Are you a HR Technophobe? If so – prepare yourself for some bad news!

Hi, my name is Andy and I’m a HR geek. Please note my introduction is not: “Hi, my name is Andy and I’m a tech geek”. I have a passion for tech, as a 12-year-old I sat in my bedroom with an Acorn Electron trying to master BASIC programming language, however the furthest I progressed was a GCSE in Information Technology. I’m not a software engineer and never will be, but I do value the importance of technology in HR.

As a HR professional, I’ve seen the incredible changes in the workforce in many countries. This has been driven by the accelerating growth of technology in all areas of our lives including work. I’ve run HR offices which were paper based where we had one terminal to process all the forms once a week. At one point, part of my role was to be the system administrator for our HR, payroll and finance system which involved receiving a tape through the post to update the software three times a year. As time has progressed, I’ve had the pleasure of introducing thousands of people to the joy of employee self-service and watched as HR teams celebrated the immediate cessation of paper-based claims.

In hindsight, I joined the workforce at the start of the current technology revolution and a lot of my HR career has been supporting digital transformation across all areas of HR. When I speak with other HR pros it seems that some HR and payroll teams are still struggling with outdated processes and without the tech that is designed to remove the manual effort and move these professionals to more value adding activities. I still work with people who have grown a business to over 1000 people and still operate every function of HR through a spreadsheet. The thought of this is frightening for several different reasons including GDPR, data security, corrupt files, malicious actions/honest mistakes, lack of backups to name but a few.

Here are three key areas where you need to consider your digital future:

1.    People

As always, people are the biggest challenge during any transformation project. In 1996 I introduced a new HR and payroll system to a site which meant that all expense claims would now be paid into the same bank account as the individual’s salary. This might not sound too shocking but at the same time, we stopped all payments in cash. Imagine running a cash office just for the payment of expenses – no one would do it now or would they? For three months after the implementation, people tried to collect their expenses as they always had done – in cash – only to be reminded that it would be in their bank account at the end of the month. It soon became clear that the family of the claimants were never aware of the amount of expenses they were receiving. This was the real issue, not the technology. 

2.    Process

Too many people hide behind a process. It is used like a shield of invincibility when really people are hiding from making a decision. I made this mistake as a new manager until I arrived at my Director’s door whining about an individual not following a process. He listened carefully. I expected him to tell me I was right. Instead he told me the process was wrong and now was the time to change it. He sent me out of his office to go and create a new way of working. Our HR processes that are in place now need to be observed from this viewpoint – are they fit for the current generation? I’d like to hand some policies to a group of graduates and ask them to re-write them to align with today’s requirements. These policies now also need to take account of the technology we have. Another major issue with policies is those that are no longer relevant or connected to the technology that has been introduced, this means people are confused and processing is slowed. 

3.    Technology

We have more technology today than we can cope with. At home, I am surrounded by four makes of tablets, two desktops, many smart speakers, several gaming consoles and more than one smart TV. If that’s not enough, my family carries a range of tech including mobiles, Fitbits and smart watches. At work, I enjoy a fantastic array of digital devices to make me more productive. So, what do we do for HR and our employees? As a HR leader, are you driving the use of technology to make your processes better and remain in contact with the changes in the society? This is beneficial to both the employee and the HR professional. We should be seeking to rid the workplace of manual tasks that can easily be replaced with technology while ensuring we use the most secure and reliable platforms to deliver a great employee experience.

If you’re a HR professional and you’ve never been part of a digital transformation project, then you’re probably not far away from one! If you want to remain with what you’re doing and not change, then here’s the bad news: your business needs to adopt technology that removes the processes you currently have to move you to a value adding role. As a HR professional you need to be comfortable with technology and look to see how this can aid your work and that of your colleagues. I’ve worked with HR people who are self-confessed technophobes and I’m calling time-up! 

MHR can help support your HR digital transformation journey with a range of software and services across HR, payroll and data. Find out more.