The future of HR technology lies in software that is an intrinsic part of your culture, workforce processes and employee training and development. Its permeation throughout your organization will help distribute the administrative responsibilities that often burden HR departments, as well as align the goals of your people with the organization. This foundation will reduce compliance risk, deliver more comprehensive analytics and foster a strategic environment where HR is a proactive business partner.
One Software Solution
When analyzing the best HR technology to grow with your business, look for a hire-to-retire solution with the full functionality to handle all your employment processes. When all your employee information is stored in one system of record, it eliminates the need to enter and maintain the same data in multiple systems, thereby reducing errors and saving time. Prioritize finding one software solution that includes recruiting and hiring, onboarding, payroll, time tracking, scheduling, benefits, document management, compliance, performance management, training and surveys. These tools — along with secure, cloud-based access levels for payroll and HR, executive leadership, managers and employees — are the first steps in building your best workforce technology solution.
Access for Everyone
This can be a scary concept. However, if HR insists on being the sole administrator for all things employee-related, there will never be enough hours in the day for them to be strategic. By empowering employees and managers with the ability to self-manage certain transactions, it frees HR from the mundane, time-consuming tasks that are not driving value. A system with custom access levels lets HR retain control over what their people can see and change while greatly reducing their clerical responsibilities.
Load-Lifting Managers
With HR tools to manage their teams, your supervisors can be more effective with automated processes and reports for hiring, training, scheduling and performance management. They can approve timecards, expenses and time-off requests, as well as initiate automated Personnel Action Forms (PAFs) for employee changes such as promotions. Because these processes are automated within one software application they improve companywide consistency and data accuracy.
Employee Expectations
Employees aren’t going to expect access to their information in the future; they expect it now. They want to be able to see their pay vouchers and W-2s on their phone, show their spouses their benefits options online, request schedule changes, view their vacation time and request time off. Enabling employees to update their contact information and beneficiaries, upload expenses, track performance and development goals, and access company forms and documents from one website is key. All their employer-related information should be accessible via one Employee Self-Service login, including training. They long ago learned to turn to the Internet for research and even video instruction, which makes an on-demand learning management system a must-have in your search for future HR software.
Re-Imagining Data Management
With HR technology that invites automation and manager and employee usage, more and more of the information HR departments are typically required to enter, maintain and report on in their software will be input and reported on by their workforce. For example:
- new hire information populated from online applications and electronic I-9s and W-4s
- merit increases driven by performance-management tools that automatically update payroll, once approved by HR
- implementation of HR-approved employee changes entered by managers through online PAFs
- online benefits enrollment by employees that automatically updates payroll with new deduction amounts and notifies carriers electronically, once approved by HR
- employee-updated contact and dependent information
- dashboards and push reporting for on-demand analytics and automatically scheduled reports for executives and managers
Transformative Technology
Your HR technology should be working for your entire organization — engaging employees, providing insight to managers and executives, and empowering HR with automated processes and a single system of record for employees. One database of employee information is crucial for employment law compliance and managing the demands such as those required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
But in addition to helping with the day-to-day responsibilities of an HR professional, your HR software should shine in helping you be more strategic. Comprehensive reporting is critical. The ability to survey employees and analyze trends in satisfaction, voluntary terminations, training relevance, etc., is a must for monitoring engagement. Creating successful employee profiles to help identify and target the best candidates for future hires is essential for strategic talent acquisition. And performance-management tools that help align the goals of the organization and workforce — and track and reward success — are the keys to truly transformative technology that will define your future.