They created Information Technology to communicate between machines. It linked databases and processed data as programmed. Hardware dominated the field, and IT management installed equipment, networked connections, and chased technological innovation. Decision makers measured software in terms of efficiency, speed, and delivery. Once vendors came up with people-focused systems like customer retention management and human resources information systems, we entered an era of the consumerization of IT.
HR software futures: employee-centric HR IT
Consumerization refers to the people focus of the software applications and databases as opposed to the item, dollar, or process focus of IT applied to operations, inventory, and finance. With people as consumers, you introduce a new problem of the subjective, unpredictable, and even unmanageable human elements.
By making software employee-centered, you shift everyone’s expectations. Executives become restless for quantitative solutions, and employees expect immediate feedback to their voiced input. This shift allowed permission for employees to access their data to make changes in basic information. It has evolved to enabling them to shop and enroll in benefits plans. And, it may move towards permission to diary personal comments and inputs, not unlike those remarks encouraged by customer retention management systems.
A paradigm shift to engagement
As employees come to take responsibility for an increasing amount of their own human resources administration, their role moves toward one of control. The shift has not happened everywhere and is governed by the nature of the business. Still, as more employees use more mobile smart devices, have cause to interface with operations from mobile devices, and work on flexible teams, the structure of their work changes.
The shift in work and employee responsibility also changes the integrative role of mid-management. More decision making moves from the executive leadership to those closer to the people and the technology. It also means that mid-managers – using software that accumulates quantitative metrics and standardizes judgment behavior – become more directly involved in human resources roles like recruitment and talent development.
- Performance & Management Assessment: Gamification may remove the unsuccessful tradition of annual performance appraisals. With immediate and mobile access, employees will enjoy 24/7 recognition, personal mentoring, and ongoing training. Systems will provide rewards and continuous feedback akin to social media “likes.”
- Talent Acquisition & Development: Workforce talent cannot hide in a world of social media. Job candidates post themselves openly on focused links, and employers will pursue them more tenaciously. Recruiters will develop and sustain relationships on a range of platforms to structure talent pipelines.
- Benefits & Compensation: Software analytics can archive employee wellness programs and direct their progress in preventive and recovery behaviors with feedback, incentives, and rewards. Such analytics take employee involvement beyond a period of enrollment and into active participation in cost effective engagement.
A recent compilation of HR expert opinions in hreonline says to watch for HR software to aggressively target workforce engagement by delivering a great customer experience. If employees are given to stop on a dime to answer or forestall a customer complaint, they should also find increased value in HR software that responds as swiftly and assuredly to employee input. Vendors will meet the needs created by the consumerization of HR software.