【Gartner】2024构建人力资源HR技术战略路线图的三大步骤研究报告

GartnerResearch

3StepstoCreateaStrategicRoadmapforHRTechnology

HarshKundulli

2December2024

3StepstoCreateaStrategicRoadmapforHRTechnology

2December2024By:HarshKundulli

OrganizationsneedaclearstrategicroadmapforHRtechnologytoachievebusinessoutcomesandnavigatecompetinginternal

prioritiesandproliferatingtechnologyoptions.CHROscanusethethreestepsinthisarticletocreatethisroadmap..

Morethan50%ofHRleaderssaytheirHRtechnologysolutionsdonotmeetcurrentandfuturebusinessneeds.1About83%ofHRsoftwarebuyersexperiencedmoderateorhighregretfollowingtheirHRtechnologypurchasedecision.2

Twokeyreasonswhyorganizationsstruggletoachievekeyoutcomesandregrettheirpurchasedecisionsare:

■Competinginternalpriorities—OrganizationsstruggletobuildconsensusonthecriticaloutcomesthatHRtechnologymustachieveforvariousstakeholders(HR,IT,finance,employees,managersandleaders).

■Proliferatingtechnologyoptions—Organizationsstruggletoanalyzethecomplexandever-changingHRtechnologymarket,andtoassesspotentialoptionsfortheirfuture-statetechnologyportfolio.

CHROscanovercomethesechallengesandensuretheirHRtechnologyportfolioisfit-for-purposebytakingthesethreestepstocreateaneffectivetechnologystrategyand

roadmapthatcanguideinvestmentdecisionstowardcriticalbusinessneeds:

■Step1:Craftavision

■Step2:Analyzetechnologyoptions

■Step3:Sequencetransformationinitiatives

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Step1:CraftaVision

Aligningstakeholdersonavisioniscriticaltoovercomethebarrierofcompetinginternalpriorities.ThekeyistotiebusinessoutcomestoHRoutcomesandthentospecificHRtechnologyoutcomes(seeFigure1foranexamplethat’samalgamatedfromseveral

clientinquiries).

Figure1:ExampleofMappingHRTechnologyOutcomes

Inthisexample,theCHROandHRITprojectteammembers:

■Reviewedstrategydocumentsandinterviewedstakeholders,includingtheHRcenterofexcellence(CoE)leaders,CIO,CFO,operationsleaders,andsoon,toidentifythebusinessoutcomesthatmatter.

■Conductedtargetedgroupdiscussionstodiscusstrade-offs,identifyconflictsandbuildalignmentonbusinessoutcomestoprioritize.

■LinkedHRoutcomestothosebusinessoutcomes.

■PrioritizedtheHRtechnologyoutcomesthatbestsupportedthedesiredbusinessandHRoutcomes.

Mappingoutcomesintheorderdescribedaboveisimportanttoensurebusinessoutcomes,notHRtechnologyoutcomes,arethedrivingforcebehindthestrategy.

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Aftercompilingthisoutcomemapping,usetheseinsightstoarticulateavisionstatementforthedesiredfuturestate,whichthenwillguideallHRtechinvestments.Thevision

statementmustcapturethetoptwoorthreeprioritizedoutcomestobeachieved.

Ingeneral,GartnertypicallyseestwomaintypesofHRtechnologyvisionstatements(seeTable1):

Table1:TypesofHRTechnologyTransformationVisions

Typeofvision

Description

HypotheticalExample

Process-ledvisions

Thesevisionsfocuson

processexcellence.User

experienceforemployees,managersandotherusersisimportant,butprocessefficiency,standardization,andcostoptimizationaremostheavilyweighted.

“WeenableHRoperationstodeliverstreamlinedandstandardizedservicestoourcustomers—

employees,managersandleaders—inatimelyandcost-effectivemanner.”

Experience-ledvisions

Thesevisionsfocusonend-userexperience.Process

efficiencycontinuestobecritical,buttheoverarchingfocusisonofferinga

smooth,engaging,cross-process,journey-like

experienceforemployeesandmanagers.

“Wecreateaseamlessandsoulfuldigitalexperienceforourpeoplethatmakes

everydayworkeasierandachievestherightbalancebetweenhumanand

machineinallthemomentsthatmatter.”

Source:Gartner

Organizationsareincreasinglyaspiringtobeexperience-led,consideringtheroleofemployeeexperienceindrivingretentionanddiscretionaryeffort(currentlyGarner

estimatesapproximatelyone-quarteroforganizationsarecreatingexperience-ledvisions).However,therearestillorganizationsthatwouldbebetteroffwithprocess-ledvisionsdue

tohighcostandefficiencypressures,aneedtostandardizeintheaftermathofmerger/acquisition,andotherfactors.

