We’ve experienced unprecedented digital change in the workplace. With today’s technology, organisations have access to more data on their employees than ever before, enabling them to track ROI on benefits spend and create an engaging environment for their people. But are HR professionals still missing a trick when it comes to HR technology?
It is clear to see that HR teams are increasingly focused on being strategic. Our new research, Innovation generation - the big HR tech disconnect 2019/20 – a global survey of HR and reward professionals working in multinational organisations – found that HR professionals are striving to keep employees happy, committed and productive to add strategic value to their organisations. While ‘attracting and retaining talent’ was the single most important objective for employers in 2018, in 2019 this objective was equally as important as ‘enhancing employee engagement’. By prioritising their people as their greatest asset, HR teams can unlock their full potential and focus on achieving organisational success.
However, although HR strategy has a real impact on the business bottom line, HR leaders still need to prove this to the C-Suite. They need hard evidence in the form of data insight. So it’s no surprise that in recent years we’ve seen significant investment in HR technology.
HR teams are racing to get the right infrastructure in place to deliver both a great employee experience and generate data insights to present back to the board. When it comes to technology adoption, our research found 67% class themselves as innovators or early adopters of new technology, compared to just 7% who see themselves as conservative adopters.
But the findings aren’t all positive. Many HR professionals are struggling to bridge the gap between tech adoption and generating the insight required to support and influence their HR strategy. For example, 48% of employers don’t use analytics when it comes to benefits take-up, thus taking away their ability to accurately see benefits ROI. Furthermore, many HR teams face a struggle with data literacy – they don’t have the people analytics skills in place to derive meaningful insights from the data.
Luckily, the future is much brighter for the HR function. Our research found that while only 33% of employers collect data on their people through wearables today, within 3 years this will soar to 81%. And while only 39% collect data from building sensors, such as employee footfall and desk time, by 2022 83% of organisations plan to do this.
Finally, HR professionals are finding a way around the expense of hiring new talent with tech and analytics skills. Instead, they are recognising the versatility of their HR departments by upskilling existing employees. In the UK alone, 70% of employers have trained existing HR team members in people analytics and 22% plan to do so in the next 12 months.
The pace of digital change shows no signs of slowing down, so employers must prioritise their people. By putting the right technology in place, employers can deliver an engaging employee experience, resulting in increased productivity. With this technology they can also generate insights to prove return on investment to the C-Suite and get the most from their greatest asset; their people. By utilising HR technology in the workplace, the future is bright for employers and employees alike.
