The whole organization benefits from a modern HR software which automates HR processes and offers self-service. How to succeed in selecting a completely new HR software or change an old, outdated to a new modern one?
What is needed?
Company strategy sets the basis for HR software specifications so that the software can be planned and configured to serve the company and business units the best possible way. When planning the specifications, the present and future needs should be reviewed: needed languages and scalability. Other important features that should be in line with company’s needs are holiday/vacation planning and people development features. Also as important features to most companies include predictive analytics and reporting that actually helps HR’s and managers’ workload.
Predictive analytics and dashboards to HR and managers
HR and manager dashboards provide easy and fast way to investigate company’s daily business. These dashboards make it easy to react into many issues for example multiple absences, expiring trainings and other important daily tasks.
User experience
Secure usability and fast functions are basic expectations for technical devices, appliances and software. This applies also to HR software. Different user profiles for managers and HR units are also part of modern applications. Mobile self-service 24/7 is a precondition.
Costs
When comparing different software, one basic criterion is the cost structure of the investment. HR software is easy to buy as a cloud service making it cost-effective and agile. Cloud service scales according to the company growth needs. Other important criteria are updates: Are the updates automatic or are separate paid consultants needed to install the up-dates.
The modern HR software automates processes, raises the level of commitment of the users frees up HR unit’s time to support businesses, creates cost savings and serves your organization also in the 2020’s. Read more how to gain competitive edge with modern HR solution.
What are the HR trends in 2019? What makes employees tick?
According to analyst Josh Bersin employee experience, artificial intelligence (AI) and team productivity are blooming trends in HR. HR software is not only there to automate processes but more to increase productivity. Use of HR software should be compared to be as natural as sending emails and text messages as well as chatting and posting picture to various apps.
Employee experience is on the rise as new generations enter work life and use HR software to seek information. Marketing and sales have improved understanding of customer journey. The same way companies should develop an employee journey map to engage and motive desired employees and talents. A modern HR software can respond to this during the whole employment life cycle.
The importance of AI is gaining ground and modern HR units benefit it to monitor and audit the future. AI becomes a requirement more than just thing on the wish list. This area is still somewhat generally unknown in HR and it should be added to HR’s agenda.
Up-to-date data plays an important role for team productivity. Data should be centrally available, easily collected and shared. Today, thanks to cloud services also smaller companies can benefit from modern software. An agile, easy-to-use HR software is an integral part of the whole working environment.
How is your company going to meet the 2019 challenges and organize the HR function?
Jaana Sirkiä
Marketing and Communications Manager
Management of business information plays a crucial role in securing competitiveness and development of a company. This means collecting, analyzing, evaluating and interpreting business related information. Ability to analytically examine information is needed for decision making, strategic leadership and organizational development. Analytics means examining numerical business data, searching for similarities and regularities and interpreting those.
One of HR’s most important tasks is to support business. For this, HR needs actual information about personnel, development needs and views how to do it. Information is needed for understanding matters, for making decisions and for creating new information in return.
According to Professor Dave Ulrich from University of Michigan HR professional functions on four different areas which are: strategic human resources management (HR business partner), change and renewal management (change agent), management of basic HR administration (administration expert) and employee guidance and commitment (employee advocate).
Employee engagement, rewarding and follow-up of development play key roles in securing business continuation. Large amount of related information calls for analyzing.
Excel sheets and registers do not support adequate analyzing of information. Other tools are needed for creating real value to business processes. Analytics powered by digitalization is not complicated but it makes complicated matters simpler. Digitalization as such is not an absolute value but all the possibilities it brings can make a difference.
What options do you have in your HR work? Does your present HR software support the targets of your business function and strategic development?
Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager
A modern HR software enables self-service
An HR professional can load the working day by filling in excel sheets, sending recurring emails and tracking latest versions. When one employee concentrates on a few tasks and the other on different tasks nobody knows the whole picture. If processes are not automated it is the HR department who carries out all the routines. It does not sound very effective, does it?
Digital transformation means applying digital technologies in practice which has a strong impact on businesses, the society, all organizations, customers and above all on employees (source: IDC). A modern HR software manages employment lifecycle from recruitment to the end of the employment. Employees can use it as self-service allowing managers concentrate more on managerial duties and development.
In Solaforce’s extensive reporting module managers can monitor competencies needed in business, react on possible deficiencies and make plans. Successor planning module enables agile planning to meet various strategic options and to seek relevant information required. Predictive analytics monitors and alerts of potential resignations to take actions. Thorough the modern pulse survey tool managers can drill into the well-being of the company for discussions. Employee self-service makes it easier to manage holiday calendars and absences.
With the help of a modern software and tools managers can concentrate on planning of the future and forget about registering past activities. It is also easier to evaluate the impact of various HR projects on the development of the business.
Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager
Fast changes require agile actions
Fast changing environment, ways of working and evolving trends make it challenging to keep up with development. Prevailing trends in HR are digitalization, data-based reporting and analytics, growing importance of employee experience, well-being and managerial work. Is your organization able to work in an agile way and support your competitiveness to acquire customers and employees.
