Illustration: Studio van Laar
No less than sixteen CHROs and HR directors from various companies took part in this round table, and it soon became clear that they all had at least one thing in common: when asked “are you completely satisfied with your current IT systems?”, there was no one who answered yes. When asked who was reasonably satisfied, a few hands were gingerly raised.
“We can do payroll, there is performance management, we have data, … That’s all well and good”, according to the HR director of an industrial player. “But more employee services would be a good added extra, so that employees can do more themselves. Right now, we are too much of a conduit. Vacation requests that are drawn up by team leaders today, can actually all be done by the employees themselves.”
For this person, your degree of satisfaction with IT depends very much on your expectations. “In most organizations, the IT system covers the basis. Should I get excited about that? No one gets excited about that. Most of the value of self-services is all data-related. I don’t score points if I say to that company: from now on, you are responsible for organizing your own vacation days. But if you can extract data from that, for compiling prognoses for example, then I do score.”
When it comes to architecture, there seem to be two main schools of thought at the table. You either work with a comprehensive system, or you use a basic platform that is supplemented with best-of-breed solutions. The latter sometimes entails integration and connection problems, as some participants admit.
In IT you need a business partner who knows something about HR and in HR you need someone who can translate things to an IT context.
“IT and HR are not fire and water”, says Ingrid Kraaijbeek of Aliaxis. “But you cannot expect IT to be able to provide HR advice in all areas about which application is needed. The system I’m currently working with is certainly not optimal, but that doesn’t have anything to do with IT, it has to do with how the system is configured. In IT you do need a business partner who knows something about HR and in HR you need someone who can make the transition to IT. Like twins who perfectly complement each other.”
International
The international aspect of many companies also plays a role in whether the HRIT solutions run smoothly or not, it seems, because systems are sometimes integrated at an international level. “Our head office is in Akron, Ohio”, explains Karen Ver Eecke of Goodyear. “Of course, they see things mainly from the uniform American market. My market consists of 42 countries and is much more complex. I also need much more data. I would like to run reports for all those countries, on benefit costs or on reward statements for our associates. That would provide added value, but also comes with a price tag. If you buy such a system based on the idea of one market, it won’t work.”
Walter Reynaert of Randstad is in the same boat. “I’m reasonably satisfied with the way we have set up our HR system”, he says. “I’m also a believer in data driven HR. We have mapped out our HRIT landscape really well and we know where we want to go. Only now, that is being hampered by global ambitions. The fact that we are evolving into a truly global company, also in terms of HR, will initially mean that we will have to take a few steps back. This just has to happen.”
Aeke Van Den Broeke of Denys agrees: “We have a presence in 35 countries, with different payroll providers that all work fine in their own right. But generating a simple headcount for 1,500 people with 40 different products… that isn’t possible. Sometimes I have the feeling that HR and IT speak two different languages. There needs to be more translation, so that they understand each other.”
Fix the basics
Most people here have HRIT systems that work quite well on the whole, but there is still always the cost and effort of customizing everything for the user. Liesbeth Lowet of GXO can relate to this. “I am in the middle of implementing a system that was chosen in the Netherlands, and I am constantly seeing that certain processes are just different here. It is garbage in, garbage out. It is not the social secretariat’s fault that the wrong pay slip is issued, rather it is the inflow that is still full of anomalies that have not been cleaned up. They system cannot solve that kind of problem. Many things are also done too quickly. I’ve worked in HR for 25 years now, and in all the companies I’ve worked for you see the same problems. So, fix the basics first, clean up your processes.”
Philippe Piso, of HR transformation consultant SuccessDay, recognizes these issues. “It’s true that a system cannot solve your problems”, he admits. “Without standardized processes, your IT system won’t work. Even when rolling out internationally, there must be agreement on exactly what recruiting entails. You often see implementation parties who say: “Oh, we can get this sorted for you within three months”. Well, then you can be sure that what you get after three months is not what you thought you’d bought. So, make sure in advance that your processes and data standards are coherent before you start implementing.”
Make sure in advance that your processes and data standards are coherent before you start implementing.
Other attendees, such as the HR director of a chemical distributor, also warn of the headaches that come with international HRIT projects. This distributor is merging several dozen countries, partly due to compliance requirements. “Our provider is like an oil tanker that is very difficult to turn, but I am still convinced that they are the only ones who can do it”, says the HR director. “We also have our own project team with two people who are responsible for the entire project.”
“I recently implemented a payroll system”, explains Ingrid Kraaijbeek. “One tip: don’t try to internationalize this. Whatever vendors say, there is no one vendor who can take care of a global payroll for all countries in the world. I’d rather have a vendor that says “We’re not never going to be able to deliver what you’re asking for, but we can try ABC”, than that they sell you something that they know is not possible and that impacts the customer experience.”
When choosing a tool, as HR you also often have to make decisions together with the business. But they do have to be made before you reach the design phase.
Philippe Piso also points out that companies sometimes don’t think hard enough about what they actually want from their HR tools. “If you are going to implement a tool but you turn off the self-service because you’re afraid that the business ultimately doesn’t want it, then you have bought a very expensive tool whereby managers still have to send an e-mail to HR to recruit someone. This is also partly about company culture. This kind of tool includes several elements that can make it profitable, but these are also often decisions that must be made together with the business, not by HR alone. But they do have to be made before you reach the design phase.”
