Technology has been at the forefront of enabling new ways of working. The pandemic-led crisis has pushed the pedal on accelerated investments in platforms for HR, the race to move to the cloud is intensifying across the region. However, most of such journeys end with limited gains - a system deployment that rehashes existing processes and policies on a slightly shinier digital platform. 

In this masterclass, Sandeep Sharma, President Asia, Workday and Ernest Cambareri, Senior Vice President, Professional Services HCM & Financial Solutions, Alight Solutions along with Shaswat Kumar, Asia Leader, Vice President, Alight Solutions deep dived into how HCM platforms today are not just technology but a mission critical conduit in enabling agility, effectiveness, experience and outcomes.

Outlier trends from the HR Tech world

In the last 12 months, each one of us have had a shared experience of how the work environment has changed. One top of the mind agenda for all the executives out there is: How can they create a connected experience for their employees in a disconnected world? With absolutely no physical touch and experience, it becomes even more difficult to come up with an effective solution. 

Digital transformation, which was already there 10-15 years ago is now seeing a significant meaning of keeping employees connected to their brand. CHROs are facing the difficulty of providing the same sort of experience to their employees, taking cues from consumer experience. Therefore, the CHRO has to take up the driver's seat in enabling this transformation. They actually are the ones who get to know the first hand feedback from their employees who either are remote working or are from different teams. So, a true need for a collaboration tool is required by the CHRO. 

Workday has been a key driver in accelerating digital transformation and it has been a backbone driving the transformation immensely. It has also been providing agility and flexibility  to various business processes which in turn are helping clients get the desired results. The platform is providing a holistic view of the people experience with accurate data while assessing and calculating the requirements. 

With the world of work going all remote, it became even more important to take care of the overall employee experience, ensuring the overall wellbeing along with providing them with the best in class technology support so that they can deliver their 100%.

Being the Never-Normal: How is Workday & Alight preparing to problem-solve in this current ecosystem?

From workday’s perspective, the acceleration of change is here to stay and this acceleration of change which is anchored in uncertainty results in ‘Acceleration Gaps’. So how does one bridge this gap? Organizations need to run at a much higher rate of efficiency, a higher rate of running, and a much higher metabolic rate of operation. From Workday’s perspective, an Enterprise Management Cloud System enables this rate of acceleration. There is a need to break away from the legacy rate of ERPs which are with outdated platforms and calcified prophecies. 

From Alight’s perspective, key focus areas should be:

• Not just focusing on the value of the client but also about ‘speak the value’. 
• ROI and thinking about the roadmap ensuring the priorities are set right.

As the CHRO steps into the driver’s seat, he/she has to ensure collaboration with the CIO and CFO because they own the heart of this acceleration of change. 

What to start? What to stop?

Putting people at the centre with all the efforts of moving upwards on the cloud, it is really important to ensure we have sufficient engagement on the platform and keep a pulse on what is going on and help drive business decisions accordingly, going forward. 

In context of #EmergeStronger in the HR space, for HR, employees are the most critical currency. Let’s stop thinking of employees as cost centres and a head count number and let’s start dreaming the extraordinary. Ultimately, let’s not limit ourselves in what we want to reimagine for the company and for employees.