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Tech smarter: enhancing your technical skills increases your value as an HR professional within your organization

HR Magazine, Oct, 2005 by Alice Andors

Gueutal notes that about one-quarter of the graduate HR program concentrates on change management, which in the last 10 years has become an indispensable skill in managing the technology that supports the modern workforce. "We find that change management is a core skill in implementing and managing technical HR systems," he says.

The third career path HR professionals may take is to do things the way they've always been done and not look to technology to make HR efficient and strategic. If you find yourself in this group, you might want to rethink your career choice, especially considering today's volatile job market. Gatti says this group is the least desirable option because, as you might expect, it is on the decline.

Technology for the People

While effective implementation of HR technology--and the resulting productivity and service improvements and/or cost savings--can improve management's view of HR as strategic and valuable, business expectations about what technology can deliver are not always fulfilled. Unfortunately, many companies make major investments in HR technology but fail to get the results they want.

HR technology might underperform in an organization for many reasons, according to Caryn Rowe, client development leader, HR outsourcing, at Hewitt Associates, a global HR outsourcing and consulting firm based in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Sometimes the technology lacks the sophistication an organization needs, or the implementation did not go as expected, or there was insufficient support. A focus on single domains (performance management, recruiting, compensation and so on), rather than an integrated view of how they all interrelate, might yield less than optimal results.

"There's a growing dynamic in the marketplace as organizations realize that technology alone does not solve HR's challenges," Rowe says. "Technology is an enabler. Organizations need to ensure that they have the right processes, people competencies and HR strategy to allow HR to align with an organization's business strategy."

HR technology can't succeed, says Auxillium's Moe, unless HR professionals keep the role of technology in perspective and keep HR's emphasis on people.

"The people part of HR's job is still critical. Walking around the work floor and talking to people is every bit as valuable as it was 10 years ago. The need for people skills hasn't diminished. But those skills can be leveraged by technology. They can be reinforced by technology," he says.

ALICE ANDORS IS A FREELANCE WRITER BASED IN ARLINGTON, VA.

Online Resources

For a link to the SHRM 2005 HR Technology Survey Report, please see the online version of this article at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/050ctober.> Online Resources

John Ryder, SPHR, vice president of Champion Technologies and a member of the SHRM Special Expertise Panel on Technology and HR Management, will present a webcast on raising your technology quotient on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m. ET. You may access the webcast at www.shrm.org/hrtx/050ctober.>

HR Programs and Activities Supported by HR Technology Systems (by
Organization Staff Size)

                                Small       Medium       Large
                                (1-99       (100-499     (500 Employees
                                Employees)  Employees)   or More)

Applicant/    Currently         33%         41%          45%
employment    supported
external      Plan to support   19%         12%          27%
recruiting    within 24 months
              Not supported     49%         47%          27%
Compensation  Currently         30%         43%          56%
planning/     supported
management    Plan to support   16%         22%          22%
              within 24 months
              Not supported     53%         34%          22%
HR reporting  Currently         56%         83%          79%
(e.g., EE0-1  supported
reports,      Plan to support   14%          6%           7%
metrics       within 24 months
reports)      Not supported     30%         11%          14%
Internal job  Currently         30%         45%          51%
postings      supported
              Plan to support    9%         14%          19%
              within 24 months
              Not supported     60%         41%          29%

Source: SHRM 2005 HR Technology Survey Report.