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 and more securely. Openness and collaboration are the new ways of working, and the cloud facilitates and enables this in ways never imagined. Software as a service (SaaS) has become the primary means for organizations to store, run and analyze datasets, making critical business decisions easier, effective and more successful. Not only does it reduce the amount of time spent on manual HR and finance processes, but it allows your business to make real-time, data-driven decisions to attract top talent and enable growth.

Many companies have already moved to the cloud, and cloud-based finance and HR applications have become the new standard expectation. In fact, moving to a cloud environment is generally no longer a question of if for organizations, but when.

Whether you’re just getting started or actively considering a move, we’ll take a look at the cloud from a few different perspectives to see what opportunities lie ahead for you and your organization.

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

From targeting the talent matches you desire to identifying the skills and experience you need most for critical roles, both now and in the future, the cloud enables this in a way not previously available. The cloud also enables your ability to automate processes that make filling positions with more qualified, experienced talent easier. It allows HR teams to discover stronger candidates, identify at-risk employees and pinpoint engagement problems more effectively to prevent future problems. Consider the kinds of initiatives you have available that highlight your organization as reputable and desirable for potential employees, such as being considered a “best place to work,” and how these initiatives attract and retain the talent your organization needs to succeed. This could include best in class self-service technology, continuous job training and competitive compensation. The cloud makes it easier to put programs like these in place and measure success metrics established for each initiative.

The benefits of the cloud don’t stop there. 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 where some demand more technology while others want to keep it simple.

Meeting other expectations that help keep employees engaged are easier too. People 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 logins for different systems. In addition to these kinds of daily communication and collaboration, special events, like open enrollment, can be handled more smoothly both for HR teams 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 position HR as a critical value creator for the organization.