Why HR Teams Are (Still) Behind The Curve When It Comes To Technology Adoption

3 pitfalls that leave HR lagging behind the adoption curve

If I’ve learned anything from talking to people ops teams about technology over the last decade, it’s that adopting new technology can be a painful and disruptive process that HR teams dread or avoid completely.
 

Stats show that 82% of HR leaders struggle with technology adoption challenges, and only 37% are confident in their ability to use technology to tackle changes. Here are three of the most common pitfalls that leave HR lagging behind the adoption curve:

1. Tech Providers Make It Hard to Adopt Their Software

The first reason I’ve observed for this seems to be the most prevalent: Technology providers often make it really difficult to get on board with their solutions. Not because they’re difficult to use or learn, but because they usually have a rigid prescription for how to use their software, without consideration for the fact that every company has different needs and expectations for what it means to “go digital.”

Here are some of the common barriers to adoption created by tech vendors themselves:
 

• They force you to switch payroll providers. Let’s be real: Switching payroll is about as delightful as winning the lottery — and then losing your ticket. The switching costs and risks are high, and the rewards are relatively low. If a vendor is forcing you to change payroll just to use their onboarding or benefits administration software, consider finding a solution that syncs to your existing payroll, at least until you’re ready to make a switch. 

 

• You’re required to use their benefits broker. You’ve spent years cultivating a relationship with a broker who understands your business, your budget, and your team dynamics. Now you want to add a modern enrollment platform, but you’re being told that you have to use their broker? If you’re happy with your broker, you shouldn’t have to compromise. Look for a tech partner that’s broker agnostic and you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

 

• Their workflows aren’t flexible enough to meet your needs. Every day, I talk to HR pros who have spent their careers perfecting the ideal onboarding checklist — it’s custom to their business and informed by years of experience and important business decisions made along the way. Yet many software providers want you to throw out your existing processes, policies, and checklists, and just follow the built-in onboarding workflow in their app. It’s time to put the power back in the hands of HR pros like you — look for a solution that puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to defining your HR processes, instead of the other way around. 

2. You’ve Been Burned Before 

Ask any HR professional how they feel about their last HR tech partner, and there’s a good chance they’ll respond with an angry groan or a defeated sigh. They had high hopes that the tech would solve big HR problems, but their dreams were dashed by a painful and lengthy implementation process, a rocky rollout to employees, or subpar customer service and support. 

In addition to mediocre support, only 37% of HR leaders say their talent management solutions are delivering value to a “great extent,” according to PWC. If you haven’t been burned by poor customer service, there’s a good chance you’ve been disappointed by the performance, usability, or feature set of HR tools you’ve used in the past. 

The bottom line is that Silicon Valley has let a lot of HR leaders down by failing to deliver on big promises. If you’re feeling gun shy about evaluating new solutions because you’re haunted by past disappointments, following an HR Tech Buyer’s Guide can help ensure you find the right solution for your specific needs.

3. People Ops Has Been Overlooked and Underfunded, Until Now

For years, HR leaders have been talking about clamoring for a so-called “seat at the table” — an opportunity to play a strategic role in their businesses and flex their people operations expertise. Until recently, that felt like a distant dream to many people ops professionals, who were still being relegated to administrative and compliance functions. 

With business stakeholders focused on revenue-generating functions, it’s been difficult for HR to get sustainable budgets and mindshare from the C-suite. And with little to work with, making a case for investing in the best tools and technology has been an uphill battle. 

But all that changed in 2020, in light of all the upheaval of the pandemic, social unrest, and political acrimony. Suddenly the C-suite isn’t just giving HR a seat at the table — they’re demanding it. 

Even with all the new demands on people ops, if you’re not used to building budgets or business cases, it can be intimidating for HR pros to ask for additional investment. But now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. This is the time when business leaders are realizing the true value of talent management, and are willing to invest in ways they never would have considered prior to the pandemic. According to McKinsey, 85% of companies have accelerated digitization of employee interaction and collaboration, signaling that employers are ready to invest in people ops and other areas that were previously neglected.

We’re truly at an inflection point in the HR profession, where paradigms are shifting and the power to lead is in your hands. Technology can be a powerful tool to help you achieve your goals, but the first steps are building your business case and finding a solution that fits your budget and your needs.

Nir Leibovich is the, CEO and Co-Founder at GoCo.io. Nir is passionate about building flexible, easy-to-use solutions that automate and streamline HR processes, so people ops can focus on making work a better place. Prior to GoCo, Nir was the founder of MarketZero, a gaming analytics platform that was acquired by Zynga in 2011, and Arpeggi, a genome sequencing technology that was acquired by Gene by Gene in 2013. Connect Nir Leibovich