Joshua Siler is CEO of HiringThing, a modern recruiting PaaS that enables seamless hiring with integrated applicant tracking.
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HR tech investment is growing. Business investments in HR tech have risen 57% since last year, with strong focuses on learning and development, recruiting, retention, wellness and benefits. HR leaders are looking to DEI initiatives that help improve the recruitment and retention of a more diverse workforce. Experts expected IT budgets to grow 3.6% this year, representing the fastest year-over-year growth in over a decade.
Organizations put much time, resources and thought into a new HR tech partnership. A 2022 HRIS report found that it takes an average of 15 weeks for customers to pick an HR system. It can be a daunting task and a significant investment, which is why I’m here to help.
Five Important HR Tech Considerations
Below you’ll find five crucial considerations you can contemplate before investing in any new HR technology.
1. Identify Your Business Objectives
According to that HRIS report, the top reason businesses select HR solutions is to gain greater functionality. This makes me ask, “Greater functionality of what?” This isn’t the time for vaguery or buzzwords but for data-driven decisions. You want to align your software with strategy to ensure the investment is worthwhile.
Do you want to become more efficient? Automate administrative tasks to put more resources and time into people-centric tasks? Make your workforce more productive? To get the most out of your investment, you must have well-defined business objectives for your HR tech.
There are copious options of HR tech to choose from these days, all fitted with bells and whistles designed to impress. Knowing your business objectives going into the exploration phase of your HR tech search ensures you don’t just go with whatever is marketed as “the best,” but the tech that’s best for your organization. Additionally, it helps to define what success will look like for these business goals so that you can have the most meaningful conversations with vendors as you start your exploration process.
2. Get Leadership Buy-In
According to Gallagher’s "HR Technology Pulse Survey," the main reason HR leaders find it difficult to get the budget for HR technology is that company leadership “doesn’t understand the value of the investment.” This is again where well-defined business objectives help.
Convince your leadership why you need a specific solution before you start your search. Explain how the new technology will increase your applicant flow and attract higher quality talent, or explain with data and examples how learning and development can save the company money and retain employees. You know your leadership best. How can you best appeal to them?
Don’t let budgetary restrictions stop you from empowering your team to greater things before you can begin. Do your research, present the information in a tone your leadership responds to and ensure all key stakeholders understand how important HR tech is for today’s forward-thinking organizations.
3. Audit Your Existing HR Practices
As the CEO of a recruiting solutions platform, I’m often asked what will supercharge recruiting efforts. I point out that software can transform recruiting when it works in tandem with professionals perpetuating recruiting best practices. People are the ones who set the parameters for screening and sorting candidates. People decide how the interview process looks and how many steps it will include. People create your employer brand strategy and construct your company culture.
This ethos extends to whatever part of the HR cycle you want to support with new HR tech. “Support” is the keyword here. Technology can take your HR strategies to the next level, but it’s not a substitute for strong strategy and can’t fix outdated modes of thinking. If, for example, your employee turnover rate is high because of a toxic work culture, the best technology won’t necessarily help. Audit whatever existing HR strategies you have before investing if you want the best results.
4. Determine Whether The Tech Is Easily Integrated And Customizable
The average company uses 254 SaaS applications, but it’s highly critical that the technology you’re investing in is compatible with as many of your existing technology applications as possible. One approach is to look for HR functionalities that are already integrated into vendors you’re currently using.
Customizations can be helpful because every business is unique. Are the applications you’re exploring able to be customized to fit your unique needs, or does every customer get the same experience? Customizations are where you can align your business objectives with the tech you’re looking to invest in.
5. Ask About Training And Support
New tech is easy to use if non-technical employees can easily master the application. However, 50% of SaaS users indicate they find most SaaS solutions "difficult to use," and over 40% say if tech is difficult to learn, they won’t use it, even if the features are ones they sought. If nearly half of your employees have trouble using your new HR tech, it’s not a good investment.
Ask vendors you’re exploring about their onboarding process and how easy it is to get a person to help. Ask to see their knowledge base and explore how often they’ll train new users or retrain regular users to ensure they become masters. Ask your HR tech vendors if they can provide customer testimonials surrounding onboarding, training and support. You want to be fully supported when making this investment in your employees.
In Conclusion
HR tech can be a worthwhile investment if approached properly. Remember, your workforce is your most valuable asset, so approach any new acquisitions with a strategy for the best ROI.
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