Shawnee Love   •   November 23, 2018

We are in the information age. Business leaders are looking for technological solutions to just about every problem.

Want to enhance productivity? Quality Control? Innovation?

There’s an app for them all.

However, the interpersonal interactions that weave through our days are mostly untouched.  Sure we can do video conferencing in lieu of in-person meetings, and email is more efficient communication (and more abused) than phone or in-person chats, but otherwise, we don’t use technology well when it comes to managing staff.

I think a big reason for that is because managing is a diverse set of activities and there isn’t one form technology which covers it all.  I often have clients ask if there is a software package I can recommend that will take care of:

• Tracking employee information and time,
• Processing payroll,
• Recording goals and progress and overall performance,
• Providing feedback,
• Managing knowledge,
• Assessing skills, and so on.

My answer…

NO

No one software package does a great job of them all in my opinion.  Again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, because there are many HR software providers who do some of these well.  Just not all of them.

What you need technology for depends on your business: size, number of locations, availability of HR support, values associated with information sharing, employee self-administration, and response times, but at a minimum I recommend companies have technology for:

• Payroll Processing- Deductions, Remittances, Taxable Benefits, ROE’s and T4’s make a good payroll provider worth its weight in gold.
• Applicant Tracking- Doing a great job of the candidate experience includes making it easy for candidates to apply and ensuring they get a response.  Thus, a good Applicant Tracking System accepts applications in a mobile friendly fashion AND makes it easy for you to review, respond and keep the process moving.
• Managing Employee Information- Online employee files accessible by those who need to know make it much easier to update, track and manage details like performance reviews, coaching sessions, raises, etc.
• Communicating- Email is fine and all, but an instant messaging technology and/or a wiki for employee knowledge sharing ensure employees can leverage their peers for how to do things and can prevent unnecessary bottlenecks from occurring.  Say goodbye to being known as VP of Bottlenecks behind your back when you facilitate knowledge sharing in this way.

Any technology you think is necessary to managing HR?   Please comment!