Rapid shifts in the ways of working have compelled HR leaders to reconsider traditional approaches to HR transformation. See why HR technology calls for a dynamic approach moving ahead, and how HR leaders can reorient to this paradigm
Traditionally, HR executives viewed HR solutions as long-term investments that enabled their teams to support their workforce. This approach worked well when HR was tasked with providing basic services to the organisation, and when HR software had to be acquired as a perpetual license. This approach was strongly tied to the technology transformation paradigm, in which technology reviews were conducted yearly, and new solutions were deployed with a 5 to 10-year horizon.
But today, HR teams play a strategic role – they must own the employee experience, ensure their productivity and performance, and maintain a healthy talent pipeline while resources are short in supply. Moreover, HR software is now offered in subscription models. In this landscape, the traditional approach to HR technology hinders executives from realising their goals. That’s why, it’s time to leave the transformation paradigm behind, and adopt a dynamic approach to HR technology.
From static to dynamic HR technology strategies
A dynamic HR technology strategy is based on the premise that the technology needs of the organisation will evolve rapidly, and the assumptions that were made to pick a solution may stand falsified within a matter of months.
This approach to HR technology is a better fit for work environments where tools, policies, and processes are liable to change within a matter of weeks, and for a volatile and uncertain business landscape. If the shifts triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic are anything to go by, nearly every organisation has been subjected to this uncertainty – and this holds more truth for human resources in light of hybrid work adoption and the continuing great resignation.
So, how can executives adopt a dynamic approach to HR technology? Here are 3 key steps.
Increase your assumptions review frequency
To maintain better alignment between your HR technology and internal and external factors affecting your business, it is crucial to shift from annual to semi-annual or quarterly assumption reviews. For example, how have employee expectations and experience considerations changed, how are business conditions affecting the size of the workforce, and how is the talent market evolving? Follow these questions with whether your existing HR technology solutions help you address these changing needs.
Reorient your success criteria
The users of HR technology may be your HR teams, but the solution you pick will ultimately impact the experience of your entire workforce. As a result, it is crucial to pick technology solutions which create a positive impact for both of these stakeholder categories. For example, an HR helpdesk bot may reduce the ticket burden on your HR teams, but does it also make it easier for end users to obtain the information they need? If not, it may result in low adoption levels post-implementation, while also reflecting a KPI improvement on the surface.
Undertake a portfolio-based approach
Finally, a dynamic approach to HR technology will require executives to move away from a project-based approach, where a solution is implemented and forgotten. To ensure profitability, it is crucial to measure the investment and the RoI delivered by the solution over time. Solutions in which you can reduce or increase your investments (read: scale up or down, or adopt incrementally), will be clear winners, as they will neither strain your budgets, nor lock your investments in underperforming areas.
Finally, a portfolio-based approach will enable you to maintain clear visibility into how your assumptions impact your HR technology landscape.
Key competencies to acquire in your HR technology portfolio for 2023
For the coming year, HR executives can strengthen their dynamic HR technology strategy by acquiring the following competencies.
Assisted hiring
Will the great resignation turn into a persistent trend? CXOs in F&B, retail, and technology industries are beginning to accept talent shortage and high turnover as a fact of life, and other industries are not immune from high voluntary turnover either.
In other words, hiring managers will continue to deal with high workloads. Assisted hiring technologies driven by automation will therefore remain not just highly relevant, but crucial to maintain a healthy talent pipeline.
Cloud HCM
Cloud-based HCM software are typically offered as flexible subscriptions, and industry-leading solutions like HROne are offered as modules, each of which can be implemented on a need basis.
Such cloud HCM solutions will perfectly complement a portfolio-based approach to HR technology, where investments can be retained, increased, or reduced in line with evolving needs identified through your performance reviews.
Employee experience management
Employee experience management is increasingly turning into a strategic priority for HR. Measuring satisfaction rates, employee appraisal management, and sentiment analysis tools are therefore becoming a key competency for HR teams.
These tools will also impact an organisation’s ability to attract and retain employees, and enable them to make evidence-based decisions for their workforce.
Conversational support
In hybrid work models, every single query of a new hire and existing employees must be answered by HR helplines. However, this detracts HR teams from contributing to strategic tasks.
Conversational support can be deployed through chatbots, which answer employee queries in human language. This ensures that HR teams only spend their time answering queries which actually require their attention, and frees their valuable time.
Mobile access
Consider an employee who has requested a leave on an urgent basis at the end of the workday. To approve it, the HR manager must boot their computer and open their email/HR software, which keeps them working beyond the working hours, and delays the approval for employees.
That’s why, the ability to manage simple workflows with a mobile device is becoming a key capability, especially in hybrid work. With this feature, platforms like HROne enable faster workflows and improve the experience of both HR teams and the rest of the workforce.
Summing it up
As HR plays an increasingly strategic role in helping organisations navigate uncertainties of the talent market, HR leaders must adopt a dynamic and portfolio-based approach to HR technology. This will enable them to stay agile, and track the RoI on their technology investments. Finally, by bringing the above mentioned competencies to their HR technology portfolio, HR executives will be better armed to respond to challenges over the coming year.