NOVEMBER 2015HR TECH OUTLOOK8By Paula S. Larson, EVP & CHRO, Newell Rubbermaidhen a Human Resources organization, like ours at Newell Rubbermaid, is transforming from a transactional model to a strategic service delivery model, the role of technology cannot be overstated. Technology not only enables the transformation, it's the most important gateway to data that in turn allows us to make strategic decisions. It's a game changer.But when we talk about the role of technology we have to be careful not to suggest this enabler is `the answer.' It is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Shifting from one model to the other means freeing up time so people can do the necessary work with far fewer intervening layers that makes usability an imperative. You have to take the work that often has people opening up old statistics books and old research books and wire that into the technology so they are more focused on value-added analyses and insights. This falls on great developers of new technology to truly understand and be accountable to the fields for which they're designing. Listening to the `wise sages' of those industries allows developers to support organizations with best-in-class solutions.Another imperative that becomes financially and pragmatically important is the ability to connect new technology to the technology ecosystem that the rest of the business uses. You may have the best-of-breed technology or application, but if you have to build additional layers of "wiring" to connect it to other current systems, it can make the technology cost-prohibitive. HR is expected, like any part of the business, to show a return on investment for any new systems. We have to make the case that the new technology WIn my opinion
< Page 7 | Page 9 >