June 14, 2011 — With expectations that hiring activity will increase this year and next, HR departments at a large number of U.S. employers say that talent and performance management technology systems will be one of the most critical HR service delivery issues they will face in 2011, according to an annual survey conducted by Towers Watson. The 14th annual survey on HR service delivery trends and practices also found that companies are planning to increase their spending on HR technology this year as they look for new ways to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
According to the Towers Watson survey, 41 percent of the 444 companies surveyed indicated talent/performance systems as one of their top three HR service delivery issues for 2011. Streamlining HR processes and systems was listed by 27 percent of the respondents, while 25 percent cited greater involvement in strategic business-driven issues as the other top three HR service delivery issues for this year.
"Companies view talent and performance management technologies as a critical component of their workforce attraction and retention initiatives, and also as a way to enhance HR's role in helping the business to meet its strategic goals," said Tom Keebler, global leader of Towers Watson's HR Service Delivery and Technology practices.
In addition, more than one-third of respondents (34 percent) said they are planning to spend more on HR technology this year, with one in eight expecting that increase to exceed 20 percent over last year. Only 16 percent plan to reduce their spending on HR technology.
"The fact that technology spending is up this year is a clear indication of the high level of return that companies are seeing when it comes to technology as a means for improving both HR efficiency and effectiveness," Keebler said.
Reengineering Is Top HR Initiative
The survey found that reengineering key HR processes is by far the top HR initiative that respondents are currently undertaking or planning for this year, with nearly two-thirds (62 percent) citing it as their major focus. The second most reported initiative (43 percent) for 2011 is refocusing the role of their HR business partners, while more than one-third of respondents (37 percent) indicated their primary focus is on implementing or leveraging self-service technologies.
Further, those respondents that have recently completed these initiatives are reporting tremendous success, including 84 percent that say process reengineering met or exceeded expectations, and 81 percent that say that their recent self-service initiatives have delivered on or exceeded their expectations.
Keebler said to achieve maximum success for the business — both for the individual initiatives and for the HR function overall — companies need to address the triad of process redesign, enhanced technology and rethinking the way in which HR functions simultaneously.
This article originally appeared on www.worldatwork.org and is provided to Employersweb compliments of World at Work.
