The Top 5 Questions HR has on Technology

Discussion posted by Mike Briercliffe

Summary compiled by Cris Wildermuth

 

http://linkd.in/15qMRWx

 

129 comments (as of 09/24/13)

 

Questions or Comments on “Making it Easy”:

 

The gist of it: What is “easy” and intuitive for an IT person is not necessarily easy for non-IT professionals.

 

·         Why can't IT people design programs that are easy to use by non IT people? 
It seems to me that when IT people suggest that a program is intuitive, they mean it is intuitive to someone who already has a pretty broad understanding.

 

·         HR IT systems are in most cases complicated and offer expanded options which are not used by end users. And a question is: How to design a simple and easy to use (for end users like managers, employees) HR systems? How to combine declared needs (design) with IT solutions (tools) and common sense and simplicity (final product)?

 

·         With my practical mind, I sometimes struggle to understand why a programmer or programming company would design a system where the GUI is at best, overwhelming for someone with limited system experience.

 

·         How can I make the tool easy for senior management, supervisors and employees to use? Show benefits, safety and ease.

 

Questions or Comments on “Integration”:

 

The gist of it: People want one system to do it all.

 

·         System integration and data consistency is always a challenge. So what are they doing to ensure that all their systems (HR, Payroll, Recruiting, HRIS, Reporting etc.) talk to each other with minimal human intervention, that everyone in the Organization is working off the same data at any given moment, and multiple entry of the same data in different systems or modules, (wastes time and effort, leads to inaccuracy and inconsistency), is avoided?

 

·         When will we see a technology integrated solution to attract, hire, manage and engage direct hire and contract workers on the same platform? Further, when will we see a procurement tool that has an applicant tracking system (ATS) embedded as part of the tool?

 

·         There are no systems out there that can do all of what is required to maintain HR and payroll. This is the foundation of comprehensive HR Administration and record keeping. I have seen companies run 3, sometimes 4 systems to be able to store this info.

 

·         Not only in HR but elsewhere in the business we often have multiple sets of numbers (data) It needs to develop a system that uses 1 set of numbers, from new hire set up, payroll, production, training and more. Enter once and it is done. The other question I would ask is about integrating social media into the different systems.

 

·         Yes, the most nightmare experience in my past years, we employed one system for EE basic data, one for performance management and talent management, one for payroll. Of course, every system we need some same basic data (I think you know what these are :)), the frustrating thing is that there is few interface among systems. Meanwhile, we even keep our leave status manually in EXCEL!!

 

·         Will there ever be a fully integrated, "end-to-end," HR solution?

 

Questions on Interactions between HR and IT:

 

The gist of it: People wonder how these two groups of professionals can communicate better. There were various comments on whether HR participates in IT design decisions and/or how HR could best help IT.

 

·         Perhaps the thing to do is select an well versed experienced HR professional with some accounting experience and convert them into IT folks....then they might understand what we need!

 

·         I would ask how and what representation of real HR practitioners have when it comes to the design and development of HR and HCM systems. Considering the limitations we have in most HRIS as end users, it is quite clear to that, HR professionals contribution in the initial design and development before the product goes to the market is very limited.

 

·         Similarly, what HR issues frustrate IT professionals most, and are there easily accessed or creative solutions that can meet the needs of both? How can the two compromise?

 

·         Also, what are the most frequent competing goals, objectives and strategies between IT and HR?

 

Questions or Comments on People and Technology:

 

The gist of it: Some members were frustrated that the IT systems designed for HR do not capture enough about the complexities of human beings.

 

·         The IT function is a support function to HR. IT should provide tools to record, track and quantify those items to which numerical values can be assigned. People (employees) and their innumerable talents, foibles, attributes, personalities, moods, feelings, motivations are not so easy to quantify. IT needs to remember that employees are not little robots, they are human beings!! There are many intangibles that IT cannot comprehend about HR in general. A great beginning to your IT conference would be to remind the IT world that their very valuable role is to support HR and that IT does not run HR, but that HR may rely on IT for metrics for its decision making.

 

·         When we talk about IT solutions for HR management, generally the first thing that comes to our mind is quantitative/measurable/hard data, However, the core of this subject is purely soft/qualitative in nature based on human emotions, commitment, trust, psychological contract, dedication, attitude, abilities, capabilities, etc.  How can you link both sides in the best possible manner?

 

·         When are vendors and end organizations going to realize that having candidates respond to a job posting by forcing them to enter lots of information (…) only deters quality candidates from applying at all? The best candidates will not be bothered, nor should they have to do anything more than send their resume to a real person who actually reads it (even it is a 5 second glance). Over thinking and over automation in HR is for the most part a disaster. How is getting back to basics being addressed?

 

Questions or Comments on Confidentiality:

 

The gist of it: There were some questions/concerns around confidentiality/data protection.

 

·         I would like to know what precautions/measures can be taken to protect sensitive employee personal information. What can be done to ensure this data cannot be hacked into or accessed by those who are not authorized access to it, putting the employee and the company at risk.

 

·         How the data can be secure as it is a confidential data. Although the IT professionals will talk about ethics but an HR should ask for some strong steps or options to actually save the data.

 

The question I’d really like to know “what is this all about”:

 

This was an isolated question but I got really curious…

 

·         It’s official ... Millions of productivity dollars a year are wasted by people wrestling with formatting documents, reorganizing indents, bullet points and paragraph numbering. This is the dirty little secret of the software industry. Yes nowhere near as exciting as clouds, dashboards and the ultimate talent management system but still, many people quietly and openly range at the anonymous guy with the dirty T shirt somewhere in a development lab who developed the code for indents, paragraph numbers and pagination. Training people hasn't worked and is clearly not the answer ('damn', said the vendors product marketer). How can you save hours and hours of wasted time and diminished productivity with the mind numbingly mundane but central issue of document formatting.