Deliver frictionless HR operations by putting people first

Who hasn’t booked a vacation online? We all do it. We check options and availability, select, and confirm. We don’t even need to log it in our calendars, because the booking system will generally do that for us.

We expect everything to be this easy. At work, for instance, that same vacation is going to entail arranging some time off. The process ought to be just as simple and accessible.

It’s not just vacations, though. We bring these same preconceptions as consumers to every interaction we have with our employer’s human resources (HR) function – and that’s why organizations today are focusing on delivering frictionless HR operations expectations effectively, and if possible, exceed them.

Frictionless, integrated people operations

The best way for organizations to achieve a consumer-grade people experience is first, to bring all the relevant elements of the enterprise into a single, integrated model, and second, to build that model on a smart, digital platform.

At Capgemini, this is part of what we call the the Frictionless Enterprise – an approach that seamlessly connects processes and people, intelligently, as and when needed. It dynamically adapts to an organization’s circumstances to address each and every point of friction they may encounter in their business operations.

Specifically in HR, this approach means organizations can provide a seamless and intelligent flow of information and collaboration between their employees, suppliers, partners, and customers ; detect, prevent, and overcome friction in their HR operations; and create best-in-class HR processes and services that deliver increased efficiency, faster time to market, and an enhanced user experience.

The areas addressed by Capgemini include:

• HR advisory and digital services – focusing on key platforms including Oracle, SuccessFactors, Workday, and ServiceNow
• A digital employee helpdesk – providing designed, personalized experiences, making use of intelligent, omnichannel shift strategies
• Frictionless HR operations – integrating process and application management services that take advantage of innovation and intelligent automation and a collaborative people experience design
• Digital learning and knowledge services – providing a learning platform that makes use of machine learning and AI to deliver a Learning Content Factory.

Business, technology, and employee benefits

This smart, frictionless, and integrated approach to people operations delivers benefits in three main areas.

In general business terms, organizations can better organize their HR processes and nurture their talent. With a smart, comprehensive, and frictionless HR platform, they can simplify their employee contracts, effectively plan their resourcing support during operational and customer peaks, and they can also upskill, re-skill, deconstruct, and reconstruct roles.

In technology terms, they can implement data-driven decision-making and service delivery, innovate via intelligent process automation, and deploy consumer-grade solutions.

In terms of employees, organizations can design and implement a persona-centric approach, including a personalized, end-to-end, intelligent learning experience. They can simplify and automate their recruitment processes, and deploy an omnichannel approach that brings together phone, email, chatbots, enhanced self-service platforms, and employee portals. All of which makes meeting employee and business needs much simpler.

The net results of implementing frictionless people operations

A frictionless and intelligent approach to people operations enables CHROs to achieve desirable outcomes that include:

• A purpose-led and empowered workforce – no matter where they’re working
• An enhanced, intelligent people experience, with a focus on flexibility and wellbeing
• Improved digital literacy that enables lower-level, volume tasks to be automated, leading to an opportunity to reshape the workforce and reap the benefits of the intelligent orchestration of people and machines
• An agile operating model for future-fit HR that leverage digital, cloud-based delivery platforms and robust data to give CHROs the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances
• A culture of continuous learning that quickly transforms into a dependable means of fulfilment
• New strategies to attract and retain top talent. For example, CHROs can differentiate their employee value proposition to attract employees with in-demand skills, and align their talent strategy to the changing business strategy.

Many of these results are tangible and even quantifiable. At Capgemini, we transformed a global technology retailer’s HR service delivery model to achieve a significant reduction in the overall cost of HR operations, a 90% customer satisfaction score, and a one-stop shop HR and IT contact center.

While for a leading UK utility business, we modernized HR processes to deliver a 30% reduction in HR costs, implemented frictionless and efficient HR processes, and enhanced visibility and resolution of requests. We’ve also seen a 35–40% increase in productivity, and first-contact resolutions have now reached 95%.

To learn how Capgemini’s Intelligent People Operations can drive a personalized and frictionless people experience across your organization, contact: antoine.starek@capgemini.com