SIX HR TECHNOLOGY TRENDS IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS PERFORMANCE WITH TECHNOLOGY
CONTENTS 3 8 11 13 17 19 21 Introduction The Digital Workplace Revolution Trend 1 The Rise of Software as a Service (SaaS) Trend 2 Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate! Trend 3 Mastering Data Management Trend 4 Synchronized Data Integration Trend 5 Mobilizing Data Trend 6 Managing Millennials Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 2
INTRODUCTION If your workplace isn t already completely digital, it will be soon. According to Designing the Digital Workplace, a recent survey produced the following statistics about the speedy move toward the all-digital workplace: 88% of companies offer their workforce personal devices such as smartphones, PDAs, and tablets. 62% of companies conduct remote meetings through desktop videoconferencing. 54% of companies say they actively use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other tools to engage their workforce, customers, and other stakeholders. Nearly 90% of companies plan to increase their investment in productivity-enabling technologies such as voice activation and sophisticated videoconferencing by 2015. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 3
From simple processes to entire departments, technology is revolutionizing the way we do business and that includes employees expectations about their workplace and its managers. CEOs, executive managers, frontline workers everyone is experiencing the benefits and challenges of this 24/7 digital environment. One corporate area undergoing this digital transformation the most is the department of human resources. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 4
WHAT S TRENDING? Six Categories of HR Tech Trends Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 5
The HR profession is getting a digital makeover! From its humble beginnings in the 1920s when employees became more than just factors of production, to the specialization of management functions after World War II, to the growing compliance issues in the 1960s, the importance of HR to a company s success strategy only continues to increase. (Reed, Gusdorf) With HR s increasing responsibilities, we see the profession moving to a top-level position, reporting to the chief executive officer and playing a strategic role in the organization s success. (Reed, Gusdorf) Just as HR continues to evolve and increase its strategic importance, so too do the technologies that shape the profession. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 6
Meeting to discuss the biggest, most current HR technology trends, the 2013 SHRM Technology and HR Management Expertise Panel made one fact clear: HR needs to stay ahead of the technological curve and embrace new technologies as a means to improve the company s bottom line both financially and culturally. (Alberti) Increasing your bottom line. That s a pretty good reason to get on the HR technology bandwagon. So here are some of the biggest HR tech trends to keep your eye on and start implementing (if you haven t yet) so your department (and your organization!) doesn t fall behind. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 7
1 Software as a Service (SaaS) According to Five HR Technology Trends for 2013 by Emma Snider, HR is one of the business functions where adoption of SaaS software is highest. Snider reports that HR managers are now choosing cloud-based products almost exclusively, and she quotes Paul Hamerman, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research: SaaS adoption is already at very high levels, says Hamerman, and really now companies will choose SaaS first. Basically it becomes a prerequisite for any kind of solution they look at in HR. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 8
According to Live from SHRM 2013: The Top 10 Technology Trends HR Needs to Know, members of the 2013 SHRM Technology and HR Management Expertise Panel are already seeing a major shift from on-premise applications to the cloud. In 2-3 years, reports author Katie Alberti, they expect that 66% of HR departments will host their technology in the cloud. Snider s research echoes this trend; a webcast by human capital management consultancy Knowledge Infusion/Appirio revealed that 80% of attendees expected to have the majority of their companies HR platforms in the cloud over the next three years. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 9
Along with moving HR platforms to the cloud, the rise of SaaS also impacts other areas. In Three HR Technology Trends of 2013, Harold Ford reports that because of the rise of SaaS, talent management continues to be the top HR service delivery issue in organizations. Ford goes on to say that even though Talent Management systems are plentiful and most are difficult to integrate with core HR Management Systems (HRMS) because they are still silo applications, these systems will get more flexible in 2013, decreasing integration challenges and other issues. In addition, Talent Management applications and BPO (business process outsourcing) will increase the strategic value of HR in a company, allowing HR to contribute to long-term business strategy and help cut infrastructure costs and hassles. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 10
2 Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate! Teamwork. Partnerships. Cooperation. Coordination. Each of these words aptly identifies the essence of collaboration. Simply put, collaboration means working together on a joint endeavor. Thanks to today s 24/7 digital environment, working with others is easier than ever. In fact, a lot of business conducted in this techsavvy era wouldn t be possible without collaboration. In Live from SHRM 2013, Alberti discusses three HR tech trends that emphasize working together. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 11
1. Increasing integration of social media and solutions for better communication and collaboration. Finding ways to leverage technology helps your employees whether they work remotely or travel for business frequently. Technology like this lets employees communicate and collaborate in real-time, wherever they are. 2. Virtualization and globalization are driving innovative use of better collaboration tools. As technology evolves, so does the way it s developed and implemented. Make sure to do your research and learn how others in HR use technology globally. 3. Utilization of cross-functional innovation teams to improve creativity, productivity, and quality. [HR is encouraged] to collaborate with others, particularly those you may never have thought to work with before. Oftentimes, people outside your area of expertise provide a new perspective that could benefit your company. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 12
3 Mastering Data Management One major advantage of today s technology is the extra data available on everything from policy changes to personnel. This additional data, however, comes with the added challenge of strategic organizational management to keep up with the high volume and demand for analytics. Whether you have hundreds of employees or less than fifty, paper-based management procedures are outdated, inefficient, and cost money for every lost or misplaced file, which is unacceptable due to the trending importance of data management. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 13
In Three Technology Trends of 2013, Ford discusses how important data management has become: In addition to getting strategic through talent management, HR will leverage their HRMS to generate meaningful business analytics on their human capital. Workforce analytics are an imperative part of HR technology and are an integral component in corporate-wide decision making. HR must meet the demands of their organization by delivering analyt- ics that can be integrated with other key corporate data in order to predict workforce demands for the future. HR departments must also be able to sift through the ever-increasing amounts of Big Data in the organization to transform it into valuable information and business intelligence. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 14
