HR service transformation – the challenges

It’s barely credible now that there was once a time when the IT functions in major businesses pursued an agenda that was more their own than it was that of management or, indeed, of customers.

Fortunately, those days are long gone. Technology nowadays is business-oriented – it’s seen as an enabler of a strategy that is driven by the executive, and that is informed by the desires and expectations of the market.

But there’s one audience that, in many cases, still seems to attract less attention – and that’s the workforce. Sure, businesses are mindful of the need to ensure teams are trained in the use of strategic platforms and apps: much of all that outward-facing development work would be wasted if employees didn’t know how to use it.

But it’s often the case that the internal systems of direct relevance to the workforce – in other words, the human resources (HR) systems – are not as well attuned as they might be to the needs of the people they serve.

Meeting expectations – for all stakeholders

The issue is compounded by the fact that it’s a moving target. Like external customers, the expectations of the workforce are conditioned by their experiences as consumers. If they are accustomed to organizing their home lives online, why should their working lives be any different? They need and expect the same frictionless, consumer-grade engagement with their employer that they encounter elsewhere.

New HR systems need to meet these workforce expectations. They also need to take advantage of the latest automation technologies to deliver transparent and tangible value. What’s more, local business managers need to be equipped to manage their people without compromising their routine activities, and without adding cost.

Preparing the ground for transformation

To overcome these challenges, HR leaders are seemingly faced with a difficult choice:

• Replace the existing HR platform for one that delivers transparent, tangible value, or
• Boost employee experience and engagement on existing platforms to enhance satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

However, the choice needn’t be this binary. It’s possible to introduce a new HR platform that retains elements of current operations – elements that, ideally, have re-engineered to deliver higher levels of efficiency as part of the new model within which they now operate.

This, of course, presents a new challenge: how do you prepare your organization for the transformation of its HR services?

Capgemini’s approach enables organizations to transform their HR processes in the light of intelligent automation, enabling them deliver frictionless interactions to their employees. It means they can achieve cost and operational efficiencies by redirecting resources from repetitive tasks towards higher-value business activity, and that they can also enhance their existing investments in technology – but in the context of a new and enterprise-wide transformation of their HR operations.

Adding value – and increasing wellbeing

Organizations are increasingly realizing that HR should not be seen as a mere support function, but rather as a means of adding business value and competitive edge. A well-managed workforce isn’t just happy – it also helps to boost productivity and profit.

In the next article in this series, we’ll look at the key factors behind comprehensive solutions to HR service transformation – and at the role that can be played by a Digital Global Enterprise Model (D-GEM).

To find out how Capgemini’s Digital Employee Operations Powered by ServiceNow enhances your employee experience through implementing next-generation, digital HR operations, contact: kunle.lawal@capgemini.com

Learn more about how we implement ways to detect, prevent, and overcome frictions in our clients’ business operations, helping our clients to move towards realizing – what we call – the Frictionless Enterprise.

Read other blogs in this series:

• HR service transformation – solutions
• HR service transformation – the human touch

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