‘People-Centric’ Employers Focus Tech Strategies on Workers

Workforce Data

Leveraging the workforce as a strategic asset requires employers to use technology in ways that go beyond streamlining work and actually empower individuals to do their jobs in the most efficient, creative ways that they can.

In a study commissioned by ADP, Forrester Consulting said organizations should provide the tools employees need to be effective and productive. Companies should also look on technology as a way to encourage collaboration, innovation and mobility, the study said.

Study: Creating a strategic workforce requires companies to involve, empower their employees in technology decision-making. #HR #HRTech Click To Tweet

Forrester’s work examines the idea of “people-centric” organizations—companies that invest in creating a team-centered culture, an engaging work environment and a matching employer brand, all through a digital employee experience. Such companies, Forrester contends, outperform more traditional organizations that their workforce as a cost center.

Technology is especially important at a time when more employees are remote and often working on cross-functional teams, the report said. Working across departments allows employees to be more flexible in meeting the company’s goals, but they require tools that can support their efforts to communicate, even as they help the organization document and manage a dynamic structure that includes a number of indirect reports.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic appeared, supporting the ability to work from home has become a requirement for many organizations. While the report was published in June 2019, it highlighted the importance of allowing employees “to work in the locations and on the schedules that best suit their needs as long as they meet work commitments.” Among other things, that means providing applications and devices that can be accessed in both desktop and mobile environments.

Workforce Disconnect

Most employers we speak to acknowledge the importance of technology to their overall operations. Also, there’s increasing awareness that in order to get the most out of technical solutions, of any kind, corporate leaders should consider the needs and preferences of the employees who are going to rely in them.

However, surprisingly large number of organizations don’t involve workers in the selection of technical tools, and don’t support employees with the training they need to make the best use of them after they’ve been deployed.

Research by Eagle Hill Consulting found that just 19% of U.S. workers believe their company has invested in the right technologies to help do their job. Only 23% say technology changes have helped their company.

Disclosure: ADP Next Gen is a sponsor of the HCM Technology Report.

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