Change is the only constant today. The world that we know and work in is experiencing a period of unprecedented change and disruption. Organizations across industries and geographies are experiencing disruption in the form of new digital technologies, sweeping demographic changes, increased regulatory pressures, political and economic uncertainties, and threats from non-traditional competitors among many other changes. To thrive and not just merely survive, businesses are undertaking transformations to steer their companies back to growth and making revolutionary efforts to ensure their survival in today’s uncertain environment.

Amidst this change, what are some of the key factors that an organization needs to keep in mind when deciding on its digital transformation agenda? What role will the choice of HCM technology play in this transformation? 

These were some of the questions which Oracle OpenWorld Asia held at Singapore from 26-27 March 2019 aimed to answer through a gathering of innovators, disruptors, and thought leaders at the conference. In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Shakun Khanna, Head of HCM Cloud Applications, APAC, Oracle further demystifies some of these questions.

What are some of the major challenges you foresee that organizations might face in their digital transformation journeys?

The digital transformation journey is usually fraught with three types of challenges - Emotional, Integration, and Adoption. 

Emotions play a crucial role in every milestone of the journey. Right at the inception people have varied views on the change that is going to hit them. More often than not, they are filled with apprehension and ambiguity. Organizations must initiate the process with a robust change management plan and get full alignment on the strategy. This will also mean changing organizations’ thought process as well as some business process. 

“The era of siloed information systems is gone. Organizations must invest in scalable platforms that are seamlessly integrated.”

Modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning must be leveraged to ensure real-time intelligence is delivered to the users. Finally, focus on an intuitive UI and personalization that will ensure delightful adoption of the new digital enablers. 

What are the key factors organizations need to keep in mind in when deciding on a digital transformation agenda?

There are three key factors that organizations should take cognizance of when developing their transformation agenda-

• Scalability of the system to be future ready - always. This is only possible in the cloud environment. 

• The future needs of the employees and not just the business. As employees experience new technologies in their personal life applications, they expect the organization to also deliver a similar experience. 

• Thirdly, the digital transformation partners’ ability to deliver innovation constantly and without any disruptions will be a major deciding factor. 

What role will HCM technologies play in shaping the future workplace as well as the future of HR?

HCM technology will be the central fulcrum that will reshape the world of work. Communication, collaboration, and competence - all aspects of people working will be influenced by the experience technology is providing to the employees. 

Significant shifts are being seen in the way talent gets attracted and acquired in an organization. Self-service will be on the rise. Employees will expect the systems to intuitively understand their needs and deliver logical information/guidance to them. 

Organizations, on the other hand, will be able to create significant strategic ‘talent advantages’ with the right technology. 

“HR in the modern workplace is shifting from the provider of information to provider of actionable insights that are futuristic and are aligned to the business strategy. All this will need the best HCM technology.”

What are some of the key technology trends you see across the HCM arena globally?

The HCM arena globally is witnessing the rise of intelligent systems and platforms. Secondly, they are moving in the direction from great UI to no UI. More and more HCM systems will need to operate on natural language processing in a device agnostic environment. Third, integration of HCM systems with other systems in the organization is on the rise - specifically the finance systems and ERP. 

What was the value addition HR leaders gained from Oracle OpenWorld Asia in Singapore?

Oracle OpenWorld Asia helped HR leaders witness the cutting edge innovations that Oracle is enabling across the globe with our latest HCM suite. It enabled them to network and learn from local and global organizations as to how they are getting ready to face the war for talent in the augmented age. The event was an eye-opener on how man and machines are coexisting in the future workplace to create business value and gave much clarity to these leaders for embarking on their own digital HR transformation journeys

(This article is based on an interaction with Shakun Khanna, Head of HCM Cloud Applications, APAC, Oracle in the background of Oracle OpenWorld Asia in Singapore. Click here to know more about the evolving role of HCM and the innovations in HR, powered by Oracle.)