Tactical and administrative human resources (HR) management is morphing into strategic human capital management (HCR). In the US, we live in a litigation-happy society that makes any company more likely to be sued by an employee than to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). US regulatory requirements and corporate governance issues thus certainly vouch for the modestly increased demand for transactional HR systems that provide tools to produce (for instance) W-2 and 1099-R forms, the maintenance of data in compliance with immigration laws, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) disability information. Also, there will be an ongoing need for support for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA), and Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance. Another key driver, especially in large companies, is the need to consolidate multiple HR transactional systems for efficiency and global workforce visibility.
Part Four of the series Thou Shalt Manage Human Capital Better.
Still, enterprises will likely invest less in integrated complex suites, as a result of their customarily high upfront cost, lengthy implementation, and hard-to-achieve return on investment (ROI). Instead, many are now looking at hosted service models where companies pay per-employee-per-month fees, bear no responsibility for hardware and software upgrades, and have complete control over their own talent management processes. Additionally, they might want to invest in point solutions that target line of business (LOB) users, and that provide proven, short-term payback in the form of direct cost reduction, process improvement, and increased user satisfaction.
Certainly, the latest technology advancements have also been a catalyst for a transformation in the way HR services are delivered to and adopted by employees and managers, allowing HR administrators to trade the largely transactional and administrative work they have been burdened with in the past, for more time to work on critical business-facing initiatives. To that end, a raft of best-of-breed solutions have automated HR workflows, reduced costs, and improved data quality.
Many software tools and applications have recently been designed to align and heighten employee and corporate performance, making the emerging human capital management (HCM) software category (sometimes also called workforce productivity or workforce optimization) especially fertile and crowded. Vendors abound, from as many directions as there are HCM subcategories. Many more vendors try to cover most of the bases with broader product suites that address "employee life cycle management" in its entirety. However, while there have been noticeable consolidation moves, which vendors will dominate the space in the long run cannot be exactly stated at this time.
Even long before being acquired by Oracle, former HCM leader PeopleSoft had methodically rounded out its HCM capabilities and reached critical mass with most of its capabilities, which has prompted many point solution providers to merge and marshal a broader HCM offering. But then, immediately after the PeopleSoft acquisition and the inevitable uncertainty about the product's direction under Oracle, the market has seen prosperity and higher profiles of several niche HR- and HCM-related special applications providers, although Oracle (including its original and PeopleSoft and JD Edwards HR products) remains an undisputed leader in all HCM software categories except for time and attendance (T&A), where Kronos rules.
One should again note that T&A is a segment of broader strategic workforce/talent/human capital management suites, that in most definitions includes at its core the HR, payroll, and benefits modules, which have lately been bolstered with self-service for employees and managers, and similar intuitive applications like a centralized workforce portal that conducts on-boarding and other pertinent functions. Additional applications might include recruitment and staffing, performance and compensation management, appraisals and assessments, learning management, succession planning and career paths, workforce scheduling, and (sometimes) pension administration.
Part Four of the series Thou Shalt Manage Human Capital Better.
Still, enterprises will likely invest less in integrated complex suites, as a result of their customarily high upfront cost, lengthy implementation, and hard-to-achieve return on investment (ROI). Instead, many are now looking at hosted service models where companies pay per-employee-per-month fees, bear no responsibility for hardware and software upgrades, and have complete control over their own talent management processes. Additionally, they might want to invest in point solutions that target line of business (LOB) users, and that provide proven, short-term payback in the form of direct cost reduction, process improvement, and increased user satisfaction.
Certainly, the latest technology advancements have also been a catalyst for a transformation in the way HR services are delivered to and adopted by employees and managers, allowing HR administrators to trade the largely transactional and administrative work they have been burdened with in the past, for more time to work on critical business-facing initiatives. To that end, a raft of best-of-breed solutions have automated HR workflows, reduced costs, and improved data quality.
Many software tools and applications have recently been designed to align and heighten employee and corporate performance, making the emerging human capital management (HCM) software category (sometimes also called workforce productivity or workforce optimization) especially fertile and crowded. Vendors abound, from as many directions as there are HCM subcategories. Many more vendors try to cover most of the bases with broader product suites that address "employee life cycle management" in its entirety. However, while there have been noticeable consolidation moves, which vendors will dominate the space in the long run cannot be exactly stated at this time.
Even long before being acquired by Oracle, former HCM leader PeopleSoft had methodically rounded out its HCM capabilities and reached critical mass with most of its capabilities, which has prompted many point solution providers to merge and marshal a broader HCM offering. But then, immediately after the PeopleSoft acquisition and the inevitable uncertainty about the product's direction under Oracle, the market has seen prosperity and higher profiles of several niche HR- and HCM-related special applications providers, although Oracle (including its original and PeopleSoft and JD Edwards HR products) remains an undisputed leader in all HCM software categories except for time and attendance (T&A), where Kronos rules.
One should again note that T&A is a segment of broader strategic workforce/talent/human capital management suites, that in most definitions includes at its core the HR, payroll, and benefits modules, which have lately been bolstered with self-service for employees and managers, and similar intuitive applications like a centralized workforce portal that conducts on-boarding and other pertinent functions. Additional applications might include recruitment and staffing, performance and compensation management, appraisals and assessments, learning management, succession planning and career paths, workforce scheduling, and (sometimes) pension administration.
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