How cloud can power the beating heart of your business – your HR function

As a Managing Director in Accenture’s HR Consulting practice in UK/Ireland, I was recently invited to share my views on how HR leaders are using the cloud to power workforce and workplace transformation, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.

In my role I have the opportunity to advise CHROs of Fortune 500 companies across the globe. In the last few months, I’ve seen HR functions evolving at phenomenal speed, adopting new technologies and using the cloud to power major transformations. As the beating heart of any business, HR leaders are increasingly looked to by the board for opinions on major issues such as flexible working, diversity and sustainability, all of which have become priorities since the start of the pandemic. It’s all about the people now.

So, where does the cloud fit into this? Well, it’s cloud platforms that allow us to take advantage of automation and capitalise on the power of AI and machine learning. Forward-thinking HR leaders are adopting a data-driven mindset to understand and respond to the core needs of people within their business - this change can’t happen without the cloud.

For me, there are three areas where cloud can really power HR:

1)?????Frictionless work experiences

It’s important to provide employees with modern ways of working, such as employee portals and collaboration tools. Delivering exceptional work experiences are vital. After all, employees have high expectations today! We’re all used to interacting with fantastic technology outside the office and so when people come into work, employees expect the same level of ease and speed, if not better. The bar has been set extremely high and employers need to match those expectations by treating employees as consumers. Digital fluency is vital and HR professionals must become employee experience champions.

2)?????Future skills and talent

Anticipating and planning for the future skills and talent needs of your organisation is critical. This can be done by using technologies that provide learning experience platforms or talent marketplaces, powered by the cloud. For example, one client has integrated multiple cloud technologies to deliver a truly transformational future-skills agenda. They’ve done the hard work of transferring their core HR platform to the cloud, which means they can now pivot and partner with other niche players to deliver a learning experience platform and a talent marketplace that integrates with intention and is focused on delivering an outstanding employee experience.

3)?????Driving inclusion, diversity and equality

Technology can help you double down on the inclusion and diversity agenda. One client is running a pilot using a new tool to radically change the way candidates are shortlisted, which levels the playing field when it comes to hiring. Technology can also be used to change the assessment process for the better. For example, having a clock that counts up rather than counting down is proven to reduce anxiety for candidates undergoing online assessments. And tech can support your ambitions to hire a more diverse workforce too. Now that remote working is the norm, it’s the perfect time to expand talent pools, as you’re no longer limited to a person’s physical proximity to an office.

Today CHROs are being called on to deliver change at pace and here lies the challenge: understanding which technologies to invest in to deliver the strategic priorities of your organisation. ?Moving from a traditional hosting platform to something cutting edge in the cloud must therefore be done in a sensible and strategic way, by chunking the challenge down and through pilots. If you can build on your existing HR ecosystem and create a roadmap for the future, as HR leader you can play a real part in building the future of work and the workplace. It’s an exciting time to be in HR!

If you’d like to hear more, you can listen to the podcast in the link below – I’d love to know what you think!

https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/insights/cloud/walk-in-the-cloud?c=acn_glb_walkinthecloudsprinklradvocac_12163999&n=smc_0521