Ceridian showed off new Dayforce features for retailers during the NRF Retail Big Show, including a planned on-demand pay module and a virtual assistant.
“The future of work for retail and hospitality companies has never been more reliant on tech innovation,” commented John Orr, Ceridian’s senior vice president of retail. Dayforce’s new features are designed to improve how businesses in those sectors handle recruitment, management, development and retention.
Currently, more than 1 million employees use Dayforce’s mobile app to check their schedules, update their timesheets, see their pay, request vacations, trade shifts and set their availability, Ceridian said. Not surprisingly, workers want to get even more from their apps. “We are hearing from our store associates that mobile is expected now,” said Matthew Gist, senior store systems specialist for Ceridian customer Designer Shoe Warehouse.
Dayforce’s new features include:
- A virtual assistant, which the company describe as an “intelligent” bot that will simplify for the process of making schedule changes or requesting time off by using voice or chat commands.
- Dayforce On-Demand Pay will allow workers to use the app to take a pay out based on their current earnings.
- Improved access and enhanced usability.
In a press release distributed by Ceridian, Constellation Research Principal Analyst Holger Mueller said such features help accelerate business. Voice command is “becoming the new user interface,” he said, and “‘always on’ payroll is shaping a new standard for how employees want to be paid.”
Of course, the idea that employees expect more mobile tools shouldn’t surprise anyone who follows HCM technology. However, Ceridian’s addition of voice command should be particularly attractive to employers with a large number of employees on the ground in places like retail stores, hospital wards or warehouses.
We also agree with Mueller’s idea that on-demand pay will be popular with such workers, since many live paycheck to paycheck or on tight budgets.
Ceridian Report Sees Steady HR Evolution
Separately, Ceridian released its first annual Human Capital Management Trends report. The report identifies what the company believes to be the biggest challenges and opportunities facing employers. The top five:
- Holistic HCM: For global companies, the value of considering “the big picture” of HR will become more evident.
- Access to Innovation: Enterprises will look for a single source of HR truth that also provides access to innovation.
- Talent Matching: The process of matching candidates to jobs will become smarter as tools like chatbots and predictive analytics gain traction.
- Consumerized Platforms: In “the period of instant gratification,” HR teams will be pressured to provide tools that match the usability and experience of what employees use at home.
- Employee Engagement, Wellness and Productivity: Employers will study the ROI of engagement and wellness and look for ways to connect it to productivity by establishing clear definitions and measurable metrics.
The idea of “holistic HCM” is the most intriguing notion here. While more employers seem to be reevaluating HR’s role in the business, it’s notable that this tops Ceridian’s list. The other four, from what we can see, are components of a discussion that’s been taking place among HR tech vendors and customers for several years.
Still, we agree with Ceridian President Leagh Turner when she says, “The relationship between the employer and employee is constantly evolving and becoming more complex … In this transparent age, where information is easily shared about a company and its practices, business leaders need to understand and be ready for these changes to foster an employee-centric environment that attracts key talent and reduces churn.”
Updated Jan. 17, 2019 to correct Leagh Turner citation.
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Image: Ceridian
