As an HR leader it is my responsibility to make sure my company has the best tools experience can provide and budget can buy. Here are therefore my New Year's 10 resolutions as pertaining to technology without which there cannot be any HR.
1. I will make a thorough inventory of my HR systems: What works, what doesn't what needs to be enhanced, what needs to be discarded.
2. I will link every HR policy and HR technology to my company’s overall business objectives: If I can’t show how that new learning system is going to affect the bottom line, then I will not waste time on it.
3.
I will insist from my HRIS team to have relevant
metrics at my fingertips, such as why I have to spend more on training new
hires or why our turnover is always above x% in some areas: If I can’t have
these metrics, then I will NOT authorize any spend on any new system.4. I will assert myself more forcefully versus IT to ensure that the final say on HR systems rests with me, not with them: IT is here to support my work not lord it over me and my team.
5.
I will make sure my HR people have a sound
knowledge of technology: They don’t need to become IT geeks but they should
understand how systems work, what benefits they bring, what their limitations
are and be trained on all facets of the products, especially to help Resolution
#3.6. I will stay clear of fads and the latest buzzwords: Unless proven otherwise, Big Data will have to be big somewhere else, not here.
7. I will NOT have a systems integrator get involved in system selection: I am sick and tired of vendors who nudge me into selecting a system that fits THEIR needs and not mine.
8. I will make sure that at one click I have access to the actual, real-time figure of my global headcount. If I can’t, then back to Resolution #1.
9. I will make sure I have at my fingertips a description of the skill set of ALL employees in my company. If that is not the case, then back to Resolutions # 1 and 2.
10. I will harmonize all HR processes and unify systems across all subsidiaries in my global organization, unless there is a good business reason NOT to.
Nice, Ahmed. #6 is great, but if enough people see it I won't be quite as entertained on social media. 7 is unfortunate since we only think of our clients' needs. Our list of suggested resolutions is only 4 long...wish I'd seen yours first and would have risen to the challenge. http://tinyurl.com/bdr6o2w
ReplyDeleteDear Gaucho, thanks for your comment. I'm glad to hear you don't fall into that #7 trap; unfortunately, the sad truth is that many systems integrators do. But I would say one thing in their defense: many of their clients allow themselves to be taken to the cleaners. So, just as we, citizens, often deserve the bad politicians we vote for, many corporate customers deserve the systems integrators they pick.
DeleteThanks for this latest blog post! It is actually comforting to know that many companies must be facing the same issues mine face. It is even more encouraging that there are others, like yourself, whose response to these challenges are so similar to my own. This has not been the first, nor likely the last, post of yours that I have forwarded to many colleagues.
ReplyDelete- Daniel Lynch