Innovating in HR Technology Strategy & Adoption to Maximise ROI

The findings from the Strategic CHRO Harvard Business Review Analytics Services survey report, show an interesting conflict between respondents about strategic human resources (HR) and technology. Both HR and non-HR professionals indicate they want more strategic HR, but perceptions differ about whether HR is indeed acting strategically and whether technology can help. New social, mobile, cloud, and data analytics technologies are enabling CHROs to be more strategic. However, even though organizations understand that these technologies are important, only 25 percent think they use them effectively.

Tech is hot especially when it comes to human resources, recruiting, and the workplace. As even more companies, including possibly yours, look to add, update, or change their existing HR and workplace technology, it’s hard to know where to start especially since there are literally thousands of new and budding HR technologies as well as more established and experienced brands and products to choose from.

Here are 3 ways to innovate HR Technology Strategy to increase ROI:

1. Align technology and strategy

The reason you wish to introduce new technology in your business is to improve your company’s overall performance. Even before your plan to put technology into action, make a note of the factors like the goals you want to achieve and the technology that best supports improved performance. People are more likely to adopt new technology if they can see how it helps them to achieve their goals and objectives.

2. Develop a training approach accordingly

The biggest risk for user adoption is the lack of sufficient and customized training. While many vendors offer training options when you buy technology from them, but this training is standardized off the shelf and not specific to your business processes or culture. Your training should not just be screenshots and PowerPoint but instead, employees must get a way to see and play in the system, prior to go-live, in the context of their specific work processes.

3. Keep Employees first

When implementing new technology, if you want to be successful you need to plan for, identify and address implementation challenges early, and gain the buy-in and commitment for technology – driving engagement, enhancing efficiencies, and improving user adoption – enabling you to maximize your return on investment. Otherwise, your technology is just an expensive tool that no one uses effectively