WORKFORCE VISIBILITY

HR as the Workforce Authority

Business leaders are recognizing they know less about their workers than they do about their systems, customers, or products. No business manager would make decisions about materials without a complete understanding of the specifications, quantity, quality, and cost requirements related to their products. Yet, we are asking our managers to make workforce decisions without the appropriate information about their people.

Despite spending significant dollars on traditional ERP systems, companies are still challenged with obtaining a universal view of their workforce. HR knows all too well the number of resources and systems required to obtain a full global headcount report, including the contingent workforce.

The primary challenge facing HR professionals today is that no “single source-of-truth” (system-of-record) exists to collect information in a way that is easily consumable by non-technical HR professionals and managers. Many global organizations have multiple HRIS systems to manage their people around the world, which inhibits HR’s ability to get a real understanding of their entire global workforce. HR has the responsibility to get a strong handle on the fundamentals of the workforce and provide managers with right tools to achieve a universal view.

HR can help executives find solutions that provide insight into talent investment requirements. Thanks to the cloud, there are now solutions available to empower HR to become a workforce authority to the business.

Empower Business Users With Actionable Insight

Many HR organizations today are considering or actively developing workforce/talent dashboards for their business users. Although ambitious, this doesn't go far enough because the data presented is often disconnected and out of context of the workflow. To deliver high-impact performance support, HR should also provide business users with workforce intelligence in the natural course of business.

By embedding workforce intelligence within all people processes, HR professionals are much closer to being true business partners. With a modern HCM solution, HR can connect the dots and present the most relevant, up-to-date information to help business leaders make mission-critical and even game-changing decisions.

Visibility Is the First Step

Once organizations understand the makeup of their workforce—how many people work there, where they're located around the world, what are their job roles, whether they are employees or contingent, what they're working on, how much they cost, and how they're performing—the company will begin to turn this insight into action.

Read more about the benefits of having real workforce visibility, and how you can align and optimize your workforce as a result.