Hi
Penetration of automation in HR is perhaps the lowest, finance leads the pack through ERPs, sales and service functions are also catching up with CRM. And yet while there is no dearth of HR software HR has not seen much by way of automation. Whatever automation exists is restricted either to the payroll processing or for other HR processes, in only very large organisations.
Why don't companies with less than 500 employees automate HR processes?
Do share with everyone your views, especially if you are with such a company or have been exposed to one in the past.
Regards
Sumeet
PS: I am deeply interested in understanding these barriers as I head a company that provides HR automation solutions and strongly suspect that people like us are missing some key user perspectives.
From India, Delhi
Penetration of automation in HR is perhaps the lowest, finance leads the pack through ERPs, sales and service functions are also catching up with CRM. And yet while there is no dearth of HR software HR has not seen much by way of automation. Whatever automation exists is restricted either to the payroll processing or for other HR processes, in only very large organisations.
Why don't companies with less than 500 employees automate HR processes?
Do share with everyone your views, especially if you are with such a company or have been exposed to one in the past.
Regards
Sumeet
PS: I am deeply interested in understanding these barriers as I head a company that provides HR automation solutions and strongly suspect that people like us are missing some key user perspectives.
From India, Delhi
Dear Sumeet,
There is no constraints on automating "HR" process, infact lot many company do automate.
But at the end of the day "HR" is something which is personal and need a "personal" touch as there are human you are dealing with, that is the reason automation cannot be 100%
Since you are in the business of 'automating' i am sure you fully understand what are the extent of automation which has gone into HR ! if you say NIL i am sorry you are not insync with the market ... you need to read more !
Rgds,
SKP
There is no constraints on automating "HR" process, infact lot many company do automate.
But at the end of the day "HR" is something which is personal and need a "personal" touch as there are human you are dealing with, that is the reason automation cannot be 100%
Since you are in the business of 'automating' i am sure you fully understand what are the extent of automation which has gone into HR ! if you say NIL i am sorry you are not insync with the market ... you need to read more !
Rgds,
SKP
Hi SKP
Appreciate your perspective.
For the record I do not believe for a moment that HR automation is nil, my comment was relative. Also I suppose employee data being maintained in XL files also counts as automation.
You point of HR being a touch-n-feel thing is valid but only up to a point, as humans there are times we want to talk to a person and at other times we prefer the privacy and efficiency of a machine. Just as a customer would like to check balance and withdraw cash from an ATM but would like to discuss with a person before deciding on say taking a loan. Similarly, not all work HR does necessarily requires to be done through a human interface. I would like imagine that HR freed up from the mundane processing would actually be able to spend more quality time with employees.
Would be keen to know what you feel.
Regards
Sumeet
From India, Delhi
Appreciate your perspective.
For the record I do not believe for a moment that HR automation is nil, my comment was relative. Also I suppose employee data being maintained in XL files also counts as automation.
You point of HR being a touch-n-feel thing is valid but only up to a point, as humans there are times we want to talk to a person and at other times we prefer the privacy and efficiency of a machine. Just as a customer would like to check balance and withdraw cash from an ATM but would like to discuss with a person before deciding on say taking a loan. Similarly, not all work HR does necessarily requires to be done through a human interface. I would like imagine that HR freed up from the mundane processing would actually be able to spend more quality time with employees.
Would be keen to know what you feel.
Regards
Sumeet
From India, Delhi
Dear Sumeet,
Hi again, well now that we are interacting, i am sure we both understand the extent of automation, it would be better if you can air out your concern areas.
To my understanding all good companies have their own portals which are handling most of the 'hygiene' factors of HR.
Smaller companies it is a call between the cost Vs a Hr person who can handle it.
I am sure i have not addressed but if i know what you are referring to it would give a focus to our discussion.
Thanks and Rgds,
SKP
Hi again, well now that we are interacting, i am sure we both understand the extent of automation, it would be better if you can air out your concern areas.
To my understanding all good companies have their own portals which are handling most of the 'hygiene' factors of HR.
Smaller companies it is a call between the cost Vs a Hr person who can handle it.
I am sure i have not addressed but if i know what you are referring to it would give a focus to our discussion.
Thanks and Rgds,
SKP
Dear SKP
My focus was on smaller companies (less than 500 employees).
The impression I get talking to HR people in such companies is that beyond 150 or so it gets difficult even for the HR person (typically they would have one or two of them) to manage the information so the HR person vs automation trade-off tends to weaken after a point.
Among other reasons I have heard are unwillingness of management to spend money on acquiring such systems and the lack of a systematic approach to HR which is almost a pre-requisite to automation.
I am hoping to discover more reasons why automation does not happen in such companies. For instance is self-service not seen by employees as a basic "hygiene" factor or how do these organisations manage MIS.
