5 HCM Trends to Watch in 2017

As the business world continues to rapidly evolve, so do the expectations and requirements of HR departments everywhere.Here are some of the human capital management trends that will be on the rise in 2017 that will describe how your company can stay competitive and ahead of the curve.

1. Improved Employee Experience
   Forbes named improving the employee and candidate experience as a top workplace trend and focus for 2017. For example, anything in today’s digital world that cannot be accomplished from a laptop, tablet or phone is a barrier to engagement and adoption, not to mention an inconvenience. Human resources teams have the responsibility not just to make employment-related details available to employees, but also to make them more easily accessible and usable. A central HCM platform with a focus on user engagement is an excellent way to improve each team member’s experience with a flexible interface that is easy and intuitive to use regardless of the employee’s role.
2. Blended Workforce
   According to a study published by WorkplaceTrends.com on the gig economy, Financial year review93 percent of companies already identify themselves as a blended workforce of full-time and freelance workers. This statistic is predicted to increase over time due to the freelancers’ perception of being a more flexible aspect of the workforce as well as having a higher tendency to deliver more niche skills than would be expected of a traditional employee. This ‘on-demand’ workforce trend also adds complexity to the tracking and management for an organization. The more varied the schedule, pay, and responsibilities, the more important it is to have a scalable and flexible system for efficiently managing the workforce.
3. People Analytics
   The Intuit 2020 Report predicts that data will be critical for gaining a competitive advantage. Additionally, data is also expected to be a central component for the value proposition of various products and services. The future of HR is dependent on its ability to manage and analyze people data. According to a perspective by Deloitte, companies are beginning to spend millions of dollars on consolidating HR and payroll applications to better understand the data of their employees. If organizations can find a way to do this through one comprehensive HCM system, they will have the ability to effectively assess and understand their people data. This will ultimately drive more intuitive and effective business decisions across the organization.
4. Transactional to Strategic
   Mike Ettling, president at SAP Success Factors, predicts that the future of HR will be found in the breakdown of current administrative necessities. “The more we can free our time for strategic tasks, the more we will transform the role of HR, with little resemblance to what it is today. Hence, the future of HR is . . . no HR. That is, not the HR of today.” The best way to truly empower HR teams to be strategic is to leverage a comprehensive and robust human capital management system that can accurately automate the transactional tasks taking up their time.Instead of focusing on paper pushing and data entry, they need to focus on the people management, engagement and effectiveness. The right HCM platform can take on that burden and will allow HR teams to focus more on driving business goals and objectives.
5. Creative Benefits
   Healthcare coverage and work flexibility are two benefits that go beyond salaries and are a mainstream expectation of today’s society. While companies offer these benefits at varying levels, they are also incorporating other benefits into compensation packages to offer a greater work life balance. Starbucks College Achievement Plan covers tuition for part-time and full-time employees; many companies offer to help pay off student loans; Google provides onsite healthcare services; large and small businesses give generous or unlimited vacation time, etc. As employees begin to expect more, many companies are getting creative to deliver that competitive boost. What better way to convey the value of those benefits than a strategic employee platform where an employee’s total compensation is calculated and clearly communicated.

The workplace, as with every other area, is an ever-changing space that demands flexibility and agility from the systems that must support it. When you have a robust HCM platform that serves as a solid foundation, you can use the support of that system to springboard into many resourceful endeavors for your business and your people.

Is your company set up to keep up with the emerging trends of 2017? Find out more about how SyncHR software can support your goals and help you to better align with the expectations of 2017 and beyond.

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John Cuellar

John is responsible for SyncHR’s product, engineering, and system operations teams. He is focused on streamlining the business processes related to HCM and finance by distributing SyncHR to all members of the workforce and by using patented security and workflow to control these developments. John is also responsible for delivering SyncHR as a cloud based application with “extreme ratio” financial metrics.

He has a background in engineering, workplace applications, and business administration, bringing over 25 years of experience deploying strategic HCM applications. Prior to co-founding SyncHR, John was the CEO of Harbor Technologies, since acquired by Mellon Financial Corporation. Previous to Harbor Technology Group, he spent an internship with the Swiss Bank Corporation in their derivatives pricing and trading group and also worked as a senior manager for the US Navy. John received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and his Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.