HR Innovation: moving forward with agility

As companies take on a digital-first strategy, HR leaders are under pressure to innovate and are starting to turn to HR technology as the solution. After all, the purpose of technology application is to innovate existing HR systems and processes, offering a promise of efficiency, return on investment, greater insights and better user experiences.

At Randstad, we’ve taken steps to integrate HR technology into our recruitment processes – from automating mundane activities to optimising our processes for better, smarter and intuitive experiences across all fronts. The objectives are to reduce the administrative burden and create a more human and high-value experience for our candidates, clients and employees.

From our experience of evaluating emerging technology and partnering with up-and-coming vendors over the last couple of years, we’ve learned how valuable and effective it is to take an agile approach in our journey for innovation.

A new way of working: how to get started with HR innovation

What has helped us see success in evaluating, adopting and implementing HR technology is an “agile lite” approach. This approach means that we start small and remain flexible by applying the general principles of agile working without adopting all of the tools and protocols from the tech world.

Before you start exploring the possibilities with HR technology and innovation, here are a few points to consider:

• Too often we get excited and fall in love with the solution before identifying and understanding the root problem, costing the business valuable time and money. Start with the root problem and what outcome you want to achieve. Oftentimes, complex problems can be descaled into more manageable pieces that can be addressed and handled by a small cross-functional team.  
• Once you’ve identified the root problem, ensure you get your technology team involved from the start and build a project team of people who will champion your cause and complement each other’s competencies. Focus on their traits as well as their capabilities.
• After assessing and deciding on a particular technology vendor, ensure they too can offer strong support throughout the partnership and will readily help fill any digital and technical knowledge gaps inherent in your own team.
• Design a small pilot programme to test your hypothesis and assumptions and drive the desired outcome.
• Set milestone targets that are measurable and achievable so you know that you are on track – these should reflect and address the problem you are trying to solve.
• Develop a dedicated change management process to align your key stakeholders with the solution and those who might be affected by the change.
• Ensure there is constant two-way feedback throughout the testing phase as you run on sprint cycles to allow for improvements to be made more frequently.

Driving HR innovation across recruitment

I’m part of a team that is focused on closing gaps in the recruitment process through innovative solutions to ultimately improve the experience of clients, candidates and employees.

One successful innovation that demonstrates building agility at scale is “Live Chat,” a pilot first launched in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. We wanted to increase the engagement with candidates and clients on our website, while reducing bounce rates and increasing conversions. Live Chat is a function on our website that allows us to respond to queries from customers and jobseekers in real time, providing personalised services, advice and assistance.

This application is far from unique, but is nonetheless a break with our old ways, promising to deliver a more human touch. From a business perspective, these real-time conversations turn passive jobseekers into placements and prospects into clients in a faster manner, increasing web conversations and impacting the bottom line at the same time.

The secret sauce to HR innovation

From my involvement in a number of pilot programmes at Randstad, I can vouch that identifying the right technology solution is just one part of the challenge. Even with the most brilliantly agile team, the success of innovation is dependent on top-level trust and support. Having spoken with companies that have also successfully implemented a technology-based solution, the most important thing when it comes to introducing innovation is your people.

Natasha O’Brien

Client Solutions & Business Concepts Director, Randstad Hong Kong 

Tag: HR Innovation HR Solution HR technology Agility