Competitiveness is built, among other things, upon internal effectiveness, processes, tools and software in use. Important duties for HR are information analytics, measurement, reporting, collaboration and development. Solaforce’s modern HCM software allows you to act in an agile way.
Agile HR software is the core
One of the most important duties of HR is to automate processes and get rid of unnecessary manual work. A modern HR software sets common working rules by itself and HR can guide employees to self-service. Positive user and employee experience and transparency will gain ground as data is always up-to-date and available 24/7 despite time, location and devices. HR can work as a strategic partner f it is able to analyze data, personnel performance and measure productivity.
Fast changes require HR to be able to use data to analyze employees’ competences and enable job rotation. Comprehensive data allows team-specific performance reviews and planning of actions needed. Future bottlenecks can be prevented and secure operational activity at needed level. Agile HR is able to compile reports fast to support business and strategic choices. Unusual circumstances and fast changes can be easily handled.
Does your present HR software allow you to work in such an agile way?
Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager
How are the words ‘routines’- ‘machine learning’- ‘predictive intelligent analytics’ – ‘user experience’ and ‘HR’s added value to business’ connected?
Digitalization is commented everywhere. A good question to be asked is that what is the purpose of digitalization and what does it mean to HR? The purpose of digitalization is to raise the quality of work, efficiency and service level. In addition, automatization of routine work frees time to strategic work. Paper- and time-based services are outdated.
HR is a strategic service function serving employees and managers. Routine work, for example inserting and searching for information retroactively consume HR’s valuable time in vain. HR understands users’ needs and can make digitalization specs for HR function from this point of view. Digitalized HR function and agile HR software enable automatization of routines to concentrate on actual strategic specialist work and add value. Also, human manual errors can be avoided.
Available, actual data forms the base to a company’s strategic directions, outlines and operational activities. HR’s role is to manage and analyze HR data. Modern HR software allows employee self-service to fill in and produce his/her own HR data for example to development discussions. An agile HR software is usable any place and any time in mobile devices improving user and employee experiences.
Predictive analytics
HR’s role through competence development in strategic planning is crucial. Managers can make organizational plans, outline career paths and schemes in a modern HR system to correspond to broader strategic views improving competitiveness. Managers are the key persons to pave the way to promote digitalization through own positive user experience.
Predictive analytics enable outlining HR-related risk scenarios. For example, unwanted potential resignations can be early identified and needed actions taken. Company head count, personnel groups, successor planning, performance and rewarding statistics, trainings and other information can be monitored and reported through intelligent planning functionality. HR and managers can drill into report and information details to view and guide the company performance.
Digitalization is not complicated but it makes complicated matters simpler. Digitalization as such is not an absolute value but all the possibilities it brings can make a difference. A modern, agile software allows HR to take up the role of a strategic partner to support managers, add value to business and improve company competitiveness.
Author: Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager
Shift from an excel administrator to the real business partner
HR has access and needs to monitor a vast amount of data covering the whole employment life cycle from recruitment on off-boarding. HR serves the whole organization including a large scale of different tasks: HR supports employees and managers, answers daily HR-related questions, develops and maintains HR processes and tools. How can HR’s services add value to the organization in digital era?
HR’s role as a services provider starts by acquiring a modern and well-function HR software, which is the backbone of HR’s digital services. HR receives daily questions about vacation balance, salaries, development discussions and various other matters. HR can skip this time-consuming burden if all data has been collected from excel sheets to one digital software allowing employee self-service. Processes become transparent to all user groups. HR can free time to support managers and take the role of a real business partner.
HR plays a crucial role in competence development in the company strategic planning. Successor planning and career paths are easy to outline in a digital HR software. This prevails possible competence gaps and actions can be taken on employee and business levels. Various kinds of reports can be compiled in real-time for planning purposes. Above all, HR can secure that there are right people in right positions.
A modern, digital HR software enables handy outlining and planning of business changes. Successor planning and organizational structures can me modified on-the-fly and monitor the impacts. Internal well-being reflects customer satisfaction directly. It is easy to carry out internal pulse surveys, examine and results and drill into possible problem areas.
Modern HR software can produce extensive data from the following modules:
• People
• Rewarding
• Performance
• Development
• Analytics
• Collaboration
• Organization
• Recruiting
• Planning
A modern HR software is always on and available despite time, location and devices. Services provided by HR are easy to use which makes them attractive and call for action. HR is able to use the same language and act as a real business partner. Smooth cooperation and agile software impact directly the operational result of the company.
Author: Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager
HR and modern way of working
Digitalization and automatization create modern ways to work and develop duties. New skills are constantly needed, and their ranking is evolving. When correctly utilized, technology can replace manual routine work allowing employees to concentrate on more meaningful and productive duties. For HR this means replacing number of separate excel sheets, documents and folders by one HR software. Having all information in one single software, it is easy for HR to support managers, organization and businesses.
In a company there may be hundreds of excel sheets in use containing information about different business units, for example about HR. Information can be collected verbally or by separate pieces of papers for somebody to fill in the excels. Various versions are sent back and forth in the company. Version management becomes a time-consuming burden. Is this the way your HR department functions?
