At this point, you may already be familiar with popular virtual assistant technologies such as Siri or Alexa. These Artificially Intelligent (AI) virtual assistants can do an array of tasks in an instant. Checking the weather, playing music, finding directions, and reading the news are all tasks that can be done simply by prompting the tabletop device in your home. Which brings the question, if these devices can help people every day in their homes, what are the ways they can bring AI into their workplace?

By now you’ve probably heard about the small Wisconsin based company that held a “chipping party” for its employees. No dips were involved, but just under half of the company’s 85 employees did line up to have a microchip about the size of a grain of rice implanted into their hand.

According to the Harvard Business Review, 35% of employers reported difficulty filling jobs due to lack of available talent. This statistic illustrates the disconnect between the opportunities available and the talent pool.

The Microsoft Word Quick Part Gallery is a gallery where you can create, store, and find reusable pieces of content, including AutoText entries, document properties (such as title and author), and fields.

A SmartArt graphic is a visual representation of your information that you can quickly and easily create, choosing from among many different layouts, to effectively communicate your message or ideas. With SmartArt graphics and other features such as themes, you can create designer-quality illustrations with only a few clicks of your mouse. It is much faster to use a SmartArt graphic then to try and use the Drawing tools in Microsoft Office.

Managing and staying on top of your email is important to everyone. With Quick Steps (a feature in Microsoft Outlook 2010 and 2013) you can apply multiple actions at the same time to email messages. This helps you quickly manage your mailbox. For example, if you frequently move messages to a specific folder, you can use a Quick Step to move the message in one click. Or, if you forward messages to your manager or peers, a one-click Quick Step can simplify the task. 

As a Human Resources professional, it’s highly probable that your organization conducts pre-employment and/or employee background screening or is interested in doing so. According to a 2012 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) report, 86 percent of companies conduct some type of criminal background check.

1. Post a job opening on an online job board

Storing, securing, and using confidential information is an important task in HR, and technology can be a useful tool in maintaining this information and using it to aid decision-making. This article will cover different types of HR technologies, tips in choosing an HR technology, and trends with HR technologies.

As is the case in every aspect of our lives, technology plays a major, ever evolving role in the world of HR.