Ask anyone you come across, especially business owners, you will not find one person who will say that buying HR is easy work. In fact, if you look back on those who had not
HR Tech Gone Wrong
- Does HR Tech Really Help? Josh Bersin from Deloitte had said that technology had not made life easier for its employees, rather they made things hard. Employees are overwhelmed by email and the tools that the organization has introduced. He also said that a significant amount of time was being spent in dealing with emails. While new tools were originally intended for collaboration, they are being used by only a fraction of people. An example of such a tool is Yammer, which according to an HR at Infosys, is being used by only 14-15% employees at the organization.
- Shopping for the Right Purposes: The problem is not that technology is being implemented in these organizations; rather problem is that the tools are provided and are expected to be used. Rather than focusing on the needs of the organization and purchasing based on that, some organizations purchase the best software out there. This is known as “spray and pray” technique. Christopher Arnold from Wells Farago has stated that several companies buy a software only because it is cool and interesting, not because they believe the HR tech will help them. Bersin recommends those buying the software to analyze the technology before actually buying it and to understand if the software will add value to the organization.
- Product Vs. Process: When organizations buy a software, there is a herd feeling where the organizations purchased a software because competitors had it and such reasons. Large companies are obsessed with recruiting and onboarding solutions and in talent management, whereas smaller organizations are more inclined towards managing attendance.
Three Steps to Buying the Right Software and Having No Regrets
- Assessing the Challenge: Before you can make the decision to buy the HR tech, make sure you understand the needs of the HR department which should be addressed. This way, rather than being overwhelmed by the latest trends in technology, you will be clear about the software that you need. You will also understand the constraints that you have in the financial front that is in terms of your budget. Some of the questions that need to be answered before you can go ahead and buy the software include the capabilities that the system should have, the business needs that are more pressing which makes the software fairly important and crucial. It should also answer questions on which employees will be affected by introducing the change and the current processes that are in the system that can be preserved even after the new software is installed. Analyze the new capabilities that are needed as well. Once an analysis is done and all the required information is gathered, you can understand which software will be suitable for the organization. You can also check the items and shortlist which software will make the cut.
- Knowing Your Options: Once the challenge is assessed, the next step is to assess the capabilities that each vendor offers. This will also help you in understanding the features that work for you and the ones that need to go through an overhaul.
- Payroll: Determine if the HR Tech software should perform the function of payroll management or if the current payroll solution will work in the future as well.
- Employee Engagement: Decide if you would like to stick to the current employee engagement technique or if the new system should have new features like communities and the calendar for scheduling.
- Benefits: Decide the capabilities that the software should have and how straightforward the benefits enrollment process should be.
- Recruiting: Understand the services that the Applicant tracking system should offer. In case you want the branding to be better for the candidate process, it can be achieved using HR Tech. With this software, it is even possible to save candidate information for the future. HR tech is also used to make onboarding process easier.
- Time and Attendance: Geo-tracking capabilities can provide clock-in from remote locations. The system can help in scheduling the calendars such that the employees can access it themselves. Employees in different time-zones can also access it correspondingly.
- Learning Management: Before you can purchase the software, make sure that it also has features for training options and can tracks goals for training courses. The training materials should also be available for access.
- Reporting: The software can have control or custom reporting options. The reports should be customizable. Reports should also be created efficiently.
- Meeting the Vendor: It is also known as the final step in deciding the right software. In this step, you should warrant a demo as well as a quote. Make sure you ask a lot of questions and see examples. Find out if the tools in the software really work. Get the quote and look at the costs of implementation and everything entitled in the quote. Understand how the price is calculated and the additional price that you can expect. Before buying the software, make sure that you study the software carefully and carry out ample research and analysis. Once the research is completed, the process becomes easier. Compare vendors and compare tools that each vendor offers to know which software can be shortlisted further. Once you have the final list, compare it with your requirements to know which satisfies all your demands.
Purchasing HR Tech is very simple. But it is also the aspect that could go extremely wrong. Once you install the new software, make sure you market it right to the employees. Give it some publicity and makes sure that employees are given all the information about it. The employees should also understand the reason behind the software and follow up by tracking adoption. Provide ample training for the software to be a success in the organization
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