Progressive HR execs needed for 2010

With our economy in a good phase of growth, and with all the impending investment around the Soccer World Cup in 2010, progressive human resource executives will have to take on the role of strategic partners within their organisations, to improve productivity and to ensure business objectives are met.

An infrastructure that supports more objective analysis and decision-making can substantially contribute to the company's bottom line. The current versatility and depth of HR technology available today in SA can certainly help them achieve this.

Over the past number of years, HR technology was totally concentrated on transactional-based activities, and looked at either containing costs through reducing headcount, or cutting costs on the soft areas of the organisation; usually the HR and training departments.

Today's HR technology goes way beyond being just a data repository. It is a tool for employers to analyse and manage the information needed to recruit top talent, retain them through appropriate training and advancement opportunities, and manage performance needs evaluation

To address the skills requirements of an organisation to meet the new demands of the 2010 growth we expect in the country, the first need is to identify a company's HR technology needs.

In line with this, consideration of key performance areas must take place, as well as identifying where the 'bottlenecks' are occurring and what they are. A company will also need to conduct a full review of its business processes, and determine which of these are not working?

If managers are seeking updates on the recruiting process, for example, the business may need software that allows for Manager Self-Service, which integrates to the recruitment module of the HR system. Or, if there are many applicants applying for jobs on a continuous basis, the system will need to be able to interact with them through workflow, which will provide each candidate with automated responses and prompts, as and when their status changes during the recruitment process.

To address the skills requirements of an organisation to meet the demands of the 2010 growth we expect in the country, the first need is to identify a company's HR technology needs.

Rob Bothma, divisional manager at Q Data DynamiQue, the e-HR specialist within Business Connexion.

Worldwide, it seems as if the trend is for organisations to move to using 'best of breed' HR and payroll vendors, and to then seamlessly integrate with other solutions to produce better results than, for example, using the HR component of a financial software package, which does not have a focus on the HR and payroll discipline.

There are two key components to an end-to-end HR technology solution. Applicant Tracking Software (Recruitment), which covers the pre-hire process, and includes the gathering of r'esum'es, interview scheduling and background screening. Being fully integrated with the HR and payroll system once the candidate becomes an employee, the HR Management System should then handle all the post-hire responsibilities of human capital planning, including compensation and remuneration planning, performance management, knowledge management, personal development, succession planning and finally, training and development.

Once a company has identified the product that best fits its business requirements, there may be some unexpected delays and glitches in the planned implementation phases. Companies should try and factor this into the purchasing decision, by building in possible delays into the implementation timeline and demanding reasonable timeframes from the vendor, to accommodate and resolve these issues.

Having the best product can easily be negated by a poor implementation. Many organisations select the HR product based on all the 'bells and whistles' shown in the product demonstration, but fail to implement this functionality. Invariably, it is this functionality that ensures the organisation gets a decent ROI on its selected solution.

Finally, many times the whole sales focus is aimed at senior management (the buying centre in the organisation) but at implementation time, the product is then implemented at a user level, thus negating many of the business benefits, which senior management will expect the new solution to deliver, through the HR team.

In summary, as a company prepares its organisation for the onslaught of 2010, it will need to continue to strengthen its competitive edge. HR technology is an essential component that will play a vital role in ensuring a company is able to attract and keep a winning workforce.