Getting Strategic with HR Technology

Editor's Notes

• #2: Something everyone wants to talk about, HR Technology!I love tech, and HR Tech is my passion – technology & building better tech strategies in companies
• #3: Current and trends in HR techHow HR Tech can make you more strategicWhy an ROI matters
• #4: 17 years providing technology advice to HR/Payroll deptsExpert – person who predicts the project will take the longest and cost the mostUse a smartphone? End of 2010, 1.2 billion people carry smartphonesUse GPS? Tweeted that they were here today?
• #5: Acronym soup –daze and confuse, almost as much as HRBenefits admin, HR info mgmt, recruiting, training/learning mgmt, performance mgmt, payroll, work timeCore HR discipline by SHRM and is a facet of all other HR disciplines.HR Guru David Ulrich HR Magazine’s Most influential HR person#1 management educator by Business WeekMastery of HR Technology as one of the five competency domains
• #6: Everyone talks about it, who’s doing it? What does it even mean?Term borrowed from military - having an impact outside your own military unit. Strategic – taking a ‘longer term’, ‘big picture’ approach. vs. Tactics HR’s Direct contribution to long-term corporate objectives.Understand all parts of organization, how organization fits together, and how any change will impact organization as a whole
• #7: Yes, Technology can do all of these things to HR, but the real value lies in building better strategic vision.
• #8: Enable HR - Make predictive correlations between traditional HR metrics and the businessMore holistic view of human capitalIMPACTS to businessTransform HR from tactical to strategicKnowledge EconomyWorkforce AgilityMake decisions about human capital to continuously improve and enhance the value of the business
• #9: 5 Trends taken from a variety of sources:Watson Wyatt Research, SHRM, IHRIM, our customersThese 5 trends all incorporate a similar theme:Better strategic design, & HR’s role in that strategyChanges in how employees work
• #10: Connecting with people Building CommunitiesCommunicating and Collaborating with your customers, employees, and peers to improve your brand.Provide Clarity and transparency about yourself & your company.Cultivating loyalty and trust.Sharing ContentConvergence – a complete transformation on how we do everything
• #11: Web 1.0 – push content out to masses; “advertising”We searched for information and consumed it
• #12: 2nd generation of web development and design Facilitates communication, information sharing, and collaboration on the world wide web
• #13: Blogs –200,000,000 blogs Wikis – Collaborative user communities (ex: Wikipedia)RSS – Updates are automated, update site and RSS updates thousands of areas on the webAggregate – sites like indeed.com – one stop shopping for candidatesSocial networking sites – online communities that provide users a variety of ways to interact3 out of 4 Americans use social technology.
• #14: Branding - #1 business use when polledRecruiting is driving Web 2.0 in HR, FB & LI drive people to employer’s career site.Build brand awareness, attract new talentEnhance learning opportunities through virtual networks
• #15: 88% look for jobs online, 60% apply online28% Millennials seek work through LinkedIn, report by I Love Rewards and Experience Inc.86% of Americans plan to look for a new job in 2011 – CNN MoneyOpen transparent conversation, build trustInbound Activities (search aggregate sites, research companies, ask friends)Passive job seekers – job hunting consumes 0% of their time60% think that hiring passive candidates results in better employees – LinkedIn poll, 2009Gather info to mitigate risk - Right person – right position
• #16: Gartner Research – 80% learning comes from informal trainingImmediate, relevant trainingUse to identify people who know a lot about their jobsConnect EE’s with experts in the companyUsing more sophisticated training tools that harnesses the power of social media and virtual worlds in favor of slides and conventional classroom environments
• #17: We know that the best use of SM is relationship building and branding, you can be the one that gets your company ready for the movement!What’s working? Good Content, Good Community, Value of RelationshipsGoogle “The company as a wiki” – BestBuy’s move to Web 2.0, leading edge & bleeding edge
• #18: 1.2 Billion people carry smartphonesBy 2013, mobile will take over PC/Laptop use. 45% of all Social Media is done on mobile phonesNearly 75% of the American workforce will be mobile by 2013, according to market research firm IDC.“You” are your office – text, phone, wifi, 3G - ‘central office’ model is barely recognizableSHRM Q1 2010 Study – Virtual office is the office of the future
• #19: HR must be able to support the virtual workforceGenerational changes - The emerging workforce will be a blend of Baby Boomers, GenXers, GenYers, and the coming wave of graduates. New EE/Transferee changes HR Role as leader – review policies, cultural ‘fit’, worker responsibilities, employer of choice
• #20: Automate AdministriviaSimplify/Enhance CommunicationConsolidate DataImprove EEsatisfactionReduce Paper
• #21: Employees directly view, create, and maintain information in a Web browser.‘Paperless’ office - Paperless payroll a big trend currently38% use ESS33% use Manager Self Service
• #22: Talent Management, or Integrated Talent ManagementMany silo’d applications are consolidating, traditional HRMS closing the gap on ITM.Learning systems and training up 2% in 2010, after 2 years of spending cuts – Bersin & AssociatesSHRM – “Biggest investment challenge over the next 10 years” - Obtaining and Optimizing Human Capital – 47%86% of Americans plan to look for a new job in 2011 – CNN Money29% cite lack of advancement opportunitiesMore optimism, + recovering economic pictureWar for talent – 1997 McKinsey study coined the term
• #23: Manage inordinate amount of data we collect on our best talentLeverage inordinate amount of data we retain on our best talentHeightened competition for skilled workersRetirement of baby boomersHigh cost of turnoverOutsourcing trends
• #24: Turn data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into plans that drive profitable business actionsData - Collection of raw value elementsInformation - Facts can be gathered on data to draw conclusions.Intelligence - Use information to perceive, discover, and understand abest course of actionHow do we get from information to intelligence?
