line, which hinders their psychological safety, eventually leading them to resign.
• ·        Strict workplace rules often leave employees burnt out as they strive to produce the same result on a daily basis.
• ·        Due to the lack of involvement of the employees, their initiatives are often left unheard (Shrestha, 2020). 

Next lets go through to what the soft HRM style is. 

References

1.      Druker, J., White, G., Hegewisch, A. and Mayne, L., 2010. Between hard and soft HRM: human resource management in the construction industry. [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2010.506921 [Accessed 12 Jul. 2025].

2.      Shrestha, P., 2020. Status of Hard and So   ft HR Approaches: Evidence from Workplaces of Nepal. [online] Tribhuvan University. Available at: mailto:mrprakashshrestha@gmail.com [Accessed 12 Jul. 2025].

The Fault in Our HRs: Soft HRM vs. Hard HRM

9:00 AM! You made it 30 minutes late. Your HR assistant asks you, what happened? You proudly let her in on your heroic act. “I just rushed an old man to hospital after he had been involved in a car crash”. She gasps in pride, acknowledging your action and quick thinking. Just then, your HR manager walks in and asks you why you missed your morning standup meeting. You exclaim to him the same, but his response was to stay after work to cover up for the lost time.

Why can’t they all be like the HR assistant right? But then again, you're held accountable to complete your tasks. Welcome to the battle between Hard Human Resource management (HRM) and Soft Human Resource management (HRM). The two highly debated approaches into molding employees to get a desired output that would benefit an organization as well as their employees.

Soft and HARD HRM fall under the human resources management (HRM) and are defined as styles. The definition of HR, which is to identify and manage employees for a desired outcome by providing a competitive advantage. 

In this blog, we’ll continually go through different phases of what soft and hard HRM are, how it impacts the organization, the employers and employees, the cultures created, and ultimately striking a between them both, Soft and Hard HRM. Furthermore, a glimpse of how HRM will be in the future given the trends to a more artificially related world. 

First let us break down what a Hard HRM style is. 

 

References

Aykut, C., 2022. The importance of human resources (HR) management in company. [online] ResearchGate. Available at:https:www.researchgate.net/publication/365671081_The_Importance_Of_Human_Resources_Hr_Management_In_Company [Accessed 30 Jul. 2025].

Gill, C. (1999) Use of Hard and Soft Models of HRM to illustrate the gap between rhetoric and reality in workforce management. RMIT Business Working Paper Series, No. WP 99/13; RMIT Business: Melbourne, 45 pp.