HR has a vital role in helping determine an organization’s strategy and future, but too often repetitive administrative tasks hold the department back from giving their all. How could technology free up your time and innovation?
With dozens of companies and hundreds of applications available sometimes it seems simpler to just stick with the processes already in place, but could a new software program free up HR pros from mundane administrative tasks? That’s what some of Canada’s biggest vendors told HRM.
“A lot of the time when we meet organization they’re managing on a best effort basis through manual processes and they don’t have a lot of visibility or automation,” Kronos workforce solutions consultant Charis Sie said. “Without any automation a lot is being done on a best effort basis, so employees are not being treated fairly or in a timely manner.”
By embracing technology, HR can increase their impact on a company’s goals and bottom line, Silk road chief marketing officer Ed Vesely said. “A lot of companies are dealing with increasing workloads while budgets are decreasing at the same time. There is an opportunity now for HR to support some of the company growth goals, and enabling them to empower people and reduce expenses.”
Once an HR pro has all the information and automation it needs, it allows them to use their expertise on higher level, strategic tasks.
“When an HR department is functioning very smoothly, has access to good data and is making good decisions day to day that’s when they’re really freed up to play a more pronounced and involved role in setting the strategic direction of the organization,” Ceridian Dayforce strategy consulting manager James Arsenault said.
While technology can’t solve core culture or people problems, it can enable employers to focus on those softer aspects of a business, confident that the transactional tasks are being taken care of.
“Technology will always be an enablement tool that will make your job and your life easier but it will never be a replacement for business processes and strategy,” David McIninch, vice president of marketing at ADP Canada, said. “If you can provide tools that are really simple to use and they’re very logical and have a great user experience, you’re making it easier on both sides of the equation so you can have a great deal of productivity at the practitioner level.”
So where would technology fit in your organization? Check out the 2013 Tech Toolkit series:
