Is inadequate technology investment holding back your HR function?

Gerhard Hartman, Vice President, Medium Business for Sage Africa & Middle East

Over the past few years, human resources (HR) teams have faced challenging times. Compliance and admin needs are becoming more onerous, and the competition for talent is fiercer than ever. Retaining, engaging, and developing people is even more of a priority. These challenges are compounded by the shift towards a more flexible world of hybrid work.

Yet even after the digital acceleration of the pandemic, many HR functions continue to rely on outdated technology and manual processes to do their jobs. Sage’s new global research, The changing face of HR in 2024, finds that 83% of HR leaders don’t currently have the right HR technology. Only 59% of companies are using people analytics and cloud HR. Just over half (54%) are using automation.

Limited budget, lack of resources, and not having the right skills are among the barriers to implementing new HR technology. However, today’s cloud-based solutions can be deployed relatively quickly, with minimal disruption and a rapid path towards return on investment. They can automate processes such as pay, rewards, benefits, talent management, recruitment and onboarding, and performance management.

Here are six things to look for in a modern, cloud-based HR platform.

1. Support for better employee experiences

A modern HR platform can help you keep your workforce connected, engaged, informed, and aligned. A cloud HR system can deliver an improved workforce experience through built-in self-service tools, strong two-way communications, and effective performance management and recognition tools.

Look for a solution that allows employees to view and amend personal data, apply for leave, and access company information through an employee self-service portal. With a people management system that puts employee experience at the forefront, you can find and retain quality talent. Flexible pulse surveys and data-driven insight will help you understand employee sentiment in real time.

2. A complete view of the workforce

A secure, global HR platform should offer control and visibility of your entire organisation with up-to-the-minute, reliable data that helps you make informed decisions as the business grows. Look for a system that gives you highly configurable reports and dashboards on demand, which are visually appealing and ready to share with the c-suite.

3. Ease of use for all

The right cloud HR solution should benefit everyone in the organisation, which will help you drive widespread user adoption once live. Look for software that delivers a similar user experience to the apps and tech that your employees and HR team use outside of work. Tech that integrates easily with other systems in your organisation – such as finance and payroll – will also be a big win.

Seamless integration of these systems will allow you to use on-demand reports, dashboards, and analytics to keep track of all payroll, compensation, and benefits data in one place. Payroll integration helps your organisation stay compliant with a system that applies the right taxes and statutory deductions.

4. Business resilience with flexibility

Your HR system should allow employees to work flexibly and remotely, and stay digitally connected to the entire organisation, wherever they’re logging in from. A cloud HR solution will allow you to drive resilience by responding to shifting priorities faster with instant people insights to inform decisions, two-way communications, and flexible goal setting.

Look for a system that will allow you to configure workflows easily, create custom fields, and tailor reports, communications, branding and more, all managed by you through clicks, not code. You don’t have to ask IT whenever you want to make a change, so find a system that allows for high configuration options.

5. Increase productivity through automation

HR has a bigger workload than ever before. A cloud system liberates HR teams from time-consuming admin and paperwork. It enables you to concentrate on building greater workforce experiences for your people while supporting HR teams with automatic system and compliance updates. Look for tech that not only automates compliance tasks but also processes such as onboarding and talent acquisition

6. Time to modernise HR

Now is the time to invest in HR systems that will support you in driving business transformation and set your organisation up for long-term success. The right HR technology enables openness and collaboration across the organisation, driving agility, boosting productivity and, most importantly, increasing employee engagement.

ENDS