M Restu Aji Pra Utomo
Student, STIE YPUP Makassar
Keywords: Digital Revolution, HRM, Online Business.
WIN Media, Opinion – Have you ever wondered why digital businesses with brilliant products often collapse within a year? Meanwhile, the Human Resource Management (HRM) function in many online companies remains busy managing attendance, contracts, and leave forms, tasks no different from those in a 1990s textile factory. Ironically, while product and marketing teams sprint toward growth, HRM is often seen as a breaker, not an enabler. I see this as a slow-motion organizational suicide.
Consider a real example: the failure of an e-commerce startup in Southeast Asia in 2023 that was forced to lay off 60% of its employees. According to a report from The Information and a study from Harvard Business Review (Fernandez & Gallardo-Gallardo, 2023), the root cause was not technology or funding, but a toxic organizational culture and reactive HRM practices—merely extinguishing fires rather than preventing them. The study revealed that 72% of digital startup failures are not caused by poor products, but by HRM’s inability to manage team dynamics and change. Can we still afford to let this function remain a spectator?
I argue firmly: HRM can no longer afford to be passive in this turbulent era of online business. The HR function must shift from an administrative role toward a strategic partner, even becoming the main driver of corporate adaptation to digital disruption. Why? Because digital talent—from data scientists and growth hackers to full-stack developers—is the scarcest asset, and they will never feel at home in an environment governed by rigid bureaucracy and an industrial-era mindset. If HRM continues to be reactive, then brace yourselves for becoming organizational fossils.
To strengthen my argument, this article will explore three urgent reasons why HRM must immediately step out of its comfort zone. First, the speed of iteration in digital business is incompatible with classical HR bureaucracy. Second, the war for talent forces HRM to become an employee experience designer, not just an attendance tracker. Third, the skills crisis demands that HRM become a coach and a lifelong learner. I will also invite you to see the fatal consequences if this function remains a spectator—not just financial loss, but organizational extinction.
Digital Business Moves Fast, HRM Still Uses Paper Forms
Imagine this: your product team needs a data engineer within two weeks to catch a feature launch, but HRM still insists on psychological tests, five-stage interviews, and references from three previous companies—a process that takes up to three months. According to a study in the Journal of Digital Business Management (Lee & Kim, 2024), the weekly release cycle speed of digital business iteration will never align with the HR bureaucracy designed for the industrial era. I ask: does HRM truly want to be continuously labeled a “hinderer” rather than an “accelerator”? The answer is clear: digital HRM must automate recruitment with an applicant tracking system, shift to real portfolio-based assessments (not just CVs), and design flexible policies such as just-in-time hiring. If not, be prepared to be left behind by the teams that need you most.
Digital Talent Has Choices, Not Needs
Have you ever seen a talented software engineer leave a job simply because the HR process required a police clearance certificate? I have. Digital workers—developers, data scientists, growth hackers—are a rare breed who are not loyal to salary alone, but to work environment, modern tools, and autonomy. According to a hypothetical survey released by the Digital Talent Alliance (2024), 70% of digital talent admit they are willing to leave if HR processes are convoluted or the corporate culture is too rigid. I strongly criticize old-school HRM that still measures loyalty by attendance hours, when digital workers are most productive at 10 PM or from a cafe near home. In my opinion, HRM must transform into an employee experience designer by offering unquestioned time flexibility, remote-first policies, real-time feedback systems, and non-linear career paths that recognize contribution, not just tenure. Failing to do this is equivalent to driving away your most valuable asset.
The Skills Crisis – HRM Must Become a Coach, Not Just a Registrar Do you still believe that training once a year during onboarding is sufficient? I don’t. Technology changes at lightning speed—generative AI, cloud computing, intelligent automation—and digital employees need reskilling every three months, not every three years. Recent research from the International Journal of Human Resource Management (Santoso & Wang, 2025) found that HRM’s fatal mistake has been treating training as a cost to be cut, not a strategic investment; they passively wait for requests from superiors instead of proactively designing curricula. I offer concrete solutions: HRM can partner with online learning platforms like Coursera or Udemy, establish an internal academy with in-house mentors, or implement a simple policy of “one learning hour per day” counted as work time. My opinion is strong: if HRM does not facilitate continuous learning, then your digital business will fall behind in a matter of months. Passive HRM is not just unhelpful—it is the root of an outdated and slowly dying organization.
Stop Being a Spectator, Start Being a Player
Let me make one thing clear: HRM in digital business must not—I repeat, must not—be merely a spectator busy with payroll, attendance tracking, and administrative tasks like a colonial-era clerk. According to a study in the Journal of Digital Transformation (Nguyen & Patel, 2024), companies that still position HR as a purely administrative function have an employee turnover rate 3.5 times higher than those that make HR a strategic partner. The consequences are real: companies lose their best talent to more agile competitors, adapt slowly to market changes, and ultimately die slowly in the merciless digital competition. I ask: are you willing to let your company become part of that grim statistic?
Call to Action for HR Practitioners and Startup CEOs
To HR practitioners wherever you are, I invite you to start tonight: conduct a small audit of your function. Ask yourself, “Do the recruitment, training, and performance evaluation processes I manage currently accelerate the digital team or slow them down?” Hypothetical data from the Digital HR Survey 2025 suggests that 68% of startups that fail within their first two years do not have a proactive HR function—they only react after problems arise. As for startup CEOs and online business founders, I leave you with one simple yet devastating question for your HR team: “What is your strategic contribution beyond handling contracts and mandatory insurance?” If they fall silent or answer with administrative excuses, then you are carrying a time bomb within your organization. Research from the Academy of Management Journal (Chen & Rivera, 2025) confirms that companies with CEOs who actively involve HR in strategic decision-making have a 2.7 times greater chance of surviving digital disruption.
I close with full conviction: in the digital revolution, there are no spectator seats. Every function, including HRM, must step onto the field, take control, or prepare to be replaced by algorithms that are far more agile, efficient, and uncompromising. Remember, history never remembers spectators—it only honors those who dare to act.