The HUB Q&A: Andrea Goodkin on Connecting High Tech and High Touch to Create Quality Employee Experiences

To compete for talent, HR organizations today need both strong people skills and strong technology — and they need to combine these elements seamlessly.??

Andrea Goodkin, HUB executive vice president and leader of HUB’s new People & Technology practice, talks about how this integration of high tech and high touch characterizes high-performing companies.?

Q: Why is it so important that technology and people skills work in concert??

Andrea Goodkin: It starts with the fact that human capital management has never been more complex and a lot of disparate pieces have to work together to build and maintain an employee-centric culture. To enable high touch, which is the human side of managing people, it takes high tech to power quality employee experiences, which are essential in recruiting and retention.??

You need a true integration of people, technology and processes to create quality employee experiences that support the workforce.?

Q: Aren’t HR functions typically technology focused??

Andrea: Correct — nearly every single thing that HR does has a technology element. The human capital management systems span payroll, benefits, and all data management, as well as talent modules, like onboarding and performance management.??

Q. But tech is often siloed from the human side of HR. What happens then??

Andrea: There’s a price when the pieces are managed in isolation. For example, say a company has a new HR tech system, but performance reviews are done on paper. That creates a lot of extra work and room for error.??

You would want to evaluate the performance management program and connect it with technology to make the processes and outcomes better for employees and more efficient.?

Q: Why aren’t all employers onboard with this approach??

Andrea: Bringing all the pieces together is hard. And what happens is a high-performing workforce will be slowed by poor technology, or a company can have state-of-the-art technology, but operations aren’t optimized because of poor processes.??

Q: How should employers approach the integration of people and technology???

Andrea: They can start by a comprehensive assessment of what drives their workforce, industry and market — figuring out what is most important to employees in their industry and what’s important with competitors and the market as a whole.??

They should also assess where they stand in delivering a quality employee experience, whether that’s through technology or benefits, or tangible or intangible rewards. They need to understand what’s working and what’s holding them back.???

Q: Can you share an example about how this approach looks in practice??

Andrea: Sure. A HUB client, a pet food company, had lost their CHRO, and the company asked us to help them assess their HR department. From that assessment, together we drafted a blueprint for the department’s future direction.??

At the same time, the assessment showed the company was struggling with its HR tech system and had issues with absence management policies and processes. Taking a broad perspective helped the client to fit all the pieces together, which ultimately resulted in quality employee experiences and processes that were more efficient, seamless and minimized errors.?

HUB's People & Technology practice can help you connect the dots between high-tech HR functions and high touch service. Learn more here or comment below to start a conversation.?