Traditional management styles, with the dreaded once-a-year performance review, are being thrown out the window as machine learning makes its impact on human resource management, allowing companies to identify their highest performers and perform continuous review and guidance of employees.

In an interview at SAP Sapphire 2016, David Ludlow, group VP at SAP Labs, LLC, sat down with John Furrier (@furrier) and Peter Burris (@plburris), cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, for a discussion on the changing face of employee management.

The data shows you never go to meetings!

It is important that employees feel they are an important part of the company and are committed to the goals and objectives of the organization, said Ludlow. Technology allows managers to identify employee patterns and engage and develop their staff on an ongoing basis. But it is important that the human contact is maintained.

“Don’t just throw data,” said Ludlow. “Technology is the enabler but not the strategy itself.”

As well as interaction with personnel, data can be used to analyze and improve human resources materials, such as job descriptions and hiring practices. Subtle biases can be identified, said Ludlow, enabling companies to create a diverse workforce that can better serve a multi-ethnic, multi-gender customer base.

The future of work is digital

Global surveys indicate that future works is all about digital, Ludlow said. Leveraging the technology most effectively to make manager, employee and executive lives more productive is key, as is providing ongoing educational employees for employees, which research shows are becoming obsolete.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of SAP Sapphire 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE