Top 4 HR Service Delivery Trends for 2019
Over the last couple of years, we’ve witnessed a massive change in HR service delivery practices. Traditional on-premise rules no longer apply, and even large organizations are looking to ‘buy’ rather than ‘build’. We explore four key themes in HR service delivery and their impacts on your organization.
The HR technology market is rapidly evolving, with new disruptors and innovative products challenging the status-quo in the market. While there are some standout ideas and one-of-its-kind solutions, a few common trends emerge. Based on technology advancements and a fundamental change in employer attitudes, these four HR service delivery trends are transforming the technology landscape.
Let’s look at them in greater detail and understand how your organization could gain from HR service delivery platforms in 2019.
Also read: Ultimate Software to Acquire PeopleDoc for HR Service Delivery
1. SaaS is the Way to Go, Especially if You’re an SMB
More and more vendors are offering HR services via SaaS-only models. While the days of on-premise software aren’t over, these are increasingly restricted to larger organizations employing 10,000+ workers. Even larger organizations frequently use standalone SaaS-based HR service delivery tools as isolated point solutions.
“The widespread transition to SaaS platforms will only continue to accelerate, creating an enhanced ability for HR and benefits managers to better serve their clients in a rapidly changing and increasingly tech-friendly industry,” says David Reid, Co-founder & CEO of the benefit services provider, EaseCentral. In 2019, SMBs will explore SaaS as well as hybrid HR service delivery solutions to drive cost-optimization, performance agility, and greater scalability without vendor lock-in.
From bare-metal recruitment & onboarding systems, we are seeing tighter integrations with intelligent ATS, automated background assessment, L&D, and even performance management modules. All of these HR service delivery mechanisms are now stored on the cloud, driven by an industry-wide preference for SaaS frameworks. In 2019, even larger companies will look at replacing in-house talent suites with cloud-based HR service delivery solutions. This will enable interlinking with core HR including HRIS, workforce management, and employee self-service.
Also read: Choosing Between an On-Premises or Cloud-based HRIS
2. HR Will be Mobile-First, Social Next
To survive in the age of the gig economy, employers must realign their HR service delivery models, to the ‘gig’ or ‘deskless’ worker. This will mean opening up core HR services to remote access via mobile, calling for a rethink in terms of security and compliance protocol. Most ready-to-use SaaS solutions already come with a mobile app built into the package. Larger organizations must explore dedicated investments in mobile applications development if they are to sustain their current HR service delivery models.
Close on the heels of mobile-first technologies, social media integration is fast becoming more of a must-have, rather than a nice-to-have. This is reflected in two popular trends — first, HR managers are leveraging social information to refine recruitment, professional networking, and workplace collaboration. Second, social media-like interfaces are entering HR service delivery solution design, where queries are resolved through instant messaging, updates appear as a news feed, and employees receive push notifications on any scheduling changes.
Workday’s employee L&D homepage recreates the social media experience, automatically fetching interesting articles, courses, and learning materials, just like Facebook. Cristina Goldt, their VP of HCM Products, explains how this can help: “With intelligent functionality woven into a new Workday home page, employees can view recommended steps, courses of action, and activities that will provide them with better education, coaching, and guidance at every stage of their workplace journey.”
3. The Number of Data-driven Organizations will Rise
Using data, statistical algorithms and machine learning techniques to predict HR outcomes a foundational concept for several service delivery tools. Even till 2018 however, use cases were few and applications were largely in the experimental phase. Brian Norris, VP Analytics at employee healthcare services company OurHealth, notes a chronic problem: “Many employers don’t have a dedicated data team to make sure they’re looking at the right data.”
This year, we will finally witness several off-the-shelf analytics solutions enter the market, removing the need for deep in-house expertise. Analytics will simplify HR service delivery by offering insights via dashboards, empowering employees through predictive performance and upskilling metrics and give HR leaders a holistic picture of organizational progress.
Also read: 6 Emerging Trends to Look Out for in 2019
4. Usability will Prove Key when Selecting HR Service Delivery Software
While the organizational strategy is widely known as the primary driver for technology decisions, in more and more scenarios today, the user is king. The typical employee will expect a long list of benefits when moving to new age HR service delivery models. From an easy UX with a minimal learning curve to time savings and reduced dependency on IT, software must meet this tangible set of criteria, if it is to garner traction.
In 2019, employers will increasingly focus on UX across different aspects of HR service delivery — be it something as basic as time & attendance or value-added services, like corporate learning.
Also read: Why You Can’t Ignore Your LMS User Experience
In Conclusion
If you take a closer look at these four HR service delivery trends, they have one thing in common — an inherent reliance on shared service delivery. To maximize these ideas and enjoy the benefits to the fullest, organizations should ideally outsource a large portion of HR services, making delivery seamless, uninterrupted, and backed by recognized industry experts.