Dispose of excel sheets
HR processes are easy to digitalize and automatize. When the basic HR data is transferred from excel sheets into the HR software, interfaces can be built to other software in use, for example to payroll. Implementation of the HR software is planned and scheduled together with different parties involved. Then all HR-related information is available in one software to all users all the time. Availability of real-time information enables smooth reporting.
Modern HR software covers employment lifecycle from recruiting to the end of employment. Artificial intelligence in the software supports managers by producing predictive analysis. For example, potential resignations can be identified and required actions taken. Intelligent analytics and planning enable drilling into company headcount, personnel groups, successor planning, performance and rewarding statistics, trainings and other relevant information. Then it is easy to compile various kinds of reports.
Does your present HR software support the following features, check and tick:
• Artificial intelligence
• Control of the entire employment lifecycle
• Intelligent reports and indicators
• Availability despite time, location and device
• Required languages
The next generation HR system brings together people, technology and processes as a one well working ensemble that provides much needed support to HR management. HR can re-define its role, step up as the visionary trailblazer of digitalization and support the organization.
Author: Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager
We had an interesting discussion for a few hours in a rainy October afternoon on digitalization and its impact on HR’s work and role.
Sarita Laras paints the big picture: ”Digitalization is affecting or should be affecting HR’s work from many different directions. For example, digital tools are an important part of company communication linking directly to HR. Digital era highlights the Importance and diversity of internal communication even more. Effective working tools should form the basis of present HR. We could lean back and wonder, what does so called traditional HR actually mean nowadays”?
”There is a lot of discussion about the attractiveness of working life. We at Atea have been combining this with the words meaningful and productivity and try to consider how the attractiveness is created. First of all, we can look at reasonableness from the user’s point of view where the user and the user experience play central roles. The user is surrounded by the working ecosystem which is largerly based on data. The user needs this data and there should be a smooth data access by any desired device. Often private individuals have better and more modern devices than employers provide. Consumerization has entered also working life and often in recruitment negotiations applicants ask if they have free choice of devices. Working devices should be appealing and efficient to make working meaningful. This in turn allows flexibility to work despite time and location depending of course on duties. All this forms the basis for productivity resulting in attractiveness and competitive edge. We often talk about the customer journey but the same way we should be talking about the employee journey. Unfortunately not all companies are investing time and money for this but it is the employee who is productive,” Sarita Laras states.
”Times have changed since we talked about HR 1.0 -period when HR was in the role of a generalist. The role was to manage the so called personnel department and see that salaries got paid. Digitalization has changed everything with automated HR processes which just need to function. Routine work should be a minor daily part of the work. The closer we are able to work with business the better we earn our position. We need to stop talking our traditional HR language and start talking business. One important aspect is to utilize existing data. We can ask ourselves what kind of information should we capture in order to support business? Also the productivity of HR is measured in figures, data and money. Digitalization has entered HR function as well.
We are facing big changes and HR needs to find the point in the changing environment where it can best create value to business. Now HR mainly looks for savings and streamlining. On the contrary, HR should focus on bearing fruit together with businesses and planning in investing in people, modeling organizations, creating talent paths and anticipating risks. HR plays on important role in shaping the organizational culture. HR is no longer just an administrational function but a value creator. The pace of change is so fast that it is impossible for us to predict what we have in five years. We can only envision the different ways how to compete on resources and develop our working community,” Sarita Laras summarizes.
– Jaana Sirkiä, Marketing and Communications Manager, Solaforce Oy
Atea specializes in IT infrastructure and delivers products and services that simplify the handling, operation and development of our customers’ IT environments. Atea has about 6800 employees in 89 different locations. Atea has been in Finland over 30 years and employs 350 people in Finland.
HR and future working environment
Digitalization has become the new normal. It changes behavior and procedures. Reaction times and ways of working have changed: fast actions and immediate service are expected. New technologies will replace most present jobs but also new ones are created. Robotization is gaining ground and new companies are being established to digitalize and automate processes. New professional roles and fields are arising. If work can be automated it most likely will be automated. On the other hand, automated roles need “supervisors” and a good question to be thrown in the air is that who is the true executor?
The importance of human skills grows in this kind of operating environment as robots and machines do not understand feelings or empathy. Organizations need people who foster humanity, social skills and empathy.
Evolving HR
Also HR processes are being digitalized. Fast environmental changing pace demands HR to be able to react “on the fly”. Real time data, information of its location and ability to manage it becomes crucial. Modern and intelligent HR software enable smooth processes which can automate routines to free up HR’s time. This allows HR to analyze employee data to support the company’s strategic needs and growth path.
Accelerating change pace emphasizes HR’s role to support the business development and to act as internal coach:
• To support employees to learn to learn new things
• To update skills and renew
• To inspire creativity
• To foster human values
HR function is facing the same change as the other organizational functions. In addition, HR functions as a balancing unit between “hard values” and humanity and social skills. Modern HR software supports HR’s path to meet the needs of future working environment.
Olli Hyppänen, COO
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