How Technology Can Help You Navigate “The Great Reprioritization”

By SUSAN HANOLD

As talent continues to reprioritize their needs and redefine the work experience they are looking for, employers are evolving to meet the new demands. This "Great Reprioritization" is a challenge many employers are currently navigating. However, as employers look to reimagine the employee experience they offer, technology is helping with the transformation.

Here are 4 areas where technology can make an impact on the employee experience.

Shine with New Hires

I was surprised when my friend recently started a new job and faced challenges with paperwork when getting onboarded into the payroll system. Listening to her frustrations about the delay was a reminder of the importance of a smooth transition. Her experience hurt her perception of her employer’s brand. Paying new employees on time and accurately can be a key contributor for retention. Companies should seek to provide digital capabilities for payroll operations to eliminate manual tasks that can lead to errors, costly mistakes, and tarnished brand reputation.

According to Chelle O’Keefe, Executive Vice President, CHRO with Associa, “the current talent market creates a need for employees to quickly connect to their companies and the HR team to quickly move through each process of the employee lifecycle. ADP has helped us with automating our onboarding processes to connect our new hires very quickly to our company and create a positive first impression. They also help our HR team by automating important tasks and creating efficiency. This is the best of both worlds!”

Those first impressions begin with making sure new hires are familiar with the expectations for the technology they are introduced to during orientation. Sending out that first virtual meeting invitation that includes a link inside of it while may seem like an everyday occurrence to some may be new to others. For instance, provide relevant details on whether you are expecting a camera to be on or if it’s fine to call in. This can eliminate stress and frustration for a new employee who may not know company cultural norms.

Some companies are starting to see job switchers come back, an occurrence often referred to as “boomerangers.” Companies might consider leveraging this opportunity to learn from these employees’ experiences and build their employee branding by interviewing these employees, videotaping their stories, and sharing them in orientation materials and on their career website.

Build Connection

The rise of unified communication and collaboration tools is changing how we work. These tools bring value in building connection with employees. Research shows that feeling connected to a team can increase individual engagement. Increased engagement can lead to reduced turnover and reduced absenteeism.

Some companies are embedding technologists into specific teams, so they are closer to the people who they are coordinating solutions for rather than in separate traditional IT departments.

Leverage Mobile

The average time spent daily on a phone, not counting talking on the phone, continues to increase each year. Trying to tell someone these days to go without their mobile device for a day is a conversation I’m not sure I’d want to have. Companies that want to meet their candidates or employees where they are will need to have a mobile strategy. For instance, recruiting technology now allows candidates to opt in for text updates on the interview process to keep them connected. There are now solutions aimed at helping employers bring their workforce back to the physical workplace, which allow employees to take surveys and schedule work all through an app. In fact, workers have completed more than 4.5 million health status surveys since ADP launched its ADP Return to Workplace mobile solution. Additionally, many employees leverage mobile to complete benefits-related tasks.

According to O’Keefe, “our self-serve options through our ADP mobile technology and employee dashboard help our employees identify and use their benefits while also offloading some manual tasks from our HR team.”

Accelerate Talent Initiatives

Your talent acquisition and talent management goals are important business priorities because of their impact on your employees and the business. Quit rates are high especially with women according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). According to a BLS study, in September 2020 working women were experiencing the worst effects of the COVID-19 recession, unlike in previous downturns, which hit working men the hardest.

Talent technology solutions can help reduce bias in job postings, eliminate identifying details from candidates' resumes and provide pay equity benchmarking data to help you identify and close compensation gaps. Leverage compensation benchmarks across the recruiting workflow to guide competitive yet appropriate job offers.

Navigating Forward

Don’t get distracted with all the different labels out there describing the current talent environment. To successfully navigate forward, build a roadmap that enables technology to enhance the employee experience and support your business.

Susan Hanold, PhD