“Creating a position or initiating a promotion should be a no brainer”, says Ingrid. “It should be just as simple as booking an AirBnB. As a user, you don’t need to see the whole HR administration behind the screens.”
Standard system (with or without add-ons)
There are other things to consider in advance. “Many processes that are built into IT systems are often not really necessary”, says Steven Scheers of Napoleon Games. “We make reports for person X. But if you ask person X ‘what if you didn’t get that report?’, it turns out that they often wouldn’t miss it. You’d be surprised how many things could actually be scrapped.”
“We also see that there are often superfluous elements, for example when you switch from a decentralized to a centralized approach”, says Karen Ver Eecke. “Certain working methods become redundant in some countries when you automate things. But this can also be met with resistance. It takes time. And it can even lead to discussions with trade unions.”
A standard system with add-ons is much more expensive, but employee satisfaction is simply much higher.
“The voice of the business and the employees, make a work group of them”, suggests Ingrid Kraaijbeek. “What’s important for an internal employee who wants to apply for a job? What should the manager do? What is the role of person A, B and C? How does it work? You get feedback, you can then test again with this new input and that also helps with the buy-in.”
“This is precisely why we find a balance between a standard system that doesn’t satisfy everyone and a standard system with add-ons”, says Steven Scheers. “Everyone knows that the latter is much more expensive, but employee satisfaction is simply much higher.”
Cart track
In terms of the future, there are great hopes for AI, artificial intelligence. SuccessDay already has experience with this, says Eveline van Bergen. “With the chatbot, you can ensure that the employee just has to ask ‘I want half a day off’, and the request is automatically processed. Of course, there are lots of things that must be set up in the background, but it is possible. Or your AI can make suggestions: based on your profile, it could suggest a certain training course, for example.”
“A chatbot is great fun and will reduce your transactional activities, but the true added value lies elsewhere”, Steven Scheers thinks. “How it can make predictions of burnouts based on surveys, and warn managers in advance. We’re not there yet, but we’re also not very far from it either.”
Is everyone in?
Kristel Vandenbossche of Familiehulp points out that technologies like AI are very interesting, but that companies must also ensure that basic functions remain accessible for everyone. “Who are our people? They are domestic workers, and people with a migration background. We have employees who can keep up digitally, but there are also those who cannot. The question is always how we get them on board. There is a lot of talk about digitization, but we must realize that not everyone is on board. We are currently working on a test project with digital pay slips. Of the 315 people we signed up to the project, 60 have unsubscribed. This is also sometimes difficult for recruitment and selection. Right now, people can apply for a job by phone and letter, but in the long term we want to move away from that. We want everyone to move to digital applications.”
What is your priority: efficiency or employee experience? We are HR, not the CFO, right?
As well as a digital highway, should we also provide a kind of ‘cart track’ for the people who can’t keep up? Opinions at the table are divided. “The problem is: as long as that cart track is there, it will be used”, says Joeri Veldeman of BICS. “At the end of the day, it’s also better for those people if participation is facilitated and made obligatory.”
“But, then what’s your priority?”, wonders Steven Scheers. “Is it efficiency? Or your employee experience? What are we doing it for? Provide an alternative for those who can’t do it, and you can still be efficient as an organization. After all, we are HR, not the CFO. Doesn’t that imply a certain responsibility?”
Anonymous
And yet, employee experience should not be underestimated, because there are indeed apps, tools or systems that really make employees happy, as it turns out. At the table, Open Up was given as an example, a kind of online psychologist that can be used, among other things, to combat burnouts. Another attendee set up an anonymous Slack channel during the Covid pandemic, in which people could express their grievances to their heart’s content. There was initially some doubt about taking this approach, but for many people it turned out to be a very good place for them to vent their feelings. Within the business, there were people – not anonymous – who indicated that they would pick up on the problems and work on them, which in turn generated a lot of positivity.
You must have the data in your system if you want to generate added value for your business.
Ingrid Kraaijbeek mentions the example of Achievers, an employee recognition program that also scores highly with other participants at the round table. The program takes a Facebook-like approach, where you can give people a recommendation, which others can then like and boost. “That delivered a huge boost in terms of engagement”, she says. “It is incredibly simple, inexpensive and really has an impact. And you can earn points which can be used to order products on Amazon or bol.com, like a gift from the company. It works well.”
This has also become part of the job for SuccessDay, says Eveline van Bergen. “We often help clients with the selection process. That consciously begins with the strategy and what they want. From there we take a look at exactly what is available on the market and our experiences. For example, a lot of attention is now paid to skills and skill gaps, everything relating to performance and talent. Of course, you must have the data in your system if you want to generate optimal added value for your business.”
See you in five years
For Karen Ver Eecke this is one of the constant, fundamental discussions within HR: what will we need within five years and how can we plan for this? “To answer these questions, you must first know what you want as a company and where you want to go”, she says.
And even then, many things depend on how your tools are rolled out, according to Ingrid Kraaijbeek. “You need a really good project manager, with Change, Communication and Learning teams. And don’t try to carry out a significant implementation process alongside your day job. We also gave some people early access to the sandbox, for testing and trying out… All behind the scenes, before opening the doors to everyone else. And even in that phase, have the courage to deviate from your original plan if you see that something’s not working. Only when you see the tool in action after the first configuration, do you really see what the end user will experience.”
