HR is an area that is experiencing an unprecedented period of change and having the right technology to succeed has never been more important. HR Technology has come a long way in the last few years, from old, clunky, on-premise solutions to agile, cloud based, user focused solutions that deliver real value and automate many tasks in your HR department.

There are many trends driving this change across the industry and we have highlighted four key ones that are shaping the future of HR:

1. The changing dynamics of the workforce. The modern workforce has never been more diverse, with different models in play, more flexible operations and greater agility required.
   • The movement from functional, hierarchical organisational models to more team-centric models, predominance of millennials in the workforce, growing representation of freelancers and contract workers.
   • and multi-generational workforce each with their own needs are forcing HR to rethink organisational design.
2. The labour market has never been more competitive.  With employment levels reaching their highest since 1975[1] it is increasingly more difficult to find great talent. Recruiters are having to apply a range of innovative techniques to gain traction such as passive always-on recruiting, analytics and video recruitment to help them identify and attract high caliber candidates.

With so much competition for talent in highly skilled job sectors, organisations are also becoming focused on their external employment brand and leveraging concepts from sales and marketing such as pipeline management and customer touchpoint management to win over the best candidates. 75% percent of potential employees consider an employer’s brand before filling out a job application. To attract the most qualified employees, and to best serve candidates, HR leaders must take deliberate steps to create and evangelise a dynamic employer brand.

1. The importance of culture and engagement. 39% of hires cited a “fun, engaging company culture” as the most attractive quality of a business.[2]

Organisations are approaching this challenge in different ways with a focus on:

1. • Flexible working – allowing employees the ability to work from home, or with reduced hours and more control over their time.
   • Work life balance – most organisations recognise healthy and happy employees are more productive and many have several initiatives supporting wellness.
   • Fun environment – some companies are looking to build strong connections between employees, encouraging regular social and team building events to ensure employees want to work there.
2. Analytics and intelligence.  Management is becoming accustomed to having business intelligence (BI) on aspects of their business and they expect this from their HR team. With the improvement in data visualisation solutions this has become easier. Predictive analytics has also become a major investment area in the last few years, with some strong use cases around flight risk and succession gaining market adoption. Now we’re seeing a growing influence in apps anticipating what a user’s next step will be and automating the process, along with bot-based solutions.