Why HR in the Cloud?

The primary activities of the Human Resources (HR) department include recruitment, administration, compensation and benefits, training and development, and employee relations and performance management.

The reality is that this function does much more—far from being a separate administrative process, HR supports the business’s very ability to operate, given that a business consists largely of people, along with its intellectual property and hardware. People operations are about ensuring that organizations have the right people in the right roles at the right time, all doing the right things. When supported in this way, businesses will grow organically as well as through acquisitions.

A Template for Success:

While priorities might differ, all businesses are essentially performing the same core HR activities: hiring new employees, providing development and growth opportunities for current employees, staying compliant, and ensuring leadership has meaningful, actionable, and relevant analytics. Approximately 80% of people processes can be developed using the same template, with the remaining 20 typically being industry specific, company specific, or mandated through a local country-level set of requirements.

If you look at different companies in regions across the world, the recruiting process is largely the same, barring a few differences such as legal or language requirements. The same applies for many processes within HR, which is one of the reasons that SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions for HR have seen significant success and growth over the past two decades.

Benefits of SaaS HR Solutions

Automated Ease

Employees and people leaders alike are used to navigating ever-changing mobile apps and websites. They expect the same from company-provided solutions and processes. Using SaaS means that you can rely on a software partner to maintain your solution as well as provide upgrades and application-support services. This automation frees you to focus on your own products and services.

Enhanced Capabilities

Using SaaS for people processes means that you will be able to move more easily into new high-growth areas and countries and expand your value chain through a better understanding of your workforce’s skills and capabilities. You will also worry less about how you hire and how you manage and report on people data.

HR Functional Activity Map

The phrase “Hire to Retire” is often used in HR, but many HR processes exist within this narrative and can be categorized in different ways. Gartner, for example, groups HR activities as below:

Another alternative is to look at the value chain of HR. With Manage Workforce at the core, the HR value chain would follow Attract to Hire, Identify and Grow, Educate and Develop, Pay for Performance, and Terminate and Retire. You can find a comprehensive overview in our eBook, "Human Resources in the Cloud: A Perspective from Effective People"

How Effective People Can Help You

Cloud HR software providers like SAP SuccessFactors have revolutionized people processes. While the system is standardized and can be rolled out on a global scale, the cloud is ever evolving. This means that organizations need to embrace continuous improvement alongside efficiency and innovation. Often, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work.

With 20 years of industry experience, and having partnered with SAP SuccessFactors since 2005, Effective People has market-leading expertise in helping clients understand the business impact of HR so that they can focus on driving long-term, sustainable transformation. Our clients are typically category leaders in their industry looking for ways to streamline people operations, gain actionable insights from people data, run payroll and workforce management with less effort, and improve overall employee and manager experiences.

Moving your Human Resources processes to the cloud might seem like a huge undertaking. Indeed, there are several complexities to consider and important decisions to make but working with a team of specialists will put you in a position to reap the rewards of what is fast becoming a must-have step for business continuity and organizational success. Contact us for more information.