The world of Human Resources technology can often be trickier to keep up with than the Kardashians. Luckily for us, and unlike with the Kardashians, there are ways of making sense of the madness. To help narrow your focus on the heavy hitters in the field, we would like to discuss the big 3 of HR tech: big data, cyber and mobile.
Big Data: Like most things in the world, people believe what can be proved. As much as we may want them to, leadership doesn’t always care how we think we are making a big impact on the company; they just want the facts backed by data.
Data drives facts. Facts drive decisions. Decisions drive progress.
Slapping numbers on a spreadsheet will probably not cut it. Therefore, it is important to recognize how leadership makes decisions and what data will produce actionable reports. Whether it is human capital, predictive analytics or the Internet of Things, we foresee big data sticking around.
Cyber: Both commercial risk and benefits insurance practices are perking up at the mention of cyber. In this new age of hacking into government officials’ emails and storing most information on the cloud, precautions must be taken to ensure the integrity of our privacy.
Employee benefits and HR as a whole have some of the most sensitive documents in a business. In order to comply with laws and regulations surrounding medical conditions, background checks, drug and alcohol testing, driving records, compensation, health insurance and more, we encourage HR professionals to take steps in guaranteeing cyber security.
Mobile: In an age of telecommunication, global expansion and a growing workforce, mobility is essential to remaining competitive. Our opinion is that implementation is an art; timing, look, feel, functionality, pricing, etc., are crucial during this process. What may be right for one company may be completely disastrous for another. As mentioned in our last blog post, timing is everything, and we recommend an off-cycle implementation in order to iron out any kinks. After all, what is the point of mobility without efficiency?
Mobility opens doors to increased responsiveness. If you don’t do this already, imagine an open enrollment in which employees had on-demand access to plan offerings and timely reminders and alerts. Not only could HR professionals work smarter rather than harder, they would create opportunities to work on the business rather than in it.
We would love to hear your thoughts and comments below.