Whether a company’s employees are all onsite, all working remote, or somewhere in between, the demands on HCM and payroll teams have morphed in 2020. From payroll staying compliant with pandemic legislation to HR fielding the changing needs and fears of employees, there are more tasks, complex issues to unpack, and seemingly endless moles to whack. Even for HCM and payroll professionals, who are expert mole-whackers, the moles-to-holes ratio is alarming. Accurate reports, nimble analytics and reliable tracking tools have become HCM system must-haves in the war on moles.

HCM Software Features can Help People Work Smarter

“Most clients are after great reporting and analytics,” says Karen Shropshire, a Wise consultant with twenty-nine years of experience across the industry. “It’s not only about providing employees with a great experience and driving work to the employee level with self-serve tools and letting them input their own data to the system. Business decision-makers need a fast and easy way to take all the data collected for compliance purposes and pull it into their business to be able to make quick and accurate decisions based on the data.” 

Self-Service HCM Software is Your Friend

Self-service features for employees drive typical HR work to the employee level, empowering workers to input and manage their own data and find answers to questions without taking up a second of HR time. An intelligent system frees up HCM leaders to strategize and measure team effectiveness rather than wrangle crisis after crisis. Shropshire says this can be transformative for the team. “It puts them in a strategic business mindset because now they are not doing those manual activities; they can be so much more proactive because [now they have] more hours to focus on things that bring great value to their employee base.” 

Better Access to Data Can Improve Employee Engagement

Bringing value to employees improves their experience and satisfaction and can positively impact retention. “Employee engagement and user experience is huge. Every employer wants employees to have access to data, and a great HCM system really allows an employee to be their own advocate, going online to change their data at will and according to their own timing,” says Shropshire. Modern HCM system features also allow employees to find resources they would have previously contacted HR to acquire and harness career development opportunities. A powerful system enables better communication about policy changes, required training, productive collaboration and helps employees in the field (or working remote) feel more connected. The trend now is toward prioritizing employees and facilitating their desire to find meaning in their work. Companies that don’t understand and respond to that growing expectation will find it harder to hold onto their top talent.

The Pandemic has Fueled the Need for Modern HCM System Features 

With so much change and disruption taking place in 2020, many companies who were eyeing a strategic switch to cloud-based HCM software to enable better reporting and self-service put their plans on hold. Now that the dust has settled, many of these same organizations are realizing just how helpful that new system would have been in empowering their employees as they moved unexpectedly to remote working situations and in some cases, back to the workplace again. Understanding that more change may be coming and the advantage a new system will give them as the inevitable redefining of how and where people work gathers steam, businesses are opting to forge ahead with the purchase and implementation of robust systems that offer the flexibility, automation, self-service and intelligence companies need now.

Reach Out to Wise Consulting for Expert Information on Cloud HCM Systems

If your organization is contemplating the implementation of a new HCM system or planning upgrades to your current system, Wise consultants can help you optimize your return on investment. Reach out to us at HCMHelp@WiseConsulting.com or 800-654-4550. You can also contact us here.