Unfortunately there is very little formal research on the subject (at least I have not come across any).
Regards
Sumeet
From India, Delhi
My focus was on smaller companies (less than 500 employees).
The impression I get talking to HR people in such companies is that beyond 150 or so it gets difficult even for the HR person (typically they would have one or two of them) to manage the information so the HR person vs automation trade-off tends to weaken after a point.
Among other reasons I have heard are unwillingness of management to spend money on acquiring such systems and the lack of a systematic approach to HR which is almost a pre-requisite to automation.
I am hoping to discover more reasons why automation does not happen in such companies. For instance is self-service not seen by employees as a basic "hygiene" factor or how do these organisations manage MIS.
Unfortunately there is very little formal research on the subject (at least I have not come across any).
Regards
Sumeet
From India, Delhi
Dear Smit,
I absolutely agree with you that companies less than 500 people are reluctant to invest in HR automation.
Let's call spade a spade, in all midsize companies HR still remains as a support function and is not considered as a strategic business function. Assuming these SME's to be in expansion mode the focus is more on maximizing revenues and gaining market share, however beyond a point all such organizations have to embrace automation to cut down execessive overheads incurred through service departments.
On the contrary in larger organizations automation is the only path to manage resources and track apportionment of cost so in very few large companies you would find the processes still being done manually.
In the coming years we will surely see a change in this trend, we all have started to realize that to thrust efficient growth of the company strategic HR processes needs to be in place. But from Organization point of view automating process will only be justified when the return on investment is more than the investment made on manpower on equivalent cost value.
I would appreciate if you can pitch in your views as well!
Regards,
Partha.
From India, Calcutta
2I absolutely agree with you that companies less than 500 people are reluctant to invest in HR automation.
Let's call spade a spade, in all midsize companies HR still remains as a support function and is not considered as a strategic business function. Assuming these SME's to be in expansion mode the focus is more on maximizing revenues and gaining market share, however beyond a point all such organizations have to embrace automation to cut down execessive overheads incurred through service departments.
On the contrary in larger organizations automation is the only path to manage resources and track apportionment of cost so in very few large companies you would find the processes still being done manually.
In the coming years we will surely see a change in this trend, we all have started to realize that to thrust efficient growth of the company strategic HR processes needs to be in place. But from Organization point of view automating process will only be justified when the return on investment is more than the investment made on manpower on equivalent cost value.
I would appreciate if you can pitch in your views as well!
Regards,
Partha.
From India, Calcutta
Dear SKP
Its funny how we are having this conversation in the wide open space of this forum and no one else is pitching in though I am sure some are reading us :) come on guys, sharing only grows what you know.
The point about ROI through replacement of manpower is interesting but tends to undervalue the benefits. But that could well be the stark reality. I guess the challange here is to really calculate how this cost is saved. Maybe hiring a second or third member in the HR team can be avoided through bringing in automation but can it really replace the first ?
I haven't heard this being articulated much but I suspect that at some level the complexity of acquiring and implementing a technology based solution could perhaps be an inhibiting factor. HR software is not exactly a "convenient" thing to buy or to implement when compared to say creating a spreadsheet of data or even posting a job on a jobsite. It is still a biggish step to take with all the concomitant risks and apprehensions about cost, functionality, technology and implementation support.
Regards
Partha
From India, Delhi
Its funny how we are having this conversation in the wide open space of this forum and no one else is pitching in though I am sure some are reading us :) come on guys, sharing only grows what you know.
The point about ROI through replacement of manpower is interesting but tends to undervalue the benefits. But that could well be the stark reality. I guess the challange here is to really calculate how this cost is saved. Maybe hiring a second or third member in the HR team can be avoided through bringing in automation but can it really replace the first ?
I haven't heard this being articulated much but I suspect that at some level the complexity of acquiring and implementing a technology based solution could perhaps be an inhibiting factor. HR software is not exactly a "convenient" thing to buy or to implement when compared to say creating a spreadsheet of data or even posting a job on a jobsite. It is still a biggish step to take with all the concomitant risks and apprehensions about cost, functionality, technology and implementation support.
Regards
Partha
From India, Delhi
HI friends
It is really a very interesting subject for discussion and debate. I request all HRites to join discussion and float their opinions which may trigger the opportunities for a reasonable research work with case study in this regard.
Mail ur points on the above discussion. It is really a worth discusing topic.
Have a wonderful day.
Srinivaskvmk
From India, Hyderabad
It is really a very interesting subject for discussion and debate. I request all HRites to join discussion and float their opinions which may trigger the opportunities for a reasonable research work with case study in this regard.
Mail ur points on the above discussion. It is really a worth discusing topic.
Have a wonderful day.
Srinivaskvmk
From India, Hyderabad
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