VideoIt's time to look under the human-resources hood again. After an extensive technology overhaul in HR, employees now routinely use a number of self-service applications to complete tasks like enrolling in benefits programs, managing vacation time, and making sure their personal information is up to date. With much of this "administrivia" now automated, companies hope they can turn their attention to developing a more flexible, competent workforce. That's where the CFO comes in. These more sophisticated automation efforts will be complex and expensive. And they will require dynamic and integrated systems, which can be developed only through a close partnership between HR and IT.
That's easier said than done. At first glance, IT and HR couldn't be more dissimilar. One relies on an army of techies to harness the power of a vast array of computers, software, and related systems, while the other relies on a staff of highly communicative (in theory) "people persons" to guide employees through any number of job and personal issues. HR's success hinges more on "high touch" than high tech.
But look more closely and it becomes apparent that they actually have a lot in common. The IT department believes that technology still has much to offer by way of strategic advantage, a promise HR is working to deliver as well. Both departments have fought for greater corporate legitimacy, and both view outsourcing as a threat and an opportunity.
Yet they crave more respect. Often perceived as cost centers, HR and IT departments believe they can contribute far more to the organization than simple efficiencies. Increasingly, HR departments can point to a range of IT initiatives as proof they are continuing to evolve toward a more strategic role, while IT can point to those same initiatives as proof that technology can go well beyond the transactional to the transformational.
When Premera Blue Cross, a regional health plan that serves more than a million people in Washington and Alaska, reorganized its HR team last year, IT considerations were front and center. The Montlake Terrace, Washington-based organization created a new HR technology department, uniting a disparate group of IT specialists who were previously dedicated to such specific HR functions as recruiting, compensation, and training. The goal, according to Barbara Magusin, senior vice president for HR at the $2.8 billion company, was to form "a creative think tank focused on how IT can serve human-capital management."
Human-capital management (HCM) is a term much favored by forward-thinking HR executives (and even more so by the consultants and vendors that serve them) because it emphasizes the skills, experience, knowledge, and potential that employees possess. By recruiting the best people, training them, and retraining them as businesses adapt to new situations, companies can, the argument goes, gain a significant competitive edge over rivals that treat employees as a mostly undifferentiated pool of laborers to be added or shed as conditions warrant. The ultimate employee benefit, in a sense, is to value workers more highly and develop them accordingly.
Yet most HR departments are so steeped in their dual roles as administrators and employee advocates that it can be difficult for them to shift gears and begin to analyze how employee practices affect the bottom line. "You're talking about a department that is often best-known for communicating details about the company picnic," says one consultant. "To go from that to offering high-level strategic input that no one has expected from them before is not easy."
But plenty are keen to try. At Premera, the HR staff is working to automate the hiring process, which had been completely manual and therefore prone to human error. "Paperwork gets lost," says Magusin. "Forms get passed from one manager to another, and if they get buried under other things, they may not surface for days."
The company invested in software from Webhire Inc. to speed the hiring of employees. An example of the emerging field of talent-management software, Webhire's product automatically routes information from one manager to another, links to external recruiters, and enables a job opening to be posted on more than 2,000 career sites. It also screens initial applicants, provides sophisticated search capabilities across an applicant pool, and generates reports with key HR metrics, such as time to fill and cost per hire.
"By reducing the manual labor," says Magusin, "recruiters have more time to meet with managers and discuss what skills are needed. We want to guide them away from that 'I need someone quick!' reaction and instead consult with them about things like whether the job has changed and the skill profile needs to be updated." The goal is to bring in the best possible person, someone who will be productive immediately and inclined to stay with the company longer because his job matches his abilities.
First, the Easy Stuff
Most people agree, though, that before companies can begin to develop HCM systems like Premera's, they must automate the more mundane aspects of HR, including payroll, benefits enrollment, and the collection of personal information for tax filing. This frees HR staffers from manual processing, allowing them to focus on such emerging facets of HCM as talent management, succession planning, and the search for metrics that capture exactly how HCM improves the bottom line.
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