Alberti highlights the importance and power of Big Data in Live from SHRM 2013 by stating that HR professionals have and will continue to increase their capability to harness and analyze big data to propel business performance results. As big data continues to evolve, says Alberti, it will begin to dictate how we conduct business. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 15
The strategy of analyzing Big Data analytics embedded in HR software is another up-and-coming trend identified by Snider in Five HR Technology Trends for 2013. Snider quotes Paul Hamerman, VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research: HR people have had a thirst for data about their workforce, says Hamerman, and one of the things they are looking for is comparative data from the outside world, such as benchmarks. I think solutions exist in the market [now] and will expand and get better as they are able to scale and assimilate more external data. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 16
4 Synchronized Data Integration Lots of data without organization is, well, disorganized and not very helpful. Once we gather all this great data, we need to sync it. The struggle to maintain data quality is another challenge for HR managers, says Paul Hamerman in Snider s article Five HR Technology Trends for 2013. Companies need to get a better handle on their employee master data, says Hamerman. It s difficult to keep data in sync across multiple systems, so you need to create repositories of master data that can be governed more effectively from a quality standpoint. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 17
Data integration is made even more complicated with the introduction of other trends in HR technology, reports Ford in Three HR Technology Trends of 2013, such as cloud-based systems, social networking, and workforce mobility. Each system must collaborate and synchronize to provide useful, applicable data and manage the quality of personnel information. Live from SHRM 2013 emphasizes this growing trend of interoperability of systems, databases, and tools through integration, consolidation, and suite solutions. For new technology to operate correctly in your current technology environment, integration is imperative. HR managers should consider whether or not a new technology will work well with current systems(s) prior to purchasing. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 18
5 Mobilizing Data As Alberti so eloquently states in Live from SHRM 2013, mobile tools put the right data in the right hands at the right time on the right device for the right task. A lengthy statement, but true. The way we use technology changes with the evolution of that technology. Once upon a time, cell phones were as big as shoes and laptops were the gotta-have-it device. As mobile continues to increase its presence in our lives, says Alberti, it s imperative we implement it in the workplace to streamline processes and meet the needs of our employees when they re not in the office. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 19
One of the results of so much available mobile data is the question about where to store it. Alberti mentions that another trending issue in HR tech is assurance through evidence that the cloud is secure. SHRM Technology and HR Management Expertise Panel member Paul Belliveau declares that the cloud is much more secure than people think. Companies like ADP and even the federal government have utilized the cloud for years, reports Alberti. If it s secure enough to store sensitive payroll and government information, it can do the same for your HR department. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 20
6 Managing Millennials Today s tech-savvy generation is the workforce of the future. Dubbed millennials and Generation C, these employees are completely tech-savvy with instinctive understanding of digital technologies, which produces expectations of being connected to everyone and everything, anytime, anywhere. (Designing the Digital Workplace) For Generation C, productivity has a new meaning, and companies must promote the elements of the digital workplace needed to enhance it. (Designing the Digital Workplace) Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 21
For example, in Five HR Technology Trends for 2013, Snider predicts that social performance management is going to edge out the annual review. She supports this prediction with information from Rebecca Wetterman, research VP at Nucleus Research. Wetterman expects that interest in social performance management software will increase throughout 2013, partly because of all the new Millenials arriving in the job market. Certainly the early adopters are going to be in technology, says Wetterman, just as we ve seen with social collaboration, but particularly organizations hiring a lot of younger workers are going to see this as a way to manage their investment in labor on an ongoing basis. Millennials are used to an ongoing stream of feedback, and they re going to be looking for consistent short-term feedback and encouragement. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 22
In fact, HR managers are starting to understand how crucial improving engagement in general is to both employees and job candidates. Snider s article emphasizes Hamerman s enthusiasm for the enormous benefits of constructing engaging career websites and simplifying the job application process. It s also about employee engagement, says Hamerman, and taking the dated notion of employee self-service to another level by creating a much more interactive environment where companies can engage employees through internal social networks. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 23
The Bottom Line As technology continues to change the way we work, moving us towards an alldigital workplace, the tools HR professionals use to organize information and communicate with employees are more important than ever. HR departments not only need to stay on top of current workplace tech trends but also embrace and implement these methods to prepare for current and future employees who will have high expectations about using technology in the workplace. Each of these six HR technology trends demonstrate excellent, cutting-edge technology methods that improve your business performance, company culture, and bottom line. If you haven t embraced them yet, now is the time! Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 24
Six HR Technology Trends The Rise of SaaS Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate Mastering Data Management Synchronized Data Integration Mobilizing Data Managing Millenials
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About the Author & Designer Rebecca Whittenberger is an eleven-year veteran of working in non-profit organizations and academic institutions. She served as curator of education and education consultant for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society for six years and is currently a communications specialist in marketing and public relations at Ving. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 27
Resources Alberti, Katie. Live from SHRM 2013: The Top 10 Technology Trends HR Needs to Know, The Hyland Blog, www.blog.hyland.com June 19, 2013. Ford, Harold. Three HR Technology Trends of 2013, www.dresserassociates.com, April 25, 2013. Reed, Sandy, and Myrna L. Gusdorf. The Evolution of Human Resource Manage- ment, Society for Human Resource Management Shehadi, Ramez, Christopher A.H. Volmer and Danny Karam. Designing the Digital Workplace: Connectivity, Communication, Collaboration, Booz & Company, Inc. 2013 Snider, Emma. Five HR technology trends for 2013 and three critical action items, www.searchfinancialapplications.techtarget.com, June 18, 2013. Six HR Technology Trends - Rebecca Whittenberger 28
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