The Role of Human Resource Practices for the Development of Operator 4.0 in Industry 4.0 Organisations: A Literature Review and a Research Agenda

In this study, we summarised the human resources practices for the development of Operator 4.0. Operator 4.0 is the worker operating in an Industry 4.0 organisation. Such organisations introduce novel digital technologies—including Big Data, robotics, and the Internet of Things—along the assembly line. Operators 4.0 can manage Industry 4.0 technologies, and Industry 4.0 technologies also support their activities. Some studies illustrate the enabling Industry 4.0 technologies for this role and the various qualitative benefits for Operator 4.0. However, organisations encounter issues to prepare traditional manufacturing workers for this novel role, which implies a drastic change in training and designing jobs, particularly for the qualitative aspects of the work organisation and human-computer interaction. Moreover, traditional manufacturing workers do not possess the proper digital skills to manage complex Industry 4.0 technology. Thus, there is a lack of study that illustrates what organisational practices are used to develop an Operator 4.0. Human resources management is the organisational function devoted to these challenges, such as a lack of a skilled workforce in handling high-tech technologies and employee retention. It provides human resource practices to develop workers for their role. Therefore, we addressed this gap by conducting a systematic literature review to summarise the used human resource practices for the development of an Operator 4.0. The results show six human resource practices for developing an Operator 4.0: staffing, job design, training, performance appraisal system, knowledge management, and compensation. We concluded by proposing a research agenda to advance this research stream.