Shaping the cloud for your people: Perspectives for a CHRO, CIO and CFO

People come first.

Your company’s success depends on giving your employees what they need to do more with technology—more efficiently, more flexibly, more securely. Openness and collaboration are the new ways of working and the cloud facilitates this.

Software as a service (SaaS) distributes software that is hosted in the cloud, making them available over the Internet. It reduces the amount of time spent on HR and finance processes. It helps businesses attract and retain top talent. And it scales for growth.

Many companies have already moved to the cloud. If yours hasn’t, chances are you’re thinking about it. You may have some things figured out, but some questions as well. Let’s look at the cloud platform from a few different perspectives to lay some groundwork.
 

A new resource for HR

How is your HR organization keeping pace with the movement toward the cloud?

The best talent—that is, the talent you and your competitors and other organizations all want—is in high demand. And once you have it, identifying how to make the most of it and keeping it can be the decisive difference in reaching organizational goals or not.

Targeting the talent you want, identifying the skills and experience you need most for the roles in play now as well as those anticipated: you can do more with the cloud at your disposal. You can better access the rich array of tools that can help you do more, such as social media, talent websites and forums and employment apps. Get more information and insights about candidates and match company needs with candidate skills.

Automate the candidate funnel process to fill positions faster with talent that’s the best fit possible. You can discover stronger candidates based on previous experience and insights, identify at-risk employees faster and pinpoint problems with engagement so they can be addressed right away.

Consider also the kinds of initiatives you have available to drive the differentiators that attract and keep the people your organization needs to succeed: driving greater engagement, offering competitive compensation and providing a flexible environment. Data resources that can be managed and used more easily through a cloud platform can make it easier to put programs like these in place.

There’s more. One of the beautiful things about a cloud platform is that you can better provide the appropriate tools and technology for each employee. Consider the challenges of the multi-generational workplace, for example, where some demand more technology while others want to keep it simple.

Meeting other expectations that help keep employees engaged are easier too. When people walk in the door at work, they want their business technology to be as good as (or better than) what they’re used to at home. With the cloud, applications are updated immediately and automatically. Mobile access and collaboration are seamless as well, with no need for multiple log-ins on different devices. In addition to these kinds of daily communication and collaboration, special events like open enrollment can be handled more smoothly both for human resources and for employees.

Consider what access to rich data and analytics can mean in responding faster—with more informed decisions—to the needs of the business. This can help you better position HR as a critical value creator for the organization.