Why Isn't Workplace Technology as Easy as Personal Technology?

 As human capital management digital technology consultants, we get this question a lot. There are many reasons including the very nature of organizations that are structured to share data and information across networks rather than being siloed like an individual. But some of the issues relate to HCM tech stack customizations and siloing of decision making and control. The bottom line is that the process of selecting and integrating HCM technology is complicated and the success rate is significantly higher when leveraging a partner that is familiar with not only the functional requirements but also best practices for engagement and adoption.

A recent article in the WSJ, detailed many of the issues that contribute to this complexity such as:

1. Existing corporate IT infrastructure including both hardware and software. It isn't possible to upgrade everyone every 2 years like we do personally.
2. Software customizations make both regular upgrades and future enhancements more complicated.
3. Monolithic design and legacy technology often means processing logic and user interfaces must go through a single IT system. This structure often ties an organization to a vendor and limits its ability to move to new platforms and technologies.
4. Mergers and acquisitions bring different payroll, HRIS, benefits, ATS, and other people systems that either need to be maintained, integrated, or transformed.
5. Data privacy and security are more complex for businesses and this factor becomes much more complex depending upon the countries of operation.
6. System maintenance as well as ongoing training and support are also more complex for organizations.

As HCM client side consultants, we offer HCM Tool Selection services. While some people feel that they can rely on vendors or online forums and rankings, working with an experience consultant adds impact in terms of time to value and overall ROI. While there are many great HCM vendors in the marketplace, their objective is to sell you a subscription based tool. Implementation consultants are a vital step in the process but their goal is to get your system live.  Working with HRComputes provides a more holistic client perspective allowing for an effective HCM digital transformation. We focus on the functional requirements of the organization, the current systems and processes, the organizational culture and change readiness, and the resource availability. On top of this, we have over 25 years of experience working with HCM technology vendors as well as the implementation and adoption process. Some of our best practices include:

1. Gathering the perspective of stakeholders in the needs assessment and functional requirements process.
2. Considering the employee experience and the impact of the tool selection on employees and customers.
3. Evaluating the HCM tech stack holistically including interface requirements to general ledger, benefit providers, job boards, and other integral systems.
4. Breaking down silos to ensure that access and data sharing are aligned with an organization's people strategy.
5. Reviewing organizational workflows and processes to inform key stakeholders of required changes.
6. Communicating with key stakeholders to promote adoption and utilization to maximize the impact of the HCM technology investment.
7. Collaborating with leadership to ensure senior level sponsorship support.
8. Leveraging program and project management best practices.
9. Focusing on strategic alignment and data to support people strategy with people analytics to promote data driven decision making.

Unfortunately, 70% of digital transformation fail to meet their organizational goals. Making the investment in a qualified HCM client-side consultant creates a strong foundation for HCM digital transformation success. If you need a recommendation, check out a few of our client testimonials to better understand how successful we can make your project.

People are an organizations most important asset so making an investment to maximize your people management systems is a winning approach. 

For more information on HRComputes, contact us at info@hrcomputes.com. 

Driving Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion

 We are pleased to announce the launch of Kristina Kohl's, Managing Principal, new book, Driving Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion from CRC Press. As Kristina says, "My goal with this book is to highlight the importance of environmental and social justice and to provide tools to leaders to drive deep change within their organizations and broader ecosystems." Foundational to the book is Kristina's desire to help organizational leaders move the needle driving significant improvement in the areas of access, equity, and belonging. 

Creating a culture of belonging requires realigning core systems such as talent ecosystem such as recruitment sourcing and process, onboarding, development, growth, leadership development, opportunity sharing, succession planning, performance management, and total rewards must be realigned. This realignment requires deep work in terms of reshaping norms, redefining work and teams, providing new tools, redefining competencies and skills, and reevaluating performance standards and metrics.

If you are interested in having Kristina do a book talk or book signing event for your organization, please reach out to her at Kris@HRComputes.com. Arrangements can be made for books for corporate and organizational event sales.

The following is an abstract of Driving Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. For clients and friends wishing to purchase the book, here is a discount code for the Routledge site-FLA22.

ABSTRACT

Navigating the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) characterizing the business world in the 21st century requires a new paradigm focused on an integrated bottom line – planet, people, and profit (PPP). Global trends include resource scarcity and growing inequities in income, wealth, education, and healthcare. Stakeholders are demanding that organizations address systemic barriers to promote justice and equity within organizations and across broader social systems. Transformational change requires leadership to analyze internal and external systems through a social and environmental justice lens.

Despite a growing focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, the imbalance of power remains within our institutions, organizations, and social systems. To move the needle, leaders can turn to Driving Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which explains developing a North Star vision and creating a strategy to redesign organizational process and systems, as well as leveraging tools for data-driven decision-making. It presents a framework to build an inclusive organization as well as a model to engage and support senior and middle management beginning the process of capacity building and systemic change. By layering in AI and other technologies to support data-driven decision-making, the book guides leaders in navigating their organization’s journey along the maturity continuum to achieve their North Star vision of becoming a just and equitable organization. The book also helps managers to

Assess ecosystems and organizational systems that  justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion impact

Take a deeper dive into transformational and operational components to gain insights on the deep systemic realignment of the North Star vision

Identify and engage with diverse stakeholders to gain perspective and understand issues crucial for transformative change

Leverage people-centered  design to create a process promoting diversity of voices and to better align outcomes with shared organizational vision

Use data to drive decision-making and reduce bias by removing intuition from the decision-making process

Leverage the book's frameworks to drive collaborative systemic change

Adapt insights highlighted in multiple interviews with DEI practitioners

Benefit from lessons learned and best practices featured in the book's case studies

This book features a primer, which is a quick reference guide to key terms, concepts, and definitions. It helps to define justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and other key terms, such as unconscious bias, stereotypes, and microaggressions. It also features a toolkit, which includes checklists to help managers lead organizations to realize their own North Star vision.