Why does HR technology need to be mobile friendly?
When we started to compile the HR Christmas List earlier in the year, we spoke to HR leaders and payroll professionals and their teams. We wanted to understand their answers to the question: if you could create your HR Wish List for Christmas 2020, what would be on it? A lot of the usual suspects, appeared as you will see in our 12 days of wishes. But one of the underlying needs, was that HR technology and software should be more mobile friendly.
Many people incorrectly make assumptions that HR software and technology is mobile friendly and even mobile-first, but the truth is sadly somewhat different. This lack of mobile-centricity has actually caused many businesses a real head-ache. Yes, you can access some of your HR processes and functions on you mobile – if you are one of the lucky ones, but many current systems are actually not designed to be accessed easily and be secure from a mobile device.
Mobile-first is a must have, not a nice to have
As our working locations and environments have changed over the cause of 2020, its not difficult to see why the importance of mobile-centric HR processes and technology is more important than ever. Most of us take our mobile phones for granted, expecting to be able to transact our lives using them, from google searches to bank payments, online purchases to bookings. We expect to be able to do this easily and securely.
So when businesses needed more flexibility within their systems to accommodate working from home, self-isolating along with the plethora of other absences added during the year, they found staff at home with no secure way to access HR records. This created a lot of additional work and frustration for everyone.
Integrating mobile is essential
Integrating mobile into all of your HR systems and processes is essential. It can be done easily and securely, with no GDPR risks or security issues relating to pay and banking information. You don’t need to use your payroll provider to manage all of your HR information as well as your payroll data. HR functions should be providing the processes, standards, and systems to allow personal HR information to be managed directly by employees via their mobile devices.
Integrating mobile from hire to retire and for the full employee life cycle, makes for happier and more engaged staff. Anecdotally we’ve been told that if someone is unable to access their payslip more than twice, they start looking for another job. Having visibility of your pay is one of Maslow’s theories and we should not underestimate the impact this has for staff.
Mobile doesn’t mean insecure, providing you have the right tech working and connecting all the pieces and all the dots.
The single largest segment of the working population is millennials. And millennials are known for a few things, – predominantly that they have their mobile phones on them at all times. By integrating mobile-first HR software including your communication you can speed up the communication, reduce frustration and friction, increase staff retention and save costs.
Mobile-centric HR works so well for staff working shifts, out of hours, remote locations and staff who do not visit an office or place of work regularly. With more staff working flexibly and from home, mobile HR is the key to success, and reduces support calls, especially when there is a single sign-on.
Reach people where they are
Mobile first is not intended to be intrusive, simply easier for everyone, enabling staff to access their records when it suits them. Giving your people choice contributes significantly to their wellbeing, accessing what they need to at a time and location that is suitable for them. This approach works well across so many HR process from payslips to training, to health and safety, clocking in and out, booking holidays… the breadth of functions and processes which can be streamlined by mobile HR is increasing all the time as technology matures (e.g. eSignatures), and companies seek to re-imagine and streamline their HR processes – like is already happening in the retail revolution.
Simplify HR with mobile
With phones ever-present in everyone’s pocket, not only are communication lags cut drastically, but engagement improves. With so much reliance on mobile phones in everyday use, if your business is not integrating mobile-friendly HR technology, you are likely to be carrying higher overheads and costs across numerous HR processes and functions.
At elementsuite we lead with mobile, all integrations and processes need to work easily on a mobile device. Of course some process such as reviewing analytics may sometimes necessitate use a bigger screen, but the point is you have a choice, whatever your role within the organisation.
If you are eager to integrate mobile HR software and processes, why not talk to our Christmas elves on santa@elementsuite.com
