According to Aptitude Research, 72% of companies are increasing their investment in employee experience technology next year. These solutions include everything from wellbeing to mental health to engagement surveys and career development. But, as companies spend more on technology, the employee experience has not improved much in the past year. We found that 62% of employees do not feel valued, and 64% have not been recognized consistently this year. Technology can play a significant role in improving this experience, but these systems need to be implemented and integrated to make an employee’s life easier, not harder. And, they need to be integrated in a way that connects employees with their managers and leaders.
I am thrilled to be sharing some of our research on how integration can improve the employee experience during a webinar tomorrow with my friend, Greg Belkin, at Jitterbit. Integrating HR systems have significant benefits in providing consistent data, enabling a better experience, and eliminating manual processes. Yet, integration has long been a point of frustration for companies investing in new technology. Many companies lack dedicated resources and underestimate the needs and expectations of IT to build integrations. Providers downplay the challenges of working with partners and the willingness to work with their competitors. And IT and HRIT are typically preoccupied with other priorities. In fact, 1 in 3 talent acquisition and HR professionals surveyed said that IT views talent acquisition integration as a low priority.
Here are a few themes that we will cover during the webinar:
We are Thinking About Integration Too Late: Unfortunately, two-thirds of companies do not consider integration until evaluation and after implementation. Less than half of companies ask these questions in advance of their vendors. The foundation should be part of the essential requirements when evaluating providers, and companies that start this process early can see greater success.
Clear Ownership is Important: Companies with successful technology adoption have clear ownership of integration, data management, and automation, and they also have clearly defined roles. Without a strong foundation, talent acquisition may have an internal conflict with IT or key stakeholders around these critical areas. By establishing a clear vision and outlining responsibilities in advance, companies will have a much smoother process. Thirty-four percent (34%) of companies have a dedicated operations role on the HR team involved in these decisions.
Companies Must Measure Results: Integration is a continuous process. Companies must continually evaluate the quality of the integration, partnership with providers, costs, and security. When asked how satisfied companies are with their integration, respondents were least satisfied with timeframes, communication with providers, and costs and most satisfied with data security and the quality of the integrations. Companies should communicate these concerns with all key stakeholders, including IT. As companies look to different systems, finding a provider that is an active partner in the integration process should be a key consideration.
Companies with successful integrations are more likely to improve the employee experience and optimize their technology investments. I am looking forward to this discussion tomorrow and hope you can join!
