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.

“As the economy continues to improve, the need for robust talent and performance management programs and enabling technologies has never been greater,” said Tom Keebler, global leader of Towers Watson’s HR Service Delivery and Technology practices. “Companies view talent and performance management technologies as a critical component of their workforce attraction and retention initiatives, and also as a way to enhance HR’s role in helping the business to meet its strategic goals.”

The survey also found that companies are making greater investments in HR technology. More than one-third of respondents (34 percent) said they are planning to spend more on HR technology this year, with one in eight expecting that increase to exceed 20 percent over last year. Only 16 percent plan to reduce their spending on HR technology.

“We haven’t seen this level of increase in investment in HR technology since before the economic downturn. The fact that technology spending is up this year is a clear indication of the high level of return that companies are seeing when it comes to technology as a means for improving both HR efficiency and effectiveness,” said Keebler.

Reengineering Is Top HR Initiative

The survey found that reengineering key HR processes is by far the top HR initiative that respondents are currently undertaking or planning for this year, with nearly two-thirds (62 percent) citing it as their major focus. The second most reported initiative (43 percent) for 2011 is refocusing the role of their HR business partners, while more than one-third of respondents (37 percent) indicated their primary focus is on implementing or leveraging self-service technologies.

Further, those respondents that have recently completed these initiatives are reporting tremendous success, including 84 percent that say process reengineering met or exceeded expectations, and 81 percent that say that their recent self-service initiatives have delivered on or exceeded their expectations.

“It is really heartening to see this triad of process redesign, enhanced technology and rethinking the way in which HR functions altogether,” said Keebler. “To achieve maximum success for the business both for the individual initiatives and for the HR function overall you really do need to address all three of these simultaneously.”

Other key findings from the survey include:

HR organizations are using Web 2.0 tools most frequently for recruiting (43 percent), HR communication (38 percent) and training (25 percent).
More than three-fourths (77 percent) of the surveyed companies either have or are working on implementing a global data warehouse to consolidate information fed from separate systems.
Manager and/or employee self-service (MSS/ESS) is in place at nearly eight in 10 (79 percent) of U.S. respondents.

Instant Insights /

Towers Watson names top HR service delivery issues for 2011

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