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Step2:AnalyzeTechnologyOptions

Thisstepiscriticaltoovercomethechallengeofproliferatingtechnologyoptions.Beginbyassessingyourcurrentstateintermsofvisionandexecution.

Organizationssometimesfailtodevelopaclearvisionbeforemakingtechnology

decisionsbutenduprealizingsomeoutcomesnevertheless.Eveninsuchcases,CHROsshoulddeterminewhatthoseoutcomesareandwhichtypeof“vision”(seeTable1)theorganizationhasinadvertentlypursued.

AlongwiththetwotypesofvisionstherearetwotypesofHRtechnologyexecution:

■Suite-centric—Organizationspursuingthistypeofexecutionneedverystrong

justificationtouseanysystemotherthantheirhumancapitalmanagement(HCM;seeNote1)suite.TheyviewallHRtechnologyinvestmentdecisionsthrougha

“suite-first”lens.Often,therearenomorethanfivesolutionsoutsideofthesuite.

■Portfolio-based—OrganizationspursuingthistypeofexecutionlookforsolutionswiththebestfunctionalityforanyHRarea,irrespectiveofwhetheritisdeliveredbytheHCMsuiteorapointsolution.Thisoftenmeanstensorevenhundredsof

systemsbesidestheHCMsuiteintheHRtechnologyportfolio.

Ingeneral,thelarger,morecomplexandmoreglobaltheorganizationis,themorelikelyitistopursueportfolio-basedexecution,becausetheHCMsuitemodulesbeyondcore

administrativeHRarelesslikelytomeetrequirements.Single-country,midsize

organizations,andthoseincertainindustriessuchashighereducationandhealthcare,

aremorelikelytopreferasuite-centricapproach,especiallywhenpairedwithacloudERPimplementation.

HRleadersmustassesswhethertheirorganization’svisionisprocess-ledorexperience-ledusingfeedbackfromadministrators,employeesandmanagers,aswellasmetricssuchasHRprocessefficiency,employeeNetPromoterScorewithHRtechnologyinteractions,andsoon.Theymustthenassesswhethertheirorganization’sexecutionissuite-centricor

portfolio-basedbycheckingthenumberandtypesofHRtechnologysystemsinuse.

Basedontheirvisionandexecution,organizationsbelongtooneoffourcohorts(seeFigure2).

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Figure2:CohortsofOrganizationsBasedonTheirHRTechnologyVisionandExecution

CentralizedCohort

Organizationsinthiscohorthaveaprocess-ledvisionandpursuesuite-centricexecution.TheyrelyheavilyontheirHCMsuite.Theymayhaveafewadditional,specializedpointsolutions,typicallyforlocalpayrollandHRadministrativerequirements.Integrationsareminimal.

Theoutcomesthatorganizationsinthiscohorttypicallyrealizeare:

■Streamlinedbutlimitedtechenablement—Technologysolutionsalmost

exclusivelystaywithintheHCMsuitecapabilities’standardconfigurations.These

organizationsavoidcostlyextensionsandcustomizationunlessabsolutelyrequired.

■Simplebutlimitedemployeeexperience—Employees’experienceofHRtechnologyisbasedonwhatthechosensuiteprovides,astheorganizationtendstofocusmoreonefficientHRprocessesandautomationandlessoncriticalemployeeexperienceneeds.

■Simplertechmaintenance—Relianceonthesuite,withasfewintegrationstospecialistpointsolutionsaspossible,avoidscomplexandcostlymaintenancerequirements.

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■Limitedaccesstoinnovation—Improvementsovertimearemostlybasedontheenhancementroadmapoftheirchosensuite.

ConsolidatedCohort

Organizationsinthiscohorthaveanexperience-ledvisionandpursuesuite-centric

execution.ThiscohortagainreliesontheHCMsuite.Buttheyoftenusesuiteextensibilityorplatformasaservice(PaaS)tobuildintegrationsorcreatetheirownworkflowswithintheHCMsuite.

Apartfromextensionsandalownumberofadditionalpointsolutions,organizationsmayalsobuyemployeeexperiencecapabilitiesfromtheirsuitevendor.Suchcapabilities

includemodernportals,HRvirtualassistants,helpdesks,knowledgemanagementandworkflows.Thesecapabilitiescanprovideemployeesasmooth,intuitive,journey-likeexperience.

Theoutcomesthatorganizationsinthiscohorttypicallyrealizeare:

■Streamlinedtechenablement—Enablementisbasedondeployingthesuite’sfunctionalmodulesastheymature.

■Simpleremployeeexperience—WithmostHRprocessesinthesuite,employeesandmanagershavefewerplacestogo.

■Morecomplextechduetoextensions—WhatanorganizationextendsviaPaaSitmustmaintainuntilthevendorenhancementroadmapincorporatesthose

configurationsandfeatures.Thisaddstothesolutionmaintenanceburden.

