Blockchain as a Viable Solution to Human Resources Management
Blockchain has been a hot topic for the last couple of years as it has been providing decentralized approaches to many spheres of human existence. The technology itself was introduced with the birth of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that has transformed the world of finances.
Although blockchain is mainly associated with the Bitcoin market, developers are starting to explore alternative use cases of this system. One such case is human resources management.
HR and blockchain can be combined in such a way that could totally revolutionize personnel management and facilitate the related processes. Which HR aspects can be improved using blockchain?
Resume Transparency
We all know that people sometimes lie in their resumes in order to present themselves as more qualified. And there is currently no way to check what they had changed for an upcoming interview. It seems that blockchain will be able to solve this problem by keeping track of resume updates.
Once added to the blockchain-based database, every resume will store all modifications that take place. Managing this immutable (unchanged over time) registry, the HR sector will be able to access resumes at any given point in time, thus having a complete overview of all the changes at hand. This will help the HR sector deal with truthful resumes without possible false statements.
Privacy
The HR sector often works with sensitive data that should never be disclosed to the public. Whenever they send the data to someone, they risk being intercepted by hackers, or they simply risk losing their data.
All sensitive and private pieces of information can be securely stored thanks to the distributed and unchanged nature of blockchain technology. Moreover, blockchain uses encryption algorithms that minimize the risk of data exposure.
Smart Contract Recruitment
Smart contracts are not contracts per se, but pieces of code which execute once both sides reach an agreement and do everything expected from them. Smart contracts are created to introduce some rules and order in a decentralized system such as blockchain.
Hiring a new employee is usually a very exhausting process that requires a lot of paperwork, and a lot of interviews with hundreds of applicants. It’s energy-consuming and downright difficult. However, smart contracts can help you with all the paperwork and candidate selection as it will make everything execute once all the preset criteria are met.
Automation of Everyday Tasks
The HR department is often responsible for monitoring the everyday performance of the employees in a company. They need to keep track of their progress and activity.
The managers have to collect data from workers, analyze it, give feedback, and sign lots of documents to make sure everything is operational. This becomes increasingly difficult in companies with hundreds or even thousands of employees. Blockchain, however, can come in handy once again.
Smart contracts can save the day as they will automate all these processes due to their programmable self-executing nature.
Are There Any Blockchain-based HR Projects?
Quite a few blockchain-based projects are already related to HR, so let’s take a look at some interesting examples.
- Reward is a blockchain project which aims to boost the productivity of employees and enhance their collaboration. Companies can reward employees with the native tokens powering this platform in order to upgrade their quality of work and acknowledge their effort. Furthermore, employees can send these incentives to one another, increasing collaboration and improving the overall atmosphere at work.
- Etch is concerned with employee payment. It uses smart contracts which execute once the employee completes their work. In other words, the platform makes sure that employees are paid on time. Apart from making everything fair and square, Etch can reduce all the administrative fees that would have been paid traditionally.
- DREAM is all about blockchain! In other words, it is a freelance website based on this cutting-edge technology that gathers the best blockchain freelancers and connects them with the employer according to their skills. Furthermore, DREAM features special ML algorithms which can assess freelancers according to their expertise and try to find them a perfect fit. All actions are stored and authenticated by blockchain technology and its mechanisms for record-sharing.
- ASPIRE is an employee recruitment platform that helps HR sectors with various operations like background checks, employee selection, onboarding, and even new employees training. The platform actually selects perfect candidates for the most suitable employers and helps the entire process. ASPIRE has complex algorithms that are all about skills and qualifications, completely excluding factors such as gender or race.
What Does the Future Relationship between HR and Blockchain Look Like?
The projects listed above are just a few in the sea of HR & blockchain solutions that are either fully functional or at a particular stage of development.
We can expect a lot more in the future – if everything goes right, that is. Although technologies such as blockchain are bound to help us live in a better and more organized world, they are still very young and unexplored. Therefore, it is still early to jump to conclusions that are related to human resources management and blockchain. In other words, we can hope for the best, and it seems that it is all going in the right direction.