Transcript
Mark:
Welcome to PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report. I’m Mark Feffer. My guest today is Nicky Hancock. She is the Managing Director of the Americas Region at AMS. If anyone knows their way around the industry it’s her. So we talked about all sorts of things, the evolution of tech in HR, how you can tell whether a vendor in the space is serious, and what should we do with all those consultants. All of that on this edition of PeopleTech.
Hi, Nicky. It’s nice to see you. I heard someone say recently that there are more than 5,000 companies that work in the HR tech space right now, which that’s a lot. I mean obviously. Now, how is a customer supposed to keep their wits about them say, when they’re trying to deal with a universe that’s of that size?
Nicky:
Yeah, I think that’s a very good question, and one that often our customers come to us and ask them. I think to your point, I think over the years it’s seen an area of huge investment. There are new tech solutions coming to the HR and talent acquisition space all of the time. And I think it makes it increasingly more confusing and complicated I think for many potential buyers and users of those technologies. I also think we’ve seen increased consolidation as well. Technologies tend to kind of overlap sometimes in terms of their functionality and capability, as well as many more new entrants to the market.
I think for us that’s one of the reasons that we launched AMS Verified was to really help organizations and individuals understand the complexity and simplify that landscape. So helping to understand what are the tech solutions out there, verify what they actually do, help understand what the impact is, what types of organizations use them, how those users would rate those technologies to help I guess simplify that landscape for them, and help understand where there could be opportunities, and what type of technologies they should be looking at.
Mark:
Okay. For a while we heard a lot about comprehensive platforms versus more targeted solutions. There’s this big debate going on. I haven’t heard so much talk about that lately and I’m wondering, has the debate been settled, which I kind of doubt. But has the debate been settled, and if it has been, who won?
Nicky:
Yeah. No, I totally agree. I think over the years there’s been lots of discussion around whether there is one end-to-end platform that can do everything versus having different technologies that have point solutions or more focus on a particular area. I don’t think the debate necessarily has been settled, and I don’t think necessarily anyone has won. I think what we see is a recognition that many organizations will have a platform which potentially is their system of record, and then they’re using different other technologies over and above that platform as particular solutions to solve challenges or enhance the experience in certain areas.
Therefore, what we see from our clients is, how can they have the right technology stack that combines those two recognizing that there isn’t actually necessarily one technology that does everything end to end. Equally, the market changes so much, so there’s never any end. It always changes, there’s always more opportunity. But also recognizing it’s how those technologies work together that ultimately is going to give them that optimal experience and outcome.
Mark:
I mean it makes me feel like the whole notion of integration is going to become pretty much ubiquitous. If you have a product in this space it’s going to have to be capable of working with other systems.
Nicky:
Yeah, and I think that’s definitely something we see with our customers. I think very often they have bought multiple technologies, which are all great in the area that they operate in, so market-leading technologies. But haven’t necessarily given it the thought or focus around the integration strategy, and therefore losing some of the capability or optimization. So I do think that that’s really important at the outset is to understand what the opportunity is around integration. What does that integration actually look like?
Or if you can’t integrate, what is the impact of that? And some organizations, sometimes it is very much a roadmap in terms of not necessarily everything’s going to integrate from day one. But organizations will go into that knowing that, understanding the impact, but also understanding what is that roadmap to be able to integrate and optimize to get the best return on all of those technologies. But I think it’s something that’s really important to really understand from the outset.
Mark:
Now, going back to our user, our buyer, customer. How do you identify a real solution, a true solution, versus someone who let’s say is just dipping their toe in the water of HR tech early on in their life? It seems that this technology is just becoming so much more important to the operation of a company. The HR department’s got to be under a lot of pressure to get it right the first time.
Nicky:
Yeah, and you’re right in the sense of I think we’re all inundated with the latest technology that’s going to solve everything. And I think for us, especially working in the talent space, it’s really about understanding what the technology is able to do today versus the roadmap. I think sometimes there is confusion, certainly with the customers that we work in sometimes in terms of what they will actually be able to do on day one versus what is part of a roadmap for that technology.
But also understanding it through the lens of the user versus just the view from a technology perspective. So one of the things that we do as an outsourcing and advisory business is being able to bring the advisory capability in terms of how to implement, optimize, and drive adoption of technology. But also with that lens of what it’s like to use the technology from an operational perspective. In our experience that is really, really important because they’re two very different lenses.
And what we have to do is to bring them both together, as well as an understanding of the organization in terms of how does the organization work, what’s the culture of the organization when it comes to technology and technology adoption. So it’s helping HR and talent functions bring all of those experiences, perspectives, together to build the right solution and implement the right solution for that particular organization.
Mark:
Well, and it does sort of speak to the idea of HR is getting to be a more technical function. You don’t have to be a software developer to be in HR, but you’ve got to know your way around. Do you think that’s going to continue?
Nicky:
Yeah, I think what is important to do is for HR to bring in all of the right kind of stakeholders and the capability they need when they’re thinking about their technology strategy and their technology roadmap. Definitely increasingly, we are seeing the importance of having technology, project management, change management, adoption experts in HR, and whether that’s bringing them in for a project or they’re part of that HR team.
