Three Trends in HR Service Delivery In The Year 2014

HR functions are integral part in any organization. This year's recent survey by Towers Watson has already proved it. According to the survey some of the highlights of HR functions empowering the overall productivity of organizations via three key themes are:

1. making smart investments,
2. balancing efforts
3. managing change effectively

Companies worldwide are spending millions of dollars to become the best consulting companies. The spending continues to be strong, in spite of cost reductions in other parts of organizations. I believe this reflects an understanding that technology is a large and increasingly important driver of HR effectiveness and efficiency.

These investments are directed mostly towards the implementation of new technology and new functionality, including HR portals, talent management solutions, mobile app services and leading software-as-a-service systems such as Workday.

The trend towards reviewing and replacing the core HR system certainly continues, but recently a trend has also been witnessed by expert human resource recruiters. The trend indicates the affinity towards greater investment in HR data and analytics, portals, and payroll. About one-third of human resource specialists reported and expressed through blogging that they plan to spend more in the coming year, and 29% of them will be moving to a new core HRMS.

In order to maintain a strategic advantage, HR organizations are using numerous data sources to create insights. One of the most critical of these sources, and new to our study this year, is the employee engagement survey. Over half of the respondents survey their employees every two years or more, and of those, 33% report that they use the results to influence transformation within their organization, while 30% feel they could do more.

The daily work as HR professionals has tangible and immediate implications for the workforce and the organization as a whole. Successful HR leaders prioritize opportunities to make their organizations more agile and flexible by addressing technology, structure and process challenges. The key to making the right choices is to prioritize strategic needs and match them with the right service delivery solutions.