Oracle and the MIT Technology Review recently released a new study that highlights the importance of collaboration between finance and human resources (HR) teams with a unified cloud. The study, Finance and HR: The Cloud’s New Power Partnership, outlines how a holistic view into finance and HR information, delivered via cloud technology, empowers organizations to better manage continuous change.

Based on a global survey of 700 C-level executives and finance, HR, and IT managers, the study found that a shared finance and HR cloud system is a critical component of successful cloud transformation initiatives. Among the benefits of integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) and human capital management (HCM) systems is easier tracking and forecasting of employee costs for budgeting purposes. Additionally, integrated HCM and ERP cloud systems improve collaboration between departments, with 37 percent of respondents noting that they use the cloud to improve the way data is shared.

The report also reveals the human factors behind a successful cloud implementation, with employees’ ability to adapt to change standing out as critical. Among organizations that have fully deployed the cloud, almost half (46 percent) say they have seen their ability to reshape or resize the organization improve significantly – as do 47 percent of C-level respondents.

The productivity benefits have also been significant. Nearly one-third of respondents (31 percent) say they spend less time doing manual work within their department as a result of moving to the cloud and that the automation of processes has freed up time to work toward larger strategic priorities.

“As finance and HR increasingly lead strategic organizational transformation, ROI comes not only with financial savings for the organization, but also from the new insights and visibility into the business HR and finance gain with the cloud. People are at the heart of any company’s success and this is why we are seeing finance and HR executives lead cloud transformation initiatives,” said Dee Houchen, Senior Director of ERP Solutions at Oracle. “In addition, improved collaboration between departments enables organizations to manage the changes ahead and sets the blueprint for the rest of the organization’s cloud shift.”

The survey also reveals there is a blurring of lines between functions and individual roles as the cloud increasingly ties back office systems together:

• Increased Collaboration: 46 percent of finance and HR professionals say a full cloud deployment has led to significantly improved collaboration between departments, and nearly half expect a significant improvement in the next two years.
  • This extends to IT as well. 52 percent of C-level respondents said the relationship between IT, HR and finance is even better than expected following their cloud implementation
• Cross-Corporate Intermingling: With the new roles of HR and finance professionals requiring them to work more closely with data and the cloud, 43 percent of businesses plan to bring IT people into these departments to help employees take advantage of new technologies.
• New Skillsets: Desired skills respondents want to improve upon include:
  • Time management, with 40 percent saying this is currently an issue
  • Active learning
  • Problem solving, mathematical reasoning and analytical skills
  • The IT function also changes. Post-deployment, 56 percent of C-level respondents report that IT has significantly improved when it comes to producing innovations.

Andy Campbell, HCM Strategy Director at Oracle added: “As organizations navigate technological changes, it’s critical for the C-suite to empower its employees to evolve their individual business acumen. Many businesses understand this and it’s encouraging to see 42 percent planning to provide their teams with management skills training to help them break out of their traditional back-office roles. The learnings from the move of finance and HR to the cloud will ultimately spread across the organization as, together, they conceptualize the shape of the next disruption.”

(Source: Oracle)

It’s true to say that the role of HR in the modern business landscape is shifting, as modern workplace culture continues to be re-defined.

Millennials have challenged the status quo of the conventional workplace, and HR has responded by implementing a ‘customer-centric’ approach, aiming to consistently provide a great employee experience.

This has led to a more relaxed approach, and traditional HR functions being combined such as recruitment, retention and development with the creation of a unique office culture and communications, marketing, branding and social responsibility.

But while it’s down to HR professionals to help drive this ethos, it cannot be at the cost of legal HR obligations. The common pitfalls, particularly for start-ups or SME’s with little knowledge or experience of HR is actually the most basic administration. Such as providing a water tight, comprehensive employee contract and statement of particulars, which at their most basic should include details of salary, hours of work, holiday entitlement and notice periods. If you are dealing with your HR in-house, it is best practice to have a professional over-see these legal documents as a preventative approach to disputes.

