2020-21 Annual HR Systems Survey White Paper- 23rd Edition

This article briefly reviews the Sapient Insights 2020-21 HR systems survey White Paper, 23^rd Annual Edition.  The objective of this article is to highlight key points from the survey and interpret the same for both buyers and sellers of HR Technology solutions. This year the survey includes 1900 unique organizations, across 64 different countries, representing 27 million employees and contingent workers. 

Key Themes and Findings

Below mentioned table reproduced as-is from the white paper, gives you a glimpse of key insights at an overall level. However, for deeper analysis, you should consider reading the white paper. We have tried to capture key themes from both the Buyer and Sellers perspective in this article.

Key Insights for HR Technology Buyer

We looked at the report from a buyer’s perspective and for the purpose of this short review, we are focusing only on the strategic aspects of the buying process that this report highlights and suggests. The report also has a ton of information for buyers on various operational aspects such as mode of delivery of their shared service center, cloud vs. on-premise, cost of HR systems, and application-specific insights. We are not focusing on this part of the report here.

 The importance of HR Systems Strategy

The HR Systems Adoption  Blueprint is a key tool this report introduces to its readers. Those of you who think implementing HR technology is complex should give this framework a look. You would soon realize you are probably missing a few aspects in your current approach and this framework will help break the elephant into manageable pieces.

The interaction of various HR applications and the importance of the HR systems to co-exist with other enterprise applications is highlighted in this model. The blueprint clearly identifies various layers and aspects of an integrated HR systems strategy. It puts the culture, strategy, and data governance at the heart and then expands into 6 primary categories of enterprise HR system applications. Holding these 6 categories together is the larger enterprise system ecosystem combined with enterprise standards of data privacy, social media, platform, mobile, content, integration, workflows, and others.

Business of HR

The white paper clearly states the business of HR is achieving outcomes. The report argues that 2020 has sharply focused on how diverse HR practices are when it comes to meeting business outcomes and meeting the needs of employees.

In the year 2021 and beyond it has never been more important for HR to balance the needs of both their organization and their employees. With the most dramatic decreases in plans for spending in HR technology predicted for 2021, the work for HR is clearly cut out. This anticipated drop in HR technology spending is the highest in over a decade.

The drop in HR technology investment is further coupled with a plateauing of HR’s ability to add strategic value. Thus, the report argues HR should focus on a continuous change management culture while developing and driving an HR System strategy.

Specific Advice for HR Tech Buyers

This year’s white paper offers very specific advice on things the buyer must do while selecting and implementing HR technology. We have tried to capture a few of the most important nuggets here.

• With an average of 28% of HR technology solutions being evaluated for replacement. The white paper requests HR Tech buyers to review existing vendors’ updated capabilities. It advises HR Tech buyers to have an open discussion with the existing solution provider about the new needs.
• Connecting specific and measurable business outcomes to the need for replacement or introduction of new HR technology is critical for the HR tech buyer.
• During vendor reference checks, ask for details of maintenance and ongoing resource requirements. These will help you assess resources at your end to ensure the deployment of a continuous change management process.
• Resourcing your HR tech implementation is a far greater challenge than you imagine. It has the highest impact on how well you achieve desired outcomes. Finding resources to focus on the implementation and the day-to-day work will result in better outcomes
• The Average number of applications included in the total HR technology costs has gone up by 25%, along with a 52% increase in the average number of integration points that are maintained across HR applications.
• Only 15% of organizations measure their HR technology adoption or use. Consider including the following metrics
  • Manager/employee survey data on the use
  • Individual sign-on/login counts
  • Activity tracking/ transaction counts
  • HR Call center/ Helpdesk usage metrics

Specific Advice For HR Tech Solution Providers

The white paper is a rich treasure of insights and inputs for all categories and types of HR Technology solution providers. We attempt to distil a few important points here.

• Workforce intelligence is still in its infancy. With 32% of organizations paying extra fees for embedded analytics, the solution providers have an opportunity to demonstrate greater value via embedded analytics. Just 39% of organizations believe that HR technology helps inform business strategy, we believe this is a great frontier to focus for all HR Tech solution providers.
• With anywhere between 30% to 50% of the workforce expected to continue to work remotely, HR tech solution providers have a great opportunity to engage with existing customers and help align their solutions to these new emerging realities.
• Engaging with your customers and educating them about the latest features and functionalities will go a long way in ensuring retention. On average 20% of organizations are either evaluating or replacing HR applications every year. In 2021 this is even higher for certain categories, about 37% in learning, 31% in time management, and 30% in recruiting.
• Clearly defining implementation outcomes coupled with the resourcing required at the client end are key to ensuring successful HR tech implementations
• With a current state deployment of 44% the North American market seems to be saturating for SaaS while EMEA and APAC markets show great growth potential.
• Success in HR technology seems to be derived based on User experience, Relationships, and Service & Support
• The average ownership of an HRMS application is between 6 to 7 years. Critically look at your customers approaching this timeline.
• To ensure high levels of adoption, monitor and evaluate changing end-user requirements versus writing them off to scope creep

Conclusion

23 years of survey history gives this HR Systems Survey White Paper long-term insight into the staying power of current trends  HR technology marketplace.

HR technologies are facing a rapidly changing world that requires the management of an overwhelming amount of information and constant skill development. The need for HR technology today is not a matter of debate anymore. This survey helps HR and business leaders choose, use, maintain, connect, and harness the power of various systems to achieve desired outcomes.

Download your own copy of the report here:  https://sapientinsightsresearch.com/

Note: All images are from the survey and copyright of Sapient Insights Group.