What in the world is an Integrated Human Resource Service Management (IHRSM) application?

In a very general sense, Gartner’s article, “Integrated HR Service Management Solutions Reviews and Ratings” defines an IHRMS as ,”…solutions provide holistic platforms by which organizations can manage their physical and/or virtual HR shared services operations and communications.”[1]  Somewhat more specifically, Gartner states that common features of these systems include content delivery, knowledge management, ticketing and routing for case management, tools for process management, and digital document management.”[2]  Ultimately, we can see this as the continued evolution of employee self-service.

 

Some background information on employee self-service

Wikipedia’s article, “Human Resource Management Systems” states that employee Self-Service has grown out of the development of payroll automation, enterprise resource planning which started happening in the 1970’s.[3]  The article continues to detail how human resource information systems (HRIS) and human resource management systems (HRMS) were an evolution from these early payroll and ERP systems.  A natural evolution from these systems is to provide self-service to free up the knowledge workers in HR to focus on tasks that require their specialized knowledge.

 

A quick scan of SHRM.org has references as early as July 2000.  My search turned up an article titled “HR Systems: Powering a Systems Overhaul” by Joe Dysart discussing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Human Services Department’s PeopleSoft upgrade which added the ability for employee self-service benefits enrollment.[4]  While this is commonplace today, it is amazing to think that this was a fairly new application around the time I joined the profession.

 

As we see the growth in machine learning and artificial intelligence in the world around us, it would be appropriate to consider how these technologies have been impacting the world of Human Resources.  In the SHRM article, “HR and Chatbots Are Learning Together”, Jeff Mike, vice president and head of research ideation for Bersin, Deloitte Consulting is quoted as saying “In HR self-service centers, bots are automating high-volume tasks such as changing an address or updating benefits information… On the talent acquisition side, bots can deliver "a streamlined candidate experience for high-volume recruiting activities" and guide new hires through the onboarding process.”[5]  This illustrates the potential for impact on both the labor reductions for manual work in HR and the potential to improve the employee experience.  Furthermore, illustrating the growth and movements of these platforms, Gartner has predicted that “by 2023, 75 percent of HR inquiries will be initiated through conversational AI platforms.”[6]

 

Benefits and use cases

On their blog, Leena AI, a leading developer of IHRSM software, cited Gartner’s research illustrating the main functions of IHRSM to include:

·       Employee and manager content delivery via a dedicated HR portal.

·       Content knowledge bases.

·       Digital management of HR documents

·       Business process management tools

·       Case-ticketing and routing

·       Service-level agreement (SLA) monitoring 

·       Employee relationship support

·       Single sign-on (SSO) to transactional systems.”[7]

 

With the typical HR Service Management Technology stack illustrated as:

[8]

 

Gartner’s paper “Hype Cycle for Human Capital Management Technology, 2020” discusses benefits particularly as they apply larger (2500+ employee) and multi-location employers.  Specifically pointing out the advantages of control and process standardization, robust metrics and reporting tools that parallels the sophistication of IT or CRM systems.[9]

 

In my own experience, I am eager to learn more about which product was selected as part of our procurement process and seeing the benefits to my organization’s Human Resources department.  This is a game changer that, if properly implemented, will be embraced by employees, managers, and HR personnel alike.

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[1] https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/integrated-hr-service-management-solutions

[2] Gartner HypeCycle, https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/430/2020/08/hype_cycle_for_human_capital_447990.pdf

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management_system#History                

[4] https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0700hrsystems.aspx

[5] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/hr-chatbots-are-learning-together.aspx

[6] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/how-hr-is-using-virtual-chat-and-chatbots.aspx

[7] https://leena.ai/blog/gartner-market-guide-human-resource-service-management/

[8] https://leena.ai/blog/gartner-market-guide-human-resource-service-management/

[9] Gartner HypeCycle, https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/430/2020/08/hype_cycle_for_human_capital_447990.pdf

What is an Employee Communications Application

Let's talk about Employee Communications Applications 

...or ECAs as we have been referring to them.  To better understand them, we'll start with a definition.  According to Gartner, a leading consulting firm, as ECA market is "technology (that) enables 'communicators' (employees in roles where they are responsible for managing internal communications) to plan, create, coordinate, customize, distribute and execute communication campaigns."  The description continues to indicate that "ECA technology also analyzes internal communications (IC) effectiveness across channels, media, communication types, business impact and employee experience." (https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/employee-communications-applications)

Haiilo, a vendor of ECAs, reports in a blog post that reasons a company might want an ECA include:

1. Ability to reach front line workers
2. Help curb information overload
3. Single solution to reach all workers
4. Ability to measure the impact of communications

 (Source:  https://blog.smarp.com/emerging-market-for-employee-communications-applications

In practical terms, this could mean, imagine Facebook or LinkedIn specific for your workplace.  Imagine your internal company landing page providing links to commonly used tools, official communications, and communities and articles of specific interest to you.  This could allow you to communicate with those who you might never see do to work location or hours.  Imagine nurses is a cancer unit discussing best practices among them selves, IT professionals discussing upcoming projects, or a video replay of the CEO's town hall event that people couldn't get to - available for all, right their at their workstation, regardless of where that workstation is or what time it is.  All with the metrics to understand what is or isn't working in its ability to reach and engage employees.

The Employee Experience Factor

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, employee experience has become more than just human resources strategy but is becoming a larger component of overall business strategy.  Supporting this means that technology has to support the employee experience and much of that is in HR's domain.  For this to happen, "Technology has to create benefits across an organization, whether it's through increasing access to data, upskilling talent to work beyond traditional boundaries, or providing enhanced learning and development opportunities."  (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/2023-hr-technology-trends.aspx)  As such, technology also has the ability to drive and support a company's culture, values, and business objectives. 

• Crowdsourcing to harvest ideas and feedback from employees.
• Gamification to encourage employees to complete certain tasks.
• Analytics, as referenced above, to capture the "mood" of the organization
  

(https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/work-based-social-media-platforms-may-help-boost-employee-connection.aspx)

The Shift to Hybrid Work

Many organization experienced a transition to hybrid work during the pandemic.  This has proven quite popular among employees but had created new challenges for businesses as old methods of doing things don't work quite as well in a hybrid environment.  Communicating with employees in diverse locations, regardless of it being a company location or the employee's choice of location, is difficult.  Technology can assist in the execution of key communications and help to ensure that people are receiving the message.   (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/work-based-social-media-platforms-may-help-boost-employee-connection.aspx)

But it's not right for all employers

As with any form of social media or, for that matter, social interactions.  There are positives and negatives.  Cyber bullying and threats can occur on corporate social media just as it can on public social media or in the general public. This is no different than a public social media post becoming a workplace issue.  (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/what-hr-can-do-about-cyberbullying-in-the-workplace.aspx)  Employers need to understand their workforce and weigh the pros and cons in the context of how it will work for their organization. (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/work-based-social-media-platforms-may-help-boost-employee-connection.aspx )