Webinar Recap - Why Employees Deserve HR Innovation

Last week, we met with Lisa Nelson, SVP HR at Match.com, and William Tincup, President of RecruitingDaily, on a webinar to discuss why employees deserve innovation in HR. At PeopleDoc, we believe employees deserve better technology and HR teams deserve better tools to help them provide exceptional service. So in the first webinar in our “Blueprint for Modernizing HR Service Delivery” series, we asked the experts for their thoughts about employee expectations, Lisa’s experience in HR innovation at Match, the influence of consumer technology, and more. Here are my key takeaways from the webinar:

1. Technology Reduces Global Barriers 

As organizations become increasingly global, the challenges facing HR become increasingly complex. The wide array of local regulations make it difficult to have consistency – both in policies and in employee experience. Yet, with modern HR service delivery tools, it becomes much easier to provide a unified global employee experience, while still allowing for local exceptions in policy and cultural differences.

At Match, Lisa was on a mission to modernize and bring best-in-class technology to HR Operations. By bringing these tools into Match, Lisa developed, “a technology ecosystem that allows us to bring down barriers very, very quickly and to find ways to communicate with employees across geographic boundaries.” She is able to use technology to foster a global view of the organization while empowering each country to have some level of autonomy.

2. Meet People Where They Are

There is an old sales/marketing adage that you need to go where your customers are. For example, if your target customers read the Wall Street Journal, it’s probably a good idea to advertise there. If they spend a lot of time watching Youtube videos of cats, it might make sense to invest in a targeted Youtube ad campaign – or even make a Youtube cat video yourself.

It’s no different for HR, who need to reach employees in a similar way. Both William and Lisa point out that it’s important to meet people where they are. If your employees are mobile, like Wiliam’s example of truckers, you need to be able to deliver HR services via mobile devices. People today expect to be able to access information anytime, anywhere, and Lisa points out that it’s critical for HR to keep up with the way people have become accustomed to communicating and how they absorb information. William further cautions that you shouldn’t force people to use tools that are unfamiliar and unnatural – in essence, don’t meet people where they aren’t. I actually would counter that sometimes you need people to move to new technology that might be uncomfortable for them but will be better in the long run for everyone; in this case, a change management program can help ease discomfort and increase adoption.

3. HR as the Gold Standard

HR is often responsible for difficult tasks, like managing compliance and taking disciplinary actions. Because of this, HR can sometimes be perceived as the “bad guy.” And because of legacy HR technology, sometimes employees think of HR as being outdated or inefficient. Modern technology actually creates a tremendous opportunity for HR to shake off some of these misconceptions.

At Match, Lisa has focused on aligning with company goals, as well as delighting executives, employees, and candidates by bringing together a world-class workforce. She has incorporated best-in-breed technology to help better serve her employees and didn’t stop there. Her point of view is that it’s a “never ending goal” – no matter how hard you work, you have to keep working harder. By continuously innovating, and using technology like PeopleDoc, Lisa has been able to elevate the perception of HR at Match.

Final Thoughts

William and Lisa provided great insights into the intersection of employee experience and technology. Consumer technology has changed employee expectations for the workplace and the way we work. Legacy HR systems are not enough for the digital workforce. HR must continuously innovate and adopt best-in-class tools to provide employees with the experience they expect.