How HR Technology Can Solve Common HR Challenges

The workplace has evolved more rapidly than ever in recent years, and human resources departments have had a central role in navigating these changes. Work environments are different, job seekers have a brand-new list of criteria, and the unpredictable labor market demands constant agility. At the same time, you still have all the regular responsibilities of HR — finding and hiring the best of the best, managing payroll, administering benefits packages, evaluating performance, and fostering a positive work culture, just to name a few.

With so much on their proverbial plate and new challenges to solve each day, your team needs to update your HR tech tools. Modern HR technology can keep up with the needs of busy HR departments. Feature-rich systems also expand your HR team’s capabilities and help them see challenges faced as opportunities for growth.

In this article, we’ll dig into some ways your team can overcome HR challenges with technology. Then, whether you’re already using HR tech solutions or exploring your options, read our guide to optimizing your HR tech stack so you’re properly equipped to face those challenges.

HR Challenge #1: Keeping company culture alive with a remote workforce

In our post-pandemic world, hybrid and remote work isn’t going anywhere. Not only do employees prefer it, but it’s good for companies, too — 95% of employers say remote work has had a positive impact. But many employers worry that a lack of face time harms company culture. Luckily, that’s not the case, according to remote employers; your HR department just needs to put in a little more effort to build culture for a remote workforce.

The right HR technology can help contribute to strong company culture at your remote organization with several useful tools:

• Employee recognition tools allow colleagues to offer praise and congratulations to their fellow employees publicly, sharing their sentiments in Slack or via the company intranet
• One-on-one digital workspaces encourage closer collaboration between employees and managers, building trust and transparency
• Surveys enable your company to gather feedback from employees and use what you learn to build a better employee experience
• Recruiting software helps HR and hiring teams stick to standardized, fair hiring practices

HR Challenge #2: Tracking and analyzing workforce trends

Historically, collecting workforce data hasn’t been the easiest thing to do. Manual processes and siloed HR systems have made accessing information difficult or impossible. And forget about learning anything useful from the data if you can’t get to it in the first place.

Solve this HR challenge by investing in HR tech analytics. Today, you can find fully-integrated, cloud-based talent management systems that support every stage of the employee lifecycle and integrate with existing HR management systems. They’re equipped with robust analytics and reporting capabilities that help you and your team effortlessly analyze what’s happening among your workforce.

For example, with a complete talent management platform, you can drill down into performance data, which shows you that three of your sales team members are particularly high performers. Thanks to your talent management system, you can quickly access their resumes and interview scorecards to learn more about the traits or work experience they have in common and what interviewers noticed during their hiring process. Then, your recruiters can use what you learn to refine their strategy for recruiting new sales employees.

HR Challenge #3: Embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into HR processes

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) don’t happen by accident — they need to be an intentional part of every process at your organization. HR technology can help your team recognize common forms of bias that impact recruiting, hiring, performance management, engagement, and workforce planning and implement measures to negate its effects.

For example, performance reviews are rife with opportunities for bias to creep in. With HR technology, your organization can help ensure they are as free from bias as possible with features like:

• Standardized review questions and rating scales
• 360-degree reviews for peer feedback
• Data analytics that can help reveal and correct bias

HR Challenge #4: Employee upskilling and reskilling

Upskilling and reskilling are hot topics in HR as more and more firms report difficulty attracting talent. An estimated 50% of employees will need reskilling by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum, and we know that upskilling and internal promotions boost morale and prevent employee turnover. With HR technology, your company can more easily facilitate training and development initiatives.

HR tech can help your managers identify their high performers who are good candidates for growth opportunities or promotions. Then, digital employee records can back them up with notes from past one-on-one meetings, recognition from coworkers, and historical performance review data. Technology can also help you identify skills gaps across your organization so you can offer reskilling opportunities to your workforce and close the gaps.

HR Challenge #5: Measuring employee engagement

Do you have insight into your workforce’s engagement level? If not, your employees could be disengaged, costing your company money and negatively impacting employee morale.

HR technology empowers your team to monitor employee engagement easily. You can send out quarterly pulse surveys to get a quick read on engagement and set benchmarks. Many software solutions also offer longer, more in-depth survey templates to gain a deeper understanding of your employees’ feelings about a variety of topics, including:

• Onboarding
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Employee health and wellness
• Stay motivators

Solve HR challenges with fully integrated software

Whether you want to slim down your HR tech stack or adopt a brand-new solution, you need to look for a system that makes your workday easier by simplifying complicated processes, consolidating important information, and isn’t a pain to use. It’s clear that fully-integrated HR software is a must for solving these common challenges busy HR departments are facing.

There are lots of options for talent management systems on the market, so it’s important to identify what your business needs, a budget, and plans for the future so you can choose a practical and scalable system.

Learn all about the benefits of an optimized HR tech stack and how to decide which systems to streamline in our new guide: How to Consolidate Your HR Tech Stack and Boost Productivity.