Human Resources Information Systems in 2019

In a rapidly evolving work environment it’s very difficult for companies to have the right Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) in place, in order to adapt to these changes. Last year alone $11 Billion was lost due to employee turnover, despite large companies using on average 11 systems to manage people processes (Bersin 2019).

But why it’s so difficult to engage, retain and develop your employees?

To answer this question we have to take a step back and try to understand the work environment dynamics from the different perspectives:

Organizational dynamics

Many organizations are looking to introduce a data driven people process when it comes to talent needs, however the number of companies that is actually doing it is low. Deloitte reports that people analytics are the second biggest overall capability gap for organizations. CEO’s recognize the need for a data driven strategy but are slow in implementing such processes and that is primarily because organizations are new to this discipline and often enough HR professionals do not have the required skill set to analyze the data. Enter Human Resources Information Systems, the majority of the HRIS vendors offer an analytics package that can fill the gap. However, introducing a new system it does not mean it will immediately fill the people capabilities gap.

Another interesting observation about today’s business landscape is the increasing tendency for companies to look to reinvent their business model. Digital technologies are penetrating all sectors, resulting in revenues and profit shifts, and therefore a lot of businesses are looking to re-invent their business model and introduce digitization.

Finally there is a clear preference to Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) applications. In fact, according to BetterCloud 73% of their apps will be SaaS by 2020.

Workforce trends

The millennials are taking over, 75% of the global workforce will be millennials. They are tech savvy and choose their place of work carefully. Millennials tend to change jobs every two to three years and they put a lot of emphasis on learning and development. They expect mobility and workplace benefits and many traditional organizations are struggling to adapt.

Millennials grew up during an economic boom, hence the lack of fear of changing roles frequently. They are seeking experiences and they tend to choose brands that share their values.

On the contrary, Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2010) tend to be more pragmatic and are focused on saving money as they grew up during a recession. Gen Z is also entering the workforce slowly and we will start hearing more about them really soon.

The current workforce is not silent they are expressing their needs. They want to know and understand their company’s goals, strategies and values. They want their feedback on the company to be heard and acted up on.

Organizations try to respond the best they can on their workforce needs with flexible work schedules, employee benefits, mobility and engagement survey.

Management and HR Leaders

CEOs are more open to adopt a flexible, open career model with meaningful assignments, projects and experiences over a set career path. With an open career model it’s easier to keep the workforce engaged as they are having a say on what assignment to do. Also, it allows for organizational agility and building a talent pool that has a variety of skills.

HR leaders are feeling the pressure with their current workforce. One quarter of HR leaders are not confident in their ability to transform their workforce according to KPMG and only 36% of HR executives feel capable keeping up with current talent issues (Deloitte).

Furthermore, both HR Leaders and CEOs anticipate a war for talent when it comes to specific skill sets such data science, digital marketing, Web design, network engineering.

Human Resources Information Systems

Traditionally Human Resources Information Systems are focused on HR processes only: time management, holidays, and absence tracking and performance management. This changed to include engagement surveys, succession planning, internal communications and employee on-boarding. In addition most vendors offer enhanced reporting and analytics.

Most Human Resources Information Systems vendors are moving towards an employee experience platform where they integrate all human resources processes that cover the employee lifecycle into one robust package with the option to switch on and off modules. Moreover, Organizations are starting to recognize the need for an employee experience platform and the HR system vendors trying to adapt their products to the demand. Their solutions focus on employee engagement, employee retention and performance management.

So, how a Human Resources Information Systems can help organizations to engage, retain and manage employees?

Enter employee experience platform, the HR system architecture going forward will be focused on the entire employee lifecycle in an organization, from on-boarding to off-boarding. CEO’s and HR leaders recognize the need to treat their employees as customers as its very easy for them to find another job. Millenials are seeking experiences in their workplace and they are advocates of a 2-way communication between them and their leaders. A connected platform that covers the entire employee lifecycle will capture all the data required to understand behaviors and needs of the employees.

It’s very difficult for all these to come from a single HR systems vendor. To tackle this, big players such as SAP and Oracle are investing heavily on its own start-ups to maintain the position as the core HR system (Bersin 2019) and smaller vendors and HR start-ups are building integrated solutions and overarching frameworks that can be easily adapted to future innovations.

Who is going to win the Human Resources Information Systems race? It's too early to say.

If you would like to find out more out more about the changes in Human Resources Information Systems in 2019 download our Human Resources Information Systems PDF. Also, we would love to hear your feedback too so feel free to reach out.