Someone once mentioned “Good things come in small packages”. Not sure about “good”, but India Inc. can definitely vouch for the fact that ” small is powerful”. There are about 63 M small and medium enterprises in India and they are the most powerful force in the Indian economy. Not only in terms of the growth they can provide, but also the number of jobs they can generate. It is predicted that more than 3 lakh jobs will come from startups and mid segment market by 2020. Which surely makes this segment the powerhouse of ” human resources ” as well. Not only this segment will have maximum job opportunities, it will be the flag bearer of new age HR practices too.
These enterprises are born in the millennial world. They are more agile and tech savvy than their colleagues in the larger “enterprise” segment. As they do not have any chronic traditional way of working, they not only pick the effective new methods to manage their workforce from other organisations but also create their own solutions.
Take for an example the “digital” wave. Small and mid-size organizations have understood the need of availing HR management software’s that provide right information at the right time, whether this information is transactional, like approving employee leaves on the go or strategic, like analyzing the current workforce trends in the department. Not only this, the dynamic workforce has its own demands which are met using software like attendance management software, payroll software, recruitment software, in short human resources management software. All of this makes it imperative for the CHROs to opt for the new age technology systems.
Here are few things which go in their minds as they start their digital journey:
- Creating a Wow experience
The workplace is driven with smart generation today, they are the users of Facebook and Uber’s of the world and they seek better user experience in minimum transactions. They would never want to spend hours on daily transactional activities like attendance management, reimbursements etc. that adds no value to their actual work. Its fair that leaders across SMB market wishes to create a wow experience for such workforce with smart HR technology solutions and in turn make them produce speedy and handy outputs.
- Transaction-less work
When it comes to working in a small enterprise one has to wear many different hats, ending no time to carry out all the other things essential to keep an organization up and running. Getting rid of transactional work with HR technology up and running in few weeks isn’t on a requirement wish list – it’s a necessity for HR department.
- When & where to invest in HR Technology Solutions
The HR technology providers market is evolving like never before, with new tech vendors coming every morning. Another challenging area for top CXO’s is, where they should invest. The budgets are limited and if rational decisions on buying HR technology solutions are taken, SMBs market can reduce the time spent on buying upto 60% and save 50% in budgets.
- Get Quick Results
The SMB market is an aggressively growing market. Quick ROI is expected on every decision they make. They want the business cycle times to be minimum. HR tech investments are not at all different. That being the case, traditional ERPs where the implementation takes months and by the time users actually starts using, it’s already time to move to something new. Having a digital smart HR solution that is procured, implemented and adopted quickly is their ultimate worry.
As we have seen and interacted with many employers in this segment, most enterprises are increasingly giving us a view point to what current & future workforce needs. The leaders here are setting the trends- not following them, when it comes to adopting smart HR Technology Solutions. Here is what they have done:
- As the working conditions and cultural shifts has brought flexi working hours, work from home scenarios, having a smart HR platform enabled with Mobile App has resolved the problem of workforce management. When you can see the employees punching out from their work locations, HR definitely get rid of transactional worries about managing attendance systems, vice versa the employees don’t have to chase HR department every time for any employment related information.
Automation will bring efficiency which directly relates to the experience you give to your employees.
- Most of the CHRO’s we have met, majority voted that, it’s always right “to start with the basics first”. If your basics are not clear on what you want in the first go, you can never deliver experience. For e.g. a smart succession planning software will not deliver a user experience till the time you don’t have an automated attendance software for your workforce.
User should be at the center, followed by control and compliance.
- Middle market battling for “customized solutions” is so 2002 now. The mid-market wants configured features in the HR solution that run their business rather than running after a customized solution. It’s now an API world. API is the acronym for “application programming interface”. Basically, the set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications which specifies how software should interact at a component and interface level. Modern HR technology applications are now expected to come with a complete and transparent API that reduces the implementation time.
This is an interesting phase for the SME market as well as modern HR technology providers. Small companies are competing with big brands on the global stage and they are using all kind of technology to get their job done. They are waiting for the vendors who give smart HR technology with unbeatable user experience. HR technology providers on the other side should enable them to survive and succeed in the fields by handling the relationship with organizations as a growth partner.
Know more about HRMS cloud solution by PeopleStrong, Contact us.