Exploring the integration of workforce management and HR systems offers a strategic advantage, enhancing operational efficiency and employee engagement. My piece for HRM magazine delves into the benefits and transformative potential of this approach.
Appropriately enough, when human resources considers work technology, it’s important that the focus is on humans. Specifically, how they interact with the systems designed to simplify and improve their working lives.
As the focus on people experience (as opposed to people cost) grows, specialist workforce management (WFM) systems are often being implemented alongside traditional HR technologies. These systems are designed to provide complementary functions, such as time and attendance, and the ability to create flexible rostering options for your people.
The problem a lot of professionals face is that they can’t simply smash separate HR and WFM systems together in the hope that they’ll talk to each other and operate cohesively.
Here’s a simple four-part framework to consider, before pushing the go button on HR and WFM design.
When it comes to the design of the application(s) and the integration of HR and WFM systems, these are the most debated questions:
When determining the answers, ensure you’re thinking of the end user. Understand what functions reside in each system, which ones sit outside of everything, and which ones don’t yet exist but may be needed in the future.
These days, any business function you undertake generally needs to be via a mobile.
As more organisations are trending towards ‘bring your own device’ strategies, they need to factor in the different mobile operating systems that the solution will interact with. Remember that not every supplier has their application suite working seamlessly across all devices. Here are three key questions to ponder:
If you complete a process across a number of systems, it’s important this works from a user’s perspective. For example, would a team member find applying for leave in the HR system and receiving a published roster in a separate WFM system intuitive? Or would it result in more mistakes, and more office work? A thorough approach to user experience is beneficial to ensure the end user is considered and processes help to mitigate user-acceptance risks.
The data that resides across your technology solutions will be required for operational, management and predictive analysis, so it needs to be accessible and comprehensible. Understanding where data is coming from, where it resides after it’s sourced, what systems require it, and at what frequency is critical.
It’s also important to understand what quality data looks like. Because underpinning the implementation of any AI technology is your data, which the system will consume as its fuel to ‘learn’, improve, and refine the value it delivers back to the business.
Originally published by HRM magazine
Jarrod McGrath, September 17, 2018