As human capital management digital technology consultants, we get this question a lot. There are many reasons including the very nature of organizations that are structured to share data and information across networks rather than being siloed like an individual. But some of the issues relate to HCM tech stack customizations and siloing of decision making and control. The bottom line is that the process of selecting and integrating HCM technology is complicated and the success rate is significantly higher when leveraging a partner that is familiar with not only the functional requirements but also best practices for engagement and adoption.
A recent article in the WSJ, detailed many of the issues that contribute to this complexity such as:
- Existing corporate IT infrastructure including both hardware and software. It isn’t possible to upgrade everyone every 2 years like we do personally.
- Software customizations make both regular upgrades and future enhancements more complicated.
- Monolithic design and legacy technology often means processing logic and user interfaces must go through a single IT system. This structure often ties an organization to a vendor and limits its ability to move to new platforms and technologies.
- Mergers and acquisitions bring different payroll, HRIS, benefits, ATS, and other people systems that either need to be maintained, integrated, or transformed.
- Data privacy and security are more complex for businesses and this factor becomes much more complex depending upon the countries of operation.
- System maintenance as well as ongoing training and support are also more complex for organizations.
- Gathering the perspective of stakeholders in the needs assessment and functional requirements process.
- Considering the employee experience and the impact of the tool selection on employees and customers.
- Evaluating the HCM tech stack holistically including interface requirements to general ledger, benefit providers, job boards, and other integral systems.
- Breaking down silos to ensure that access and data sharing are aligned with an organization’s people strategy.
- Reviewing organizational workflows and processes to inform key stakeholders of required changes.
- Communicating with key stakeholders to promote adoption and utilization to maximize the impact of the HCM technology investment.
- Collaborating with leadership to ensure senior level sponsorship support.
- Leveraging program and project management best practices.
- Focusing on strategic alignment and data to support people strategy with people analytics to promote data driven decision making.