HR Tech Upgrade – don’t be afraid!
Implementing new technology is typically viewed as a way to;
- Improve productivity and financial performance;
- Manage and mitigate business risk; and
- Engage and focus employees.
Typically, the value of a system is focused in and around its ability to automate transactional tasks and allow organisations to scale by expanding operational capacity without the need to add additional overhead (people).
A decade ago, choosing and implementing technology was an expensive and time-consuming process that created change in a significant portion (if not all) of the business. This meant that organisations often committed to a specific piece of technology (frequently with bloody minded intensity) for a significant period of time to ensure they “maximised” their return on investment from the system. This is despite often getting the first step in the technology journey and more often than not choosing the wrong system for their business to begin with.
In fact – in 2000, 70% of Enterprise systems implemented by businesses were reported as failing to achieve their estimated benefits. Results of this failure ranged from minor losses in productivity and financial performance to bankruptcy (Wong, 2005).
While the risks associated with technology at an enterprise level haven’t really changed, the availability of standalone, specialised software combined with advances in our ability to automate connections between different software platforms, has started to erode the ERP market.
With the explosion of new HR Technology offered under SAAS (Software As A Service) arrangements over the last decade, we are now faced with a Minority Report type of environment where a plethora of both specialised and generalised systems clamour for attention, promising to end all your people system woes.
Just GOOGLE “HR Technology”… We dare you.
And the reality is – that they can…as long as you choose the right one (or combination) for your business, and therein lies the rub.
While the pace of change may be stimulating for self-confessed HR Geeks like us, often it can be incredibly daunting to organisations looking to realise some of the benefits that the right technology can bring.
The right technology for the right business is a crucial concept, but if you are in the market for a “best of breed” ecosystem, or just a plug in for your current People Processes, here are some truly outstanding picks you should be looking at to get you started.
Recruitment (Sourcing)
Finding someone to hire for a job has historically been a reactive process constrained by the idea that “advertising” a vacancy and hoping that the right person applies, was the only way to approach the problem. AI based search tools designed to allow employers and recruiters to access the passive job seeker market are fast becoming the way of the future. Check out https://www.hiretual.com/ and replace your current LinkedIn recruiter license with a tool that works for you, not the other way around.
Candidate Screening and Selection
One of the biggest issues in recruitment is the sheer volume of CV’s a recruiter needs to review and shortlist. How well they do this is usually highly dependent on the recruiter and their understanding of the business. With 25 years behind them in Psychometrics, www.matchd.com provides a cost effective suite of Capability and Culture Fit assessments that allow you to automate the initial skill based screening process to a very high degree of accuracy with the added bonus of matching people with the right cultural fit for your business.
Build your own Talent Pipeline
In the past it’s been impossible for Employers to build and manage large enough talent databases to really make a difference to the recruitment cycle. Even if you did, the admin around maintaining contact with, and updating all those CV’s constantly made the prospect highly unattractive. So, this was largely left up to external Recruitment Agents. With technology like www.livehire.com, employers now think and act like an agency by easily building and maintaining large datasets around external AND internal talent and allowing the candidate to manage and update their own data.
Onboarding and HRIS
If you are still creating hardcopy contracts and employment packs then we have fantastic news for you – the world has changed. You could use specific document signing software like Docusign or Adobe, but that still leaves you with manual data entry into your payroll system. Our pick is www.flarehr.com which provides effective onboarding and employee self-service functionality all wrapped up in an attractive, easy to use interface. Did we mention it was FREE?
Performance Management
The days of the Annual Performance Appraisal are dead – long live continuous feedback! www.crewmojo.com not only provides an engaging and interactive way to manage the performance feedback cycle, it has some really exciting reporting capabilities and insights into employee relationships and communication networks within your business.
Whatever you end up using is really dependant on your specific needs, and it’s important not to be blinded by the bright flashing lights of an exciting piece of technology.
Watch this space for future articles where we will address the key things you should be thinking about if you are starting to look at technolgy for your business.
Further Reading:
https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:162284/Teo.pdf
http://www.pacis-net.org/file/2005/395.pdf
https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/621638/15-famous-erp-disasters-dustups-disappointments/