8 reasons to use an integrated HR solution suite

• 4 min read

According to Bersin & Associates, amongst the top business challenges at this point in time is the need for growth through human capital management. In fact:

  • 35% of organizations see the need to accelerate and globalize
  • 51% struggle to hire the right talent

(source: http://www.slideshare.net/jbersin/big-data-in-hr-the-opportunity)

These two facts combined means that a broader HRM strategy should be integrated within an L&D strategy. The HR role and its own processes have been changing rapidly in the last two or three years. And according to Josh Bersin

“A new model of HR will emerge, one which focuses on global delivery of core services, talent services, as well as what we call ‘strategic enablement’ services.  And technology will play a much larger role”.

(source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2013/01/11/hr-leadership-technology-and-talent-management-predictions-for-2013/)

In the HR world, attracting, developing and retaining employees are the main goals that should be pursued and an IT strategy can certainly help to measure results. Interoperability and data sharing across HR functions are two key elements of a strategic HCM (Human Capital Management) solution.

This is the only strategy that avoids business process inefficiencies that are often consequences of various disparate applications installed at different points in time in various functional areas (siloed applications).

In order to build integrated processes and foster business outcomes, you should improve data sharing between your HR tool, and Learning and Talent Management.

Benefits of an integrated HRM approach

The strategy outlined above will help the executive decision-making process, and bottom line results:

Bottom line: If you want to improve your workforce performance, you should integrate the key modules of your software suite, otherwise you may find your company spending more on IT without improving the bottom line.

Executive decision-making: Managers are responsible for rating, rewarding and holding employees accountable for achieving specific business goals and creating innovation. By having a clear vision of the strengths and weaknesses of the work force, executives are able to identify potential gaps that affect productivity. Accurate HR data helps them forecast future needs and measure the true impact of performance and compensation systems.

Up to this point we have highlighted the two most relevant improvements for a firm that adopts an integrated HRM approach. But the positive outcomes are spread over different processes and daily tasks. Below I list some of them:

Hiring the best with less

An integrated solution helps managers improve the efficiency of the hiring process. Several tasks such as advertising, resume screening, and interviewing candidates are automated. And not surprisingly, this will also reduce the cost of hiring.

Training at the speed of business

The time to train to new employees is dramatically reduced when the training process is integrated with the hiring process, and that can be better (and more quickly) achieved when a company has planned a technical integration between the training system and the recruitment platform.

Alignment between training and performance

L&D professionals and operational managers can work together to deliver learning in the workplace at the point of need. Thanks to the quality of available data, executives can track where employees fall on performance and then give them the right training for support.

Rewarding and Retaining

Stop rewarding only the C-levels of your company and deploy a company-wide pay-for-performance model. Using data and metrics, HR are now able to retain top talent by compensating objective results and preferred behaviors.

Nurture happy people

Engagement is the key! Compensation and salary are still the most relevant factors an employee considers, but nowadays, especially if you deal with millennials, even that is not enough.

“A year-end cash bonus doesn’t give an immediate sense of gratification for a job done today, and it may not address what’s on an employee’s mind today”.

(Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/incentives-recognition-engagement-leadership-ceonetwork-employees.html)

‘Reward-immediacy’ can be achieved through an organization’s IT system – an integrated HRM system helps in delivering day-to-day and collaborative engagement strategies, and mobile devices could play a big role in engaging workers immediately. For example, workers can receive push notifications about rewards to their mobile devices at the exact same time they have earned it.

Compliance first

Become – and stay – compliant. This is imperative for companies of all sizes. With a regulatory landscape that changes rapidly, the need for a set of tools that helps executives avoid the risks of ‘non compliance’ is high.

Conclusion

This is a simple list to get you started on making strategic decisions if you’re thinking of moving to a more integrated HR management system. You might to surprised to discover that an LMS (Learning Management System) can be the central focus of an integrated suite. Look out for my upcoming blog posts on this topic!