Thanks to a political and media spotlight on a global level, migrants and working rights has come under scrutiny. This is an area that businesses need to make a priority because ultimately, they take the full brunt of consequences for employing individuals that didn’t have a right to work, their leave had expired, they were employed for work they were not allowed to carry out or if their documents were false.

The result is hefty fines and damage to your brand – and the latter can prove to be just as costly. In 2015 the fines issued by the Home Office equated to £21.6 million, and it wasn’t just small companies that have been found guilty of employing illegal workers; Tesco’s has previously been fined for employing foreign students who were breaking the conditions of their visas.

Millennial’s and modern culture has also seen a shift in the way that many businesses recruit, and the entire recruitment process. Out are the questions with a very specific ‘right or wrong’ style of answer; while experience and qualifications are not completely dismissed, progressive employers want to find a culture fit and an alignment of values and vision to ensure the arrangement is mutually beneficial. Aspects such as technology and social media are driving the change (while also throwing up some tricky situations of their own!) ,but recruiters need to remain vigilant in their processes in order to guarantee that they are not acting in a discriminatory manner – whether they are aware of it or not.

To shed some light on the most common areas that businesses fail, we have created an interactive quiz that aims to shed some light on where your business could be falling short in its HR practices.

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Global market forces and accelerating technological advances are expected to exert significant pressure on Canadian organizations over the next decade, as business models and strategies transform to meet emerging customer needs. The Conference Board of Canada's fourth Human Resources Trends and Metrics survey finds that Canadian HR leaders are increasingly concerned about their organization's capacity to respond to the pace of change.

"Globalization, new technologies, demographic shifts and a slack labour market are just some of the labour force changes affecting employers and employees alike," said Shannon Jackson, Associate Director, Human Resources Transformation Research. "Ten years of benchmarking HR practices demonstrates that organizations are significantly revamping their people practices to keep up with the pace."

Highlights:

• 26% of HR leaders placed the impact of technological change as a top organizational challenge, up from only 4 per cent in 2005.
• Leadership capacity continues to concern Canadian employers as the retirement wave hits its peak just as organizations transition to a digital economy.
• Finding mission-critical skills remains a challenge for almost 60% of organizations surveyed.
• Efforts focused on employee engagement seem to be paying off with critical employee segments; retention of employees with critical skills is strong with an annual voluntary attrition rate of less than 2%.
• About half of the organizations are making efforts to bring in youth as we see an increase in internships and co-op placements of about 10 per cent since our last survey.

Leveraging technology has enabled the revamp of people practices in the past 10 years. Digital and web-based tools are replacing standard approaches to common HR services like recruiting. For instance, our survey shows LinkedIn has become the dominant method used by employers to find candidates making it the "new standard". Platforms like Twitter and Snap Chat are emerging as viable recruiting avenues and highlight how critical staying on top of data and trend analysis becomes for HR.

Digitally-driven technologies are also expected to lead to productivity improvements, but at the same time they will reduce the number of manual tasks and positions. The category of workers who will benefit the most from the adoption of new technologies will be the professional, scientific, and technical services. However, low- to mid-skill positions outside of the service industries will likely be the ones most impacted by technological advances.

Not surprisingly, the changing nature of work is a growing workforce challenge in 2016.

More than one quarter of survey participants placed the changing nature of work a top challenge in 2016, compared to only 4 per cent in 2005. In order to address the challenge, HR leaders report their top priorities are developing managers and leaders, strategic workforce planning, and deepening the succession planning pool beyond the executive level. Most organizations viewed these as priorities for the next three to five years.

"Simply replacing the skills and capacity of retirees with similar talent will not be the answer for many organizations," added Jackson. "HR teams are trying to balance meeting current talent requirements and quickly ramping up a future workforce, while the requirements for that future remain unclear."

The Conference Board of Canada conducted the survey into Human Resource Trends and Metrics between April and June 2016. 150 Canadian human resources leaders participated in the survey.

(Source: Conference Board of Canada)