Archive for the ‘hr strategy’ tag
The changing role of HR
Paul Tooth, Sage HR and Payroll
One of the most positive outcomes of the recession is that the importance of cultivating and retaining talent has become too large for organisations to ignore. In today’s knowledge economy, a business is only as good as its people and reliance on the feature-set of their products and services is not enough. Firms must invest in their people by engaging their workforce and developing their skills sets if they are to maximise corporate performance.
Technology: HR’s right-hand man?
HR departments are embracing technologies that will enable them to become more streamlined and respond quickly to new opportunities. Scalable software that can manage the employee lifecycle and carefully track the talent, knowledge and career development of their workforce, not only helps remove the administrative burden for HR but ultimately increases motivation and commitment amongst the workforce by letting employees know that the business cares about their development. Indeed, with businesses beginning to look beyond short term survival, it’s those companies that provide clear progression and talent management that are seen as good places to work and are most likely to succeed.
HR software
HR software was traditionally considered to be a tool used by HR departments to reduce cumbersome administration; and in that role it has never failed to deliver. Holding core data on employees, software not only helps HR teams to automate processes and carry out tasks quickly and more efficiently, but also enables more proactive decision making through better access to accurate and real time information. The time and efficiency savings this gives the HR function are indisputable. Yet with HR technology rapidly evolving to meet the requirements of today’s diverse and flexible workforce, these benefits do not end there.
HR software has advanced to store vital information around the knowledge, critical skills sets, leadership qualities and career development paths within an organisation’s workforce. This escalates a business’s knowledge of its talent pool and can help an organisation to more accurately forecast and plan how its total operation will perform based on the resources and expertise that can be consolidated from across the company.
Looking forward
Many organisations are focusing their efforts toward re-evaluating HR processes and making the necessary software investments to reduce administration, become more streamlined and cultivate talent. Making these changes today will not only improve competitiveness and provide the operational clarity required to maximise corporate performance, but will also help to retain talented employees and prepare the organisation to exploit future economic growth.
Top tips for implementing HR software
- Understand what the business needs and ensure that this is documented and understood by any potential supplier
- Be pragmatic about the role that software will play within the business. Needs evolve and change in line with the system itself, as users realise the capabilities and functionalities it has. It’s important to have a core system in place but ensure that there is scope to extend or refresh it in any way
- Phasing implementations in the right way is critical to ensuring that the foundations are in place to allow the system to evolve as the business needs it to
- Knowledge transfer is key. It’s important that vendors provide refresher courses to maintain a broad knowledge and understanding of the system across the workforce
- Customisation of an HR system can prove beneficial, but needs to be carefully considered.
Paul Tooth, General Manager, Sage HR and Payroll
