4 ways HR leaders can drive continual value from HR tech

Are you crying out for a new HR system but know you face an uphill battle to get sign-off from the powers that be?

Do the words ‘return on investment’ (ROI) and ‘total cost analysis’ fill you with dread?

The good news is that calculating ROI has evolved.

There is so much more value you can extract from a cloud HR system that you simply can’t put a figure on.

We like to think of these as the non-quantifiable or intangible benefits – things like better employee experiences, faster decision making and improved engagement.

They are just as important, if not more, as the quantifiable ones – but are often overlooked or not considered when it comes to investing in a new HR system.

This is because they are harder to quantify. But the beauty is they deliver increased value over time and offer continual payback.

Here’s what we cover in this article:

• Cost savings and business benefits – but through a new lens
• Choose the right system for your organisation and it will be the gift that keeps on giving
• 1. Empowering HR to be leaders of change
• 2. Helping you invest now for the organisation you want to become
• 3. Supporting you to experiment and test
• 4. Enabling you to drive and accelerate digital transformation
• It’s time to go beyond the numbers

Cost savings and business benefits – but through a new lens

Of course, your CEO and finance leaderwill want to know if the HR tech you’re opting for is a sound investment, so leading with the quantifiable benefits first – labour, time and cost savings – is a smart move.

However, to determine real value from your chosen software, make sure you take the time to understand what you’re going to do with any savings.

For example, by automating labour-intensive HR admin, what will you and your HR team do with those freed up hours?

Likewise, if you’re saving the cost of a full-time employee, how will you use that cost saving?

Daniel Chambers, Head of Proposals at Sage, explains: “You need to know what you’re trying to achieve as an organisation.

“If you go straight in with ‘we can spend £25,000 on software and save £50,000 in labour costs, your finance director will say ‘great, which three people can we fire?’

“But that’s not what you are trying to achieve.”

It’s also important when highlighting quantifiable benefits to tie them to business objectives and show how the new HR system will help solve many of the current – and future – challenges the business is facing.

Choose the right system for your organisation and it will be the gift that keeps on giving

Traditionally, HR software has mainly been for the benefit of HR.

However, HR technology has undergone a transformation and is now serving the entire organisation, supporting new way of working, helping attract and retain talent, driving business agility, enabling testing and experimenting, and so much more.

For example, with a mountain of new challenges to climb – return-to-office policies, vaccine management, creating great hybrid work experiences, employee wellbeing, and more – having a system that can be configured to your specific requirements means you can use it to solve these new challenges.

This will save you time and money from investing in additional software, while adding continual value across the business.

With more than 50% of HR leaders and the C-suite claiming HR is doing even more work now driving digital transformation than before the pandemic, now is the time to push for the right tech to support you and your team in driving new ways of working that set the organisation up for success.

A global cloud HR system can help you generate wider and continual benefits for your team, your employees, and the business.

Read on for the four ways a modern HR system can deliver repeated value beyond the quantifiable.

1. Empowering HR to be leaders of change

During the pandemic, 65% of HR leaders say their teams had a vital role to play, driving change, enabling remote working, and supporting wellbeing.

Responding swiftly to change remains critical for organisations to thrive in the constantly evolving climate, so having a flexible system is key.

A highly configurable cloud solution will let you customise and create additional fields which allows you to instantly start capturing new employee data without the need for IT or technical support.

A flexible HR system also empowers HR leaders to lead change quickly and easily through automation, actionable insights, and redesigning the way people work – value you can’t put a figure on.

2. Helping you invest now for the organisation you want to become

To get continual payback and value from your HR tech, you need the ability to look ahead and establish what you’re going to want and need your chosen platform to do in the next three, five, even 10 years’ time.

You may need your system to help solve current and urgent challenges, but what are the big challenges coming over the horizon?

Is mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity likely in your company’s future?

Having a system that can scale with you as you grow is vital and means you won’t have to buy a new system in the near future.

You want one that’s future-proofed for whatever’s ahead, not just right for now.

3. Supporting you to experiment and test

For real tangible business transformation, the days of doing things once then ticking them off your to-do list are far gone.

Revisiting, testing, iterating, and trying new things is the order of the day for progressive companies that want to get ahead.

The in-built features of your HR platform – such as 360 feedback, customisable dashboards, and flexible workflows –make it easy for HR and People leaders to adopt a ‘test and learn’ approach.

For example, HR and People leaders looking to deliver great hybrid experiences with wellbeing at the centre might survey their employees every month to gauge sentiment on their return-to-work policy, and then continually refine and tweak their policy based on the feedback.

The right HR system makes it easier to communicate with your entire workforce, wherever they are, gathering employee feedback in real time and speeding up your ability to respond not just now, but in the future too.

4. Enabling you to drive and accelerate digital transformation

Digital transformation allows your organisation to become more employee-centric and provide consumer-like experiences to your workforce, helping you attract and retain the best talent.

Using a cloud HR platform, onboarding becomes a complete digital experience.

The solution empowers managers to improve the manager-employee relationship with digital tools to seamlessly manage performance reviews and connect more easily with their remote teams.

You might not be able to put a number on that, but it continuously proves to enrich the entire employee experience within the organisation.

Choosing the best global cloud HR platform for your needs will also support your organisation in having the right mindset, the right culture, and the right skills to create lasting change across the organisation through digital transformation.

It’s time to go beyond the numbers

ROI in the traditional sense is one way of measuring the payback from your chosen tech – and it’s important to request those numbers from your chosen vendor.

However, going beyond the numbers to explore the wider value-adds is key to making sure you get sign-off on the tech investment and reap the continual value of your HR tech both now and in the future.