■Limitedaccesstoinnovation—Organizationspredominantlydependonthesuitevendortodeliverinnovationviaenhancementstoexistingmodulesorbybuildingnewcapabilities.

AugmentedCohort

Organizationsinthiscohorthaveaprocess-ledvisionandpursueportfolio-based

execution.Inpursuitofspecializedtechcapabilities,theyusuallyhavetensoreven

hundredsofadditionalpointsolutions,manyoftenacquiredreactively.Thetypicalareasoutsideofthesuitearerecruiting,learning,globalpayrollandworkforcemanagement,employeelisteningandanalytics,andworkforceplanning.

Theoutcomesthatorganizationsinthiscohorttypicallyrealizeare:

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■Deepbutsiloedtechenablement—Integrationsareoftenlimited,resultingin

challengestoconsolidatingdataforreportingandanalytics,fragmentedHRprocesssupport,andmore.

■Disjointedemployeeexperience—Withmanypointsolutionsinplay,employeesandmanagersencounterdivergentuserinterfaces,whichisoftenchallengingtothe

desireforaseamlessexperience.

■Complextechmaintenance—Keepingmultiplepointsolutions(eachwiththeirownupdatecycle)insyncwiththecoreHRsystemofrecordaddscomplexity(andthusresourcerequirements)totheHRtechnologyroadmap.

■Higheraccesstoinnovation—Pointsolutionsbynecessityfocusondeeper

functionalityandshortertimetoinnovationtostayaheadoftheHCMsuites.Augmentedorgsbelievethatthisisworththecostofincreasedintegrationandongoingmaintenance.

OptimizedCohort

Organizationsinthiscohorthaveanexperience-ledvisionandpursueportfolio-based

execution.Theytypicallyhavesuiteextensionsalongsidepointsolutionsthataretypicallypartnersofthesuite,enablingsmootherintegrations.

Foremployeeexperiencecapabilities,theseorganizationstypicallypreferspecialistemployeeexperiencesolutionsratherthanusingthesuiteitself.Thesespecialists,ingeneral,havedeeperexperiencecapabilitiesthanthesuitewhichfurtherindicatestheexperience-ledinvestmentphilosophyoftheseorgs.

Theoutcomesthatorganizationsinthiscohorttypicallyrealizeare:

■Deepandorchestratedtechenablement—Enablementistailoredtotheorganization’sneedsthroughasmoothlyintegratedtechportfolio.

■Journey-likeemployeeexperience—Thedeploymentofvariousemployeeand

managerjourneystoprovideembeddedvalue-addedcontent,guidanceanddecisionsupportenrichestheemployeeexperience.

■Complextechmaintenance—Thiscohort’sportfolioisthemostcomplexofthecohortsduetotheneedtosupportabroadsetofHCMsuiteextensions,point

solutionsandcustomappsandmaintainingacohesiveexperience.Theseenterprisesbelievetheresultsareworththehighercost.

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■Higheraccesstoinnovation—Organizationsinthiscohortarepushingthe

boundariesofinnovationandarealwaysexperimentingwithleadingedgeproviderstogainanypossibleadvantage.

Thereisnoonebestcohort,aseachhasitsownprosandcons.Figure3showsthe

distributionoforganizationsthatfallintoeachofthesecohortscurrently,andhowweexpectthisdistributiontochangeinthenexttwoyears.

Figure3:CurrentandExpectedHRTechnologyCohortDistributions

AfterCHROsdeterminetheircurrentstateonthismatrix,theycanchoosetheirfuturestateby:

■PrioritizingHRbusinesscapabilitiesbyconsideringtheroleofbusinesscapabilityindrivingkeyoutcomesandthelevelofgaps.

■Creatingthreetofivepotentialfuturestatetechnologyportfoliosthatmayaligntooneormoreofthecohortsdescribedabove

■Assessingtheseoptionsbasedonfunctionalfit,technicalfit,organizationalfitandrelativecost,andchoosingthebest-fitone.

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Step3:SequenceTransformationInitiatives

Thenextstepafterchoosingthecurrentanddesiredfuturestatesistocreateaplantomovefromonetotheother.

Thekeyhereistoconsidernotonlytechnologyinitiativesbutalsopeople,process,anddatainitiatives.Otherwise,organizationsriskmakingsignificantinvestmentsintechnologiesthatpeoplefailtousefully.

ThisappliesnomatterwhatjourneyCHROsandtheirorganizationstakefromcurrenttofuturestates.Figure4showsthemostcommonjourneysintoday’sHRtechnology

market,whichinclude:

■Augmentedtoconsolidated,typicallybecauseorganizationsarefedupwiththecomplexityofamultitudeofdifferentsystemsandwanttoconsolidate.

