Stephen Moore, Ceridian's managing director for Asia-Pacific and Japan, describes how his company empowers organisations to attract and retain talent while dealing with evolving workforce dynamics
In the human capital management space, Ceridian is known as a leader that offers efficiency and excellent customer service at reasonable rates. Over the past year, the company has been stacking achievements, for which it has won a 5-Star HR Software award from HRD magazine. In an interview with HRD Australia, Stephen Moore, Ceridian’s managing director for Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ), spoke about the company’s recent investments and the developments that are changing the landscape where it operates.
According to Moore, Ceridian’s decision to acquire Excelity and Ascender, two companies that provide payroll solutions, was based on the knowledge that they are “fast-track vehicles to achieve [the company’s] potential in the APJ region”. The acquisition involved nearly 2,000 employees and 1,500 customers across all industries served by the two companies.
“It's one thing acquiring a company, but it’s quite another thing having a value proposition for the customers, taking them on a journey. So, over time we will convert Ascender customers to being Ceridian customers, we will convert Excelity customers to being Ceridian customers [by offering] that promise of an end-to-end human capital management experience like no other,” he said.
Citing the talent trends and challenges that businesses face, Moore said that virtual collaboration is crucial while maintaining a connection to the organisational values that represent a company’s culture. He emphasised the need to be an attractive employer that can retain talent and harmonise the staff with a collective purpose. This means providing “the employee experience that [people are] seeking. And one of the means [to] do that is via the human capital management solution [deployed by] an employer”. Furthermore, organisations must take into account employees’ need “to be recognised for who they are … whether on the basis of diversity or gender or age or religion”.
Moore also noted that “AI, machine learning and the right predictive analytics at the core of the solution is critical … Good organisations in any industry are the ones that see the trend and can predict market movements, can predict consumer movements and frankly, can influence those movements by being ahead of the curve. So, in human capital management, we need to predict [trends such as] diversity, millennial needs and wants – [these are] things that can be anticipated with the right sort of AI and machine learning built into the algorithms of software”. This attribute is particularly crucial for the retail and hospitality industries, which have slim margins affected by seasonal factors, for example, around Christmas time. In retail, ensuring the presence of a sufficient workforce at the right time and in the right place is important. Another key feature is mobility, such as that offered by Ceridian’s innovative Dayforce Wallet, which enables workers to bring their digital identity from one employer to another and have their wages consolidated with their tax and superannuation payments.
The hybrid working arrangement is another feature with a strong impact on employees and how HR departments manage the workforce. Moore said that the so-called borderless or fluid workplace has shifted the focus from employees’ attendance to their output, causing companies to rethink their expectations.
“Maybe we should think differently about that. Maybe we should pay on the value that the individual brings rather than just the time that they spend with us. I see this shift, which is irrevocable. We’re not going back to the old way of working … [and this] shift really [informs] future employment choices … The value of an organisation to its employees and shareholders will be largely determined by how it reacts to that shift in workforce dynamics in the future,” he said.
