HR departments responding to a Towers Watson survey say talent and performance management technology systems will be one of the most critical HR service delivery issues they will face in 2011.

The 14th annual survey on HR service delivery trends and practices also found that companies are planning to increase their spending on HR technology this year as they look for new ways to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

According to the Towers Watson survey, 41 percent of the 444 companies surveyed indicated talent/performance systems as one of their top three HR service delivery issues for 2011. Streamlining HR processes and systems was listed by 27 percent of the respondents, while 25 percent cited greater involvement in strategic business-driven issues as the other top three HR service delivery issues for this year.