■Augmentedtooptimized,typicallytoenhanceemployeeexperiencewhilecontinuingtotakeadvantageofinnovationsinthemarket.

■Centralizedtoaugmented,typicallybecauseorganizationswantdeeperfunctionalcapabilitybeyondjusttheHCMsuite.Thisincludesthemovefromon-premisestocloud.

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Figure4:MostPopularHRTechnologyTransformationJourneysinToday’sMarket

Nomatterthejourney,CHROsmustconsiderkeytechnology,people,processanddatainitiatives.Thenconductworkshopswithkeystakeholderstoprioritizetheseinitiativesbasedonthevalueoftheinitiative,itscomplexityanditstime-to-value.

Thensequencetheseinitiativesonatimelineviewtocreateastrategicroadmap.AsimplifiedsampleroadmapisshowninFigure5.

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Figure5:ASimplifiedSampleHRTechnologyTransformationRoadmap

Conclusion

AdoptingastructuredapproachtocreatingyourHRtechnologyroadmapwillhelpyouovercomecompetinginternalprioritiesandproliferatingtechnologyoptionsandachievecriticalbusinessoutcomes.ItwillalsohelpyoumakethemostoftheHRtechnology

optionsavailableinthemarketanddriveoptimaladoption.

Notes

Note1:GartnerdefinescloudHCMsuitesfor1,000+employeeenterprisesascloud

applicationsuitesthatdeliverfunctionalityforattracting,developing,engaging,retainingandmanagingworkers.

Evidence

12025GartnerHRPrioritiesSurvey.ThissurveywasconductedtounderstandseniorHRleaderperspectivesontheirprioritiesandchallengesforthecoming12-18months.The

surveywasconductedonlinefrom13June2024through15July2024andcontains

responsesfrom1,403HRleaderswithrepresentationfromvariousregionsandindustries.Disclaimer:Theresultsofthissurveydonotrepresentglobalfindingsorthemarketasawhole,butreflectthesentimentsoftherespondentsandcompaniessurveyed.

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22022GartnerFunctionalBusinessBuyersSurvey.Thissurveywasconductedto

understandhowfunctionalbusinessunitswithinorganizationsapproachlarge-scalesoftwarepurchasestosupporttheirbusinessfunction.Theresearchwasconducted

onlinefromSeptemberthroughmid-December2022among3,048respondents

representingsixdifferentbusinessfunctions:customerserviceandsupport(n=508),finance(n=518),humanresources(n=509),marketing(n=513),sales(n=499),andsupplychainmanagement(n=501).Allsurveyedorganizationshadatleast250

employeesandatleast$50millioninannualrevenueinfiscal2021.Allrespondents

residedineitherNorthAmerica(42%),WesternEurope(37%)orAsia/Pacific(21%).TheNorthAmericancountriesrepresentedinthesurveyweretheU.S.(30%)andCanada

(12%).TheEuropeancountrieswereFrance(11%),Germany(12%)andtheU.K.(14%),andtheAsia/PacificcountrieswereAustralia(9%),Singapore(7%),India(3%)andNew

Zealand(2%).Respondentsrepresentedmorethan15Industries,includingbankingand

investments,communicationserviceproviders,education,healthcareproviders,insurance,manufacturing,media,naturalresources,publicsector,retail,services,technologyserviceproviders,transportation,utilitiesandenergy,andwholesale.Allbutahandfulof

respondentswereatthemanagerlevelorhigherwithintheirorganizationsand

participatedinthepurchasingprocessforsoftwarespecificallyfortheirrespective

businessfunctionduringtheprevioustwoyears.Softwarepurchaseswereeithernew,replacementorexpansionpurchases.Atleast96%ofthefunctionalbusinessunit

softwarepurchasesreportedbyrespondentshadcontractvaluesofatleast$50,000,and43%weremorethan$1million.Disclaimer:Theresultsofthissurveydonotrepresent

globalfindingsorthemarketasawhole,butreflectthesentimentsoftherespondentsandorganizationssurveyed.

Inthisresearchweaskedrespondentstoindicatetowhatextenttheyagreedwithtwospecificstatements:

“The(…)offeringweultimatelypurchasedisfailing(orfailed)tomeetourexpectations.”

“Weinitiallyconsideredofferingsthatweremuchmoreambitiousthanwhatweultimatelydecidedupon.”

Foreachquestiontheresponsesavailabletotherespondentrangedfrom1(strongly

disagree)through7(stronglyagree).Aresponseof4representsaneutralposition(neitheragreenordisagree).Whenevaluatingtheresponses,“highregret”buyerswereconsideredtobethosethatscored5-7forbothquestions,leadingtoanet“highregret”responseof

63%amongthe509respondentsthatcompletedthesurvey.

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