'There's a lot of opportunity for technology to play a role in helping free up time and capacity for HR leaders,' executive says
Joseph Lyons believes the HR function is poised for a lot of change in terms of automation.
“I think a lot of HR leaders are still using fairly cumbersome manual processes, a lot of them are still stitching things together with spreadsheets to manage employee data and records as well,” said the new CEO of ELMO Software. “So there's a lot of opportunity for technology to play a role in helping free up time and capacity for HR leaders.”
He described the potential for HR technology to strengthen internal operations.
“HR software is no longer just about unlocking efficiency but importantly, providing far better data and insights to equip the business on everything relating to people,” Lyons said. “And after all, people are, in most businesses, their greatest assets as well.”
HR technology in recruitment
Lyons highlighted the need for selecting the right HR technology to streamline the recruitment process.
“Manual recruitment processes are fairly time consuming for both recruiters and applicants,” he said. “And I think in many instances, there's quite a lack of visibility for hiring managers, there's not really a centralised hub for how applications are managed. And then effectively, what that means is that processes can be quite slow and then time to hire can also be impacted. And then candidates can potentially be lost as well.
“So I think using HR software during the recruitment process, hopefully can help attract more candidates for roles that are being advertised. Importantly, reducing the time spent on screening out unsuitable candidates as well.”
He added that speeding up the processes around recruitment would potentially make for a much better experience for candidates as well.
Selecting the right HR technology
Lyons went on to describe how companies can select the right HR technology for their needs.
“It probably is important for an organisation to think about the size and complexity of their business,” he said. “And what type of software will not only be the right fit for their business now but for their needs in the future as well. They want to be making sure they're asking the right questions particularly around data security. Given what has unfolded in Australia over the last few years, there's obviously quite a lot of focus on data security and integrity.”
He added that one overlooked factor is around the costs associated with the implementation of the technology.
“Making sure that the vendor offers the right level of support during the implementation, not just at the point of the purchase decision being made, but how that change management process is being facilitated and supported as well.”
Using data from HR software
In 2024, Lyons believes HR leaders increasingly need to lead the conversation around workforce planning. And to have more impact, it they can use the data provided by HR software to build strategic plans that they can translate into their c-suite counterparts.
“HR leaders really need to think about how they can bring data-backed insights into the conversation and also provide much better solutions for an organisation to reach their final financial goals,” he said.
“And I'm pretty sure that HR software can be a key enabler to drive those types of insights in supporting growth initiatives across any organisation.”
