Top HR Tech Trends for 2016

Worldwide investment in HR technology continues to grow at an exponential rate, according to 2015 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey, conducted by Towers Watson. The survey reveals that the primary HR service delivery priority of survey respondents is ‘modernization of core HR technology’. Organizations are now increasingly looking at cloud-based platforms.

Latest Update – Future global HR trends for 2024 are also out, and you may read them to know what the future of HR may look like.

The survey concludes that the changing environment will encourage companies to take a closer look at their overall HR technology needs. Some of the key findings of the survey are listed here:

1. More than six in 10 respondents (61%) plan to use mobile technologies for HR transactions this year, a sharp increase from last year (46%).
2. Two-thirds of respondents now have an HR portal in place, up from 60% last year.
3. Nearly nine in 10 respondents (88%) said they plan to spend the same amount or more on HR technology and systems this year compared to last year.

After reading this report, we internally analyzed the increasing demand and popularity of different modules of Empxtrack – a comprehensive HR software. Post analysis, we identified the top Five HR Tech Trends for 2016.

Cloud-based Training Modules

According to 2015 Talent Shortage Survey by the Manpower Group, the talent shortage in 2015 peaked at a seven-year high of 38%. Perhaps, this is the reason, talent management, training and development, mobility and succession planning emerged as top three HR priorities worldwide, in a study by Michael Page. It is easy to understand that cloud-based training modules will remain one of the hottest HR technology trends in 2016. There are several benefits of such modules.

1. These training modules can seamlessly integrate with HR analytics data, measure skill-gaps and help HR managers define a suitable curriculum that employees need to achieve desired levels of competency.
2. With a cloud-based training module, HR managers can automate selection of instructors, class logistics, locations, etc.
3. Modern training modules also allow users to compare and manage training program costs.
4. With these modules, managers can get the real-time update about the training programs, access performance report cards of every employee.
5. Employers can compare every individual employee’s performance report with his or her past records and accordingly assign the most suitable job profile.

Attendance Tracking Software

By 2025, millennials will account for 75 percent of the global workforce. They value flexibility in working hours and workplace. With a modern attendance tracking software, employers can better manage this new-age workforce. Advances in the areas of attendance tracking software now allow employers to integrate it with different types of systems and track attendance via biometric devices, QR code, NFC, barcode and RFID badges. This software can also offer actionable insight into how employees are being paid, which may be useful in retail and consultancy business. Some of the key benefits of attendance tracking software are following:

1. Accessibility to real-time information, such as overtime hours prior to a payroll run, via an intelligently programed global calculation engine
2. Check in and check out option from your smartphone as well as web browser with local time and date stamps
3. Leverage real-time reporting into actual labor costs to gain actionable insight at the point of decision-making

Electronic Onboarding

First impression counts! A slick, fully branded online onboarding and induction process can impress candidates, make them feel that your business or organization is Efficient, Innovative, Green and up with the times. Electronic onboarding systems make compliance easier to achieve and prove. These systems create an electronic audit trail that can be relied upon to prove that all required documentation was properly completed. It is pertinent to mention here that such innovative audit trails are difficult to maintain when dealing with paper. Many senior HR leaders strongly believe that it is going to be a hot trend in 2016. Some of the key features of electronic onboarding module include:

1. Store new employee forms and onboarding docs to a secure online library.
2. Allow users to fill out I-9, W-4, state tax and tax credit forms online.
3. Uploads unlimited docs like HR policies and employee handbooks on the cloud. Authorized employee can access these document from anywhere, anytime.
4. Sends and receives real-time alerts and notifications to keep new hires, hiring managers and HR admins are on top of onboarding to-dos.
5. Availability of onboarding workflows and new employee forms in the users’ native language.

Cloud-based Performance Management

When you align your business goals, employee performance and compensation, you get the desired results. In the time of volatile economic condition, business alignment is very critical for companies across all industries. With a leading cloud-based performance management system, companies can easily align their business goals to employee tasks making it a hot trend for 2016 too. Some of the key benefits of this system are:

1. Allows managers to align individual objectives with those of the enterprise
2. Allows users to define objectives and track them throughout the year
3. Allows employers to evaluate an individual’s competencies and progress on objectives at a point in time.
4. Enables feedback on an individual’s performance by multiple participants.

HR Analytics

In a recent blog post, HR Analytics – A Fuzzy Math or Actionable Insight?, we had discussed how rapidly HR fraternity is acknowledging the critical importance of HR analytics and concluded that companies can start getting tangible ROI within 18 months, if not sooner. This space is maturing at a rapid pace. While many companies are early in implementations, there are a good number of organizations that have implemented strong HR analytics strategies, and almost every vendor now has some form of predictive analytics embedded into their HR products.

Conclusion

If you haven’t been evaluating HR technology lately, you should do this now. 2016 is certainly going to be an exciting year for all HR professionals because the world of technology, mobile computing and analytics are converging rapidly. We look forward to help you understand and implement some of these exciting new solutions.