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Dan S. Staley, a PricewaterhouseCoopers principal and the firm’s human resource technology leader, has been closely following the digital transformation of HR. PwC recently released its fourth annual HR technology survey, which provides fresh insights into how the cloud, predictive analytics and other new technologies are changing the way employers track and manage employees. Staley recently discussed the survey’s key findings with contributing editor Richard Stolz. An edited version of their discussion follows.
Which of the survey results surprised you the most?
The first was that the satisfaction levels with cloud migration jumped. In last year’s survey a lot of people were experiencing some challenges – there were still some growing pains in moving to the cloud. But this year, those satisfaction levels really shot up, to 83 percent. We asked about ease of release adoption, how well vendors can communicate with clients about what they’re planning to do in the future, the enhancement schedule, how quickly they resolve issues. The increase in satisfaction tells me that organizations are getting more comfortable with the cloud. It also tells me vendor quality is improving. The vendors are testing better, they’re communicating better and they’re resolving issues better.
The cloud is looked at by many organizations as a great platform to introduce digital tools. Are HR executives getting what they need from the cloud?
Even though employers might say they’re satisfied, they might not be changing their business processes to get the full benefit of the cloud. So instead of blowing up old models and adopting the new ones that the cloud offers, they’re resisting and trying to force-fit old clunky processes into the cloud. You can usually find a way to do it, but it really sub-optimizes both the application and the employer’s process. You end up with...