• #25: Link HR to overall business strategyMetrics can add to the HR professional’s credibility and garner support for HR programs.
• #26: Honest look into HR and Technology
• #27: Admin/transactional nature draws of HRComfort zone activities are EASY (transactions, paper admin)Soft side of business – the people, and not the hard side – the numbersForrester Research - over 50% of HR dept’s time is spent processing EE information and answering EE questions.Employee’s are children, and HR is their mommy and daddyDifferent skill sets – regression analysis, causal pathway modeling, predictive modeling
• #28: HR doesn’t serve corporate objectivesActivity driven - not delivery driven. Reactive around services. Forfeits long term value for short term efficiency.Due to labor regs, corporate policies, etc., HR is bad cop that is focused on here and nowHR and Executives don’t speak same language. HR not only doesn’t have a seat in the board room, it doesn’t have a key!THE KEY IS TECHNOLOGYHR Technology can overcome all 4 arguments.
• #29: Measure HR’s Impact on the bottom lineUse to influence CEO, CFO, CIO, CIA, CBS, or any other C-level executive in the companyMarketing – decisions about customers Finance – decisions about moneyIT – decisions about technologyHR – decisions about peopleHR is the only department that has direct access to both the “C”-suite and people assets of an organization. HR has it’s finger on the pulse of a company, and can report that data directly to those who need it most to make better business decisions.
• #30: Technology will reduce admin so we can focus on strategy
• #31: Understand mission, vision, goals, objectives of companyAlign HR Goals with corporate onesTie metrics to business decisionsDirect correlation of human capital performance and business performanceIntegrate your metrics with other departments (finance, customer satisfaction, etc.)
• #32: What metrics are important to the company?Compare over time8-12 KPI’s ("keep it simple and straightforward“)Measures should be few, but layeredWhat is to be gained
• #33: Make value, not activity (from HR Value Proposition – Dave Ulrich). Pick KPI’s that add value in making decisionsTraining attendees per month vs. Effectiveness of training Did trained staff learn anything to make them better workers? How did quality improve? How did customer loyalty improve?
• #34: Drive operational-decision making without “hunches”. Use metrics to answer important workforce questions.Use standardized auditable data Measure consistently (measure twice, cut once)Gain insights and credible “what-if” scenarios
• #35: Revenue / FTE – Links time and effort associated with firms human capital to its revenue output. Greater efficiency and productivity. $154K average
• #36: Turnover clarity – don’t just focus on turnover rate, study data on different data points and multi-dimensional analytics – TenureBy wage ratesBy ageBy top producers
• #37: Benefits – cost factor, percentage of total compensation, worker’s comp, etc.Profit Indicator/Human Capital ROI – Pre-Tax Profit less Financial capital costs/human capital costsAttrition Rate / Survival Rate
• #38: Investment in human capital is company’s largest investment.HR - take the lead in identifying where people assets can best be allocated to meet the company’s goalsHow to hire, develop, and retain the human capital the company needs to stay competitive now and in the future.I’m preaching to the choir here, but…In a knowledge economy, companies with the best talent win
• #39: Pull data from all sources and put into dashboard formDashboard – graphical snapshot of business health from an HR Perspective.Easy to read, summary of company’s current state of affairs
• #40: Spending is at an all-time low in the current economic situationOnly 1/3 of those polled in SHRM’s 2005 Technology survey say their HR technology implementations were extremely successfulWhy buy more after being burned?Current technology (10+ year old legacy systems) ‘works’
• #41: Understand current trends, where technology is headed for HR. Webinars, etc.Twitter – good place to follow experts
• #42: 2. Determine current reality – The project is a journey to a destination.You need to know where you are now to determine how to get where you want to go.
• #43: Need vs. Want – I need a car, I want a Mercedes S-ClassSeek help – plenty of great organizations that determine current reality and analyze needs
• #44: Align goals/objectives with business Show that investing in HR Technology will have operational impact.
• #45: SHRM estimates the paper costs associated with benefits enrollment at $27.50 per employee.ROI Example: $1.92/check delivery (forms, ink, MICR, time to fold/stuff, distribution & mailing)Annual cost = $20,616Investment to provide employee self service = $20KHard Cost ROI in less than 12 monthsHOWEVER – Soft costs (added employee value, less admin = more productivity for HR)
• #47: Work with mgmt on budget – having ROI helps!‘We don’t have a budget’. Everyone has a budget, whether it’s for a gallon of gasoline or a new carBoth of which will cost the same very soon.Ask consultant – “How much do you charge?”“Typically we scope and plan the project in advance, so we charge $50,000 for three questions”“Isn’t that a bit expensive?”“Yes, now what’s your third question?”
• #48: We typically start at step 7, which is a mistake – this is the fun stuff, the easy stuff. Exercise due diligence on technology vendorsFind someone that you will want to work with in current and future That understands ourVision,Mission,Goals, your Business ObjectivesPick 3-5 technology solutions to review
• #49: Less than 1/3 of all IT projects finish on-time and on-budget. – Standish Group 2006 Chaos reportFrom poor planning, unclear goals/objectives, lack of buy in, and unrecognized destination
• #50: What is your HR technology strategy?What system functionality do you need?What results do you wish to accomplish?What work processes do you wish to change?How will we handle change?Software or subscription?How does this system support the overall needs of the business?What HR metrics help drive business decisions?Who are the decision makers internally?What is your internal technology environment?What is your budget?