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Intelligent HR operations – drive amazing people experiences

Capgemini
19 Dec 2022

Enterprises are increasingly relying on service providers to overcome the challenge of delivering intelligent, frictionless HR operations that drive enhanced, more personalized people experiences.


If the global pandemic has taught us anything, it is the need to provide an irresistible and amazing people experience. Indeed, investment in the data, services, analytics, and tools to boost employee empowerment and engagement has had an extremely high return during this turbulent period.

According to a report of senior HR leaders, 79% see acceleration of digital transformation in their organizations due to the pandemic, while 96% of HR leaders see the role of HR shifting from being an administrative service provider to concentrating more on designing employee experiences and satisfaction, acting as change agents, and developing talent.

The HR function must keep up with this pace of digital transformation and disruptive business practices in order to deliver on growth, but is being impacted by a number of challenges, including labor shortages and the changing expectation of employees working from home.

Unique APAC challenges for HR

We only need to look at the APAC market, and its unique specificities, to understand the level of these challenges compared to the other regions. Up to 78% of the Asian workforce was working in person up until 2020 (pre-pandemic), much higher than in US and EMEA, making the move towards hybrid working more challenging.

Highly diverse work cultures, lack of strong tech infrastructure, and a high proportion of blue collar workforce in APAC has also contributed to this slow adoption of the hybrid work model in the region. In addition, APAC’s highly fragmented and diversified market led by a myriad of languages, local regulatory requirements, and varied ways of working is making it challenging to drive standardization.

Moreover, a recent survey by Korn Ferry states that APAC faces an imminent labor shortage of 47 million people and $4.238 trillion in unrealized annual revenue across the region by 2030. With the war for talent becoming increasingly competitive as employees prioritize experience over pay along with continuously changing skillsets, HR leaders have started to look at the gig economy to provide the greatest flexibility without hitting the bottom lines.

Another important report highlights the focus on HR tech modernization in APAC with 89% of respondents preferring to implement people analytics solutions, but only 38% believing their organizations are ready. The main reasons for this sluggish adoption are the diverse nature of the APAC region, differing levels of economic maturity, multiple HCM systems, complex data transmission, shortage of right talent, inadequate systems/processes, budget limitations, and difficulty in securing executive buy-in are.

People-centric, frictionless HR operations

These challenges and priorities are defining a new future state for HR shared services and outsourcing. For the first time, “focus on core business outcomes” is the most important driver for companies, with “cost” falling to second place. This shows that now, more than ever, companies view HR outsourcing and transformation as a strategic driver of business value creation through innovation and differentiation.

Given this shift, organizations are now looking for transformation partners who can proactively respond to regulatory changes and market shifts, while bringing cutting-edge HR and solutions to help with organizational and people challenges.

Today’s CHROs and CXOs need to now focus on standardizing and automating their employee processes to create consumer-grade people experiences. And all of this after designing and executing an efficient, end-to-end service delivery model driven by intelligent, data-driven, frictionless HR operations that seamlessly connects people, processes, and technology.

To learn how Capgemini’s Intelligent People Operations can drive a personalized and frictionless people experience across your organization, contact: ajay.chhabra@capgemini.com or rashmeet.kaur@capgemini.com

About authors

Ajay Chhabra

Practice Leader – APAC, Intelligent People Operations, Capgemini’s Business Services
Ajay Chhabra leads Capgemini’s Intelligent People Operations practice for APAC with specific focus on HR transformation & advisory. With over17 years of professional experience, Ajay is passionate about solving client’s HR & payroll challenges through consulting, transformation, and innovative solutions.

Rashmeet Kaur

Team Lead, Intelligent People Operations, Capgemini’s Business Services
Rashmeet Kaur is a team lead with Capgemini’s Intelligent People Operations practice. She has worked on projects in different industries involving strategy, advisory, & consulting, HR transformation, and shared services setup.