SaaS-based HR tools with built in intelligence will have a significant impact on HR functions over the coming five years, according to an expert in the area, who said smart software will be able to help employees figure out what they need and help them in the process.
The focus on transactional HR over the coming five years will be significantly less, and this shift is already underway with leading organisations in Australia, said Mike Ettling, president of Successfactors.
“We have seen widespread adoption across a variety of SaaS HR tools and platforms over the last few years,” he said.
“Commercial drivers such as the peak of the commodities boom and the rise of Asian-centric growth on the world stage have seen our customers turn the page from simple, reactive, cost based quick fixes, to the need for a platform that is focused not only on enabling the current workforce, but aligns that workforce to commercial goals.”
“The future of HR is no HR, meaning HR will no longer exist for its own sake”
Ettling said hundreds of standard people events, such as sick leave, vacation, promotions, moving to a new location, becoming a manager and retirement, all cause ripples across a business.
“It’s analogous to throwing a rock in the water and watching ripples flow,” he said.
“With machine technology and predictive analytics we can now deal with all the ripples they cause.
“Previously you had to look to people in shared service centres or BPOs to address all these ripples manually.”
This will gradually be taken out of the equation for HR, according to Ettling, who said smart, adaptable, learning, evolving software will be able to figure out what an employee needs, how to help them, and automatically do as much work as possible.
“The software that would get better over time as it observed what helped people, and passed this knowledge on the subsequent users,” said Ettling, who said this will deliver a better experience for employees, managers and HR.
“The power of SaaS is in melting business processes,” he said.
“With machine technology and predictive analytics we can now deal with all the ripples they cause”
“If you can standardise, automate and socially-enable your processes, your manual processes just melt away.
“HR can focus more on solving the problems and less on the administrative process issues. People management becomes more strategic and data-driven.
“So the future of HR is no HR, meaning HR will no longer exist for its own sake. HR will become the enabler of business goals and executives’ objectives – providing a great experience for your people. And we will see this in the next five years.”
Ettling said HR needs to work with the C-suite team to set a vision and a strategy to address talent needs, and move away from increasingly complex systems and processes that are not only expensive to maintain but provide for a “terrible employee experience”.
“HR leaders need to arm themselves with knowledge on what modern HR solutions can bring to the business, build a business case, and align with other business leaders on transformation,” he said.
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