Fourth industrial revolution and Human Resources Management: Evidence from developing economies

Abstract

There is no gainsaying that Industry 4.0 further scales up human resources management capability and enable upper hand to organization, such that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), characterizes the integration of digital, physical, and biological systems, with profound influence on HRM through the utilization of machine learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) from recruitment and selection, employee training and development, performance management, employee engagement and satisfaction, workforce planning and optimization, and data-driven decision making. It was against this background that this study engaged the Resource-based view to explain internet of things (IoT) and machine learning (ML) as constructs of human resource management to measure influence of Industry 4.0. Survey research design was adopted, and census sampling technique was used in the study. Sixty six (66) respondents were administered structured questionnaire that underwent validity and reliability test to ascertain survey validity, accuracy and consistency. The findings showed that there is significant effect of internet of things and machine learning on human resource management. Hence this study recommends that existing software, IoT, and sensors should be taken delivery of by the institution for the ICT unit to optimize her IoT interface. The study also recommends that ICT staff should be trained and re-trained on trending machine learning algorithms so they can build and use computer systems that are able to learn and adapt without explicit instructions.