Businesses around the world are facing an interesting challenge – they want to provide the latest engaging technology tools to their employees to improve productivity, but they need to ensure that they are using the right tools for their organization so they can automate repetitive tasks and create streamlined workflows without increasing their technical and administration costs.

There has been plenty of press about the disastrous Phoenix payroll implementation in the Canadian federal government. This week I read about yet another case of large payroll errors due to a new system implementation. And this time it was the Maricopa County Community College district, which is one of the largest community college districts in the US.

There is a lot of internet buzz about the newest and latest technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing, and how they might be applicable to HR. Compare that level of buzz to the reality of the innovation application in HR and there is a stark difference between what organizations are talking about and what they are actually doing.

In this day and age, there are hardly any organizations that do not have an HR system in place. Maybe they are only using Excel and Access for performance, Word for policies, Manual for call-ins, scheduling and discipline; Smart lists for disability management; Great Plains for Payroll and still EMS for employee records. Well, you get the picture now. You must have realized that there are issues with this approach.

The phone rings, I take the call, it’s not pleasant and it happens more than you’d think. I’m referring to prospective clients that are deep into, or have completed an HRIS implementation before they realize that the software will not do the job. They have spent good money, still have their needs unmet, and are exhausted by the failed process.

Payroll, Compensation and Employee Benefits are among the foundational building blocks within an organization to support your human resources - the people that work for you. Effective and efficient management of those functional areas can be significantly improved, or compromised, depending upon the company’s level of understanding of those functions. Your use of reliable data from those areas is key to supporting informed decisions and becoming a world class organization.

Year-end is usually a time for reflection; and I couldn’t help notice how much AI and machine learning have been talked about as the biggest trends in HR Technology in 2017. As someone who regularly reads Bill Kutik’s commentary on HR technology trends, his post on the Major Memes of HR Tech resonated with me as it illustrates how some tech trends, like ESS,

I recently shopped for a new vehicle and, after a lengthy evaluation process, I had shortlisted my choices down to three specific models. These final candidates made the cut based on my research, discussions with dealership sales people, and first-hand recommendations from owners of these same vehicles.

Recently there have been quite a few news articles about the Phoenix payroll system that was designed to replace aging payroll systems across the public service departments in the Canadian federal government. The contract bid was originally $5M when the project started in 2009. 39 amendments were made and by 2016, the cost was up to $310M.

You’ve initiated a recommendation to proceed with researching, evaluating, and selecting a new human resources information system (HRIS). Now senior management needs to know how much to include in the company’s financial budget to put that solution into place next year.