Smart working and artificial intelligence

The world of work is changing. The spread of technology and the multiplication in how it is used, plus the recent addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has redefined ways of working in terms of time and space.

Digital Transformation has had a considerable impact on the professional environment and this has led to rethinking the very concept of “work” with the experimentation of agile, remote work and the birth of Smart Working.

What is meant by Smart Working

In Italy, the number of companies and large organizations that have decided to experiment with an alternative form of work continues to grow. Operational since 2017, the law on agile work regulates subordinate work without constraints of physical space or time. In this sense, Smart Working can be understood as a new and fluid concept that modifies the traditional way of working by exploiting the benefits of technology and artificial intelligence through:

• Working methods and relationships
• Space
• Time

Human Resources at the centre of new work management

Smart working is first of all an opportunity. The necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a company to adopt this practice is trust. Working from home, respecting schedules, managing work independently and without interfering with the normal course of business activities has a decidedly positive influence on both companies and employees.

While on the one hand Smart Working requires personnel to have digital skills alongside their specific, professional skills within the company, it also increases their individual well-being, promoting a better balance between professional and individual life; better know as work-life balance.

Having more flexible hours, spaces and ways of working allows all employees to manage their available time independently with the consequence of maximizing work productivity. The effects are therefore measurable in terms of greater productivity, flexibility, employee satisfaction.

Smart Workplace and more point of contact

Smart working has redefined the workspace. The idea is immediately associated with “teleworking” which assumes that daily work activities are carried out in a static place (ideally one’s home). Smart Working is defined by this but also with greater agility and dynamism, and the use of technology and artificial intelligence.

The physical workspace can change and new access systems are developed. Investment in the Hi-Tech sector has allowed the development of devices and systems in the cloud, enhanced by the most recent application of artificial intelligence, facilitating remote connection (from home, form a coffee shop, from the park or from any other place) and the autonomous management of activities.

There are no longer closed offices, desks and meeting specifically in meeting rooms: the methods of contact and collaboration are enhanced. Instant messaging tools, verticalised in the world of recruitment, favour collaboration in the HR team by managing communication and internal work sharing. In this context, video-call and video-interview systems allow for deferred meetings, interviews and interactions without the need to be in the same place, at the same time and without sacrificing the success of the activities.

More connection between staff and work continuity

To talk about Smart Working it is necessary to connect several resources, constantly and for a prolonged period of time. This is the reason why its effects are more evident on the employees of large companies, rather than on the activity carried out by a single worker who is self managing (including freelancers). If, on the one hand, it is necessary that there are more people connected to each other, on the other it is essential that this type of relationship can be continuous: this is why we cannot speak of Smart Working when the work is carried out outside the working context for only a single day.

The connection is facilitated by Artificial Intelligence systems: in the HR field, for example, chatbots allow a constant connection with candidates who wish to interact with the company. These AI systems are available without constraints of time and physical availability: they support the recruiters and HR departments of a company by establishing the first contact with candidates at any time. Inda, our Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution deployed this and also other new modules.

These are just some of the innovations that Smart Working has produced in the world of work and just some of the scenarios that Artificial Intelligence is committed to enhancing with the aim of improving our work experience.