But definitely it’s that capability that is very much needed and we can see increasing to ensure that technology is a core part of the HR function and strategy. But obviously it’s not something that stands still either. It’s not a one project and then it’s completed. It’s how do they make sure that they’ve got the right capability to continue to optimize, to continue to drive the change management, and increase the adoption.
Mark:
There’s a lot of consultants around in the HR tech space. And I’m wondering what do you think their role should be in the whole process of identifying needs, compiling RFPs, making the purchase? Can you just sort of give me your thoughts on this?
Nicky:
Yeah. I mean you’re right. There are, and I think it goes back to understanding what the capability that that particular organization has itself and then where are the gaps? Because ultimately where consultants and advisors can help when it comes to technology can be everything from helping organizations understand what they want from the technology, to going through choosing the technology, to configuring the technology, implementing the technology, helping to stabilize, and helping to optimize.
Consultancies and advisors like ours have the ability to bring in that expertise, but also to bring in experience of having done that in other organizations, having used other technologies. And really being able to bring in some of the lessons learned I guess in terms of what has worked before and what hasn’t worked before. But I think it’s really about augmenting that with what the organization and what that HR function has in terms of its own capability.
Sometimes I think the benefit as well is, as I said, whether it’s bringing in a consultant because they’ve got experience with a similar organization, or in a similar industry, or with that particular technology. Or it could be that an organization just hasn’t done something like this before. We work with many large complex organizations in regulatory environments, and they’ve had their technology stack in place for many, many, many years. Therefore, changing technology or reviewing it is not something they’ve had to do. Therefore, bringing in that external capability can really help.
Mark:
Now, once you get beyond core HR, how do you decide what you need to implement? I mean things like performance management, and engagement, and so forth, there’s a lot of people building technology solutions for those things now. How do you decide which way to go or how to prioritize?
Nicky:
Yeah, I think it all comes back to having a very clear HR or people strategy. I think it depends on where that organization is in terms of its organizational strategy and then understanding from a people and HR perspective where its priorities are. Because to your point, HR covers such a broad area, from employee experience and engagement, to L&D, talent management, talent acquisition, and not everything can necessarily be a priority.
What we’ve definitely seen, unsurprisingly, over the last 18 months to two years is a huge focus around obviously talent acquisition as organizations have come through the pandemic and the talent market has been extremely competitive. But an increasing focus actually on HR teams having to look at skilling and re-skilling, and how does that align to the work they do around learning and development, talent management, talent acquisition.
So I think it’s all about prioritization, and I think it starts with, what is the overall strategy for the organization? What’s the people strategy aligned to that? And making sure that the priorities are very much aligned to that, but with clear outcomes in terms of what success actually looks like.
Mark:
Now, for my last question let me shift gears a little bit. Contingent workers must pose something of a conundrum. I mean purchasing is often responsible for basically acquiring them, and HR might be involved somehow in their management, I think happens a fair amount. So how do you sort that out?
Nicky:
That’s a very, very good question, and one that is very topical at the moment. Because you’re absolutely right. Traditionally contingent workers are brought into the organization through a kind of process and a program that’s typically owned by procurement, but yet obviously it’s such a significant part of the workforce for an organization. And it’s interesting that it’s not typically owned by HR. Now we are seeing that change. So we’re definitely seeing the increase of the contingent-worker population being owned by HR much more because ultimately it is a significant part of the workforce.
Aligned to that we’re seeing definitely a real I think transformation in terms of how organizations think about bringing in contingent workers. Typically, it’s an area that’s very focused on utilizing technology, a clearly-defined process to be able to bring workers in, typically the workers come through an agency, to one that’s actually much more about organizations utilizing technology to build their own talent pools of contingent workers, looking at how do they utilize their brand as they would do for an FTE to bring them into an organization, how do they create talent pools proactively of contingent workers.
So it’s an area that we’ve definitely seen quite a lot of change in over the last two years, but one that we really do expect to transform as organizations recognize, in line with the whole world of work, is regardless of how someone is contracted to an organization, whether that be an FTE or a contractor, that they are still a valuable member of the workforce. And it’s important that we think about how they’re bought into the organization, how they align to the culture and values of the organization, and ultimately making sure they’re the right fit for the organization.
Mark:
Great. Well, Nicky, thank you very much for stopping by. It’s been great to talk with you, and I hope you’ll come back.
Nicky:
No, that’s great. Thank you, Mark. Really appreciate your time.
Mark:
My guest today has been Nicky Hancock, Managing Director of the Americas at AMS. This has been PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report. We’re a publication of RecruitingDaily. We’re also a part of Evergreen Podcasts. To see all of their programs visit www.evergreenpodcasts.com. And to keep up with HR technology, visit the HCM Technology Report every day. We’re the most trusted source of news in the HR tech industry. Find us at www.hcmtechnologyreport.com. I’m Mark Feffer.
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