Trends in HR Technology for 2023

What Is HR Technology?

HR technology encompasses the use of hardware and software to maintain and direct a wide range of human resources tasks and responsibilities. Payroll, employee benefits, and candidate recruitment typically fall within the realm of HR technology. But in more recent times, the latest HR technology trends address a wider range of HR-related challenges — everything from the new hybrid work environment to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep-dive data analytics. From a new generation of employee self-service to continued learning tools, the use of technology in HR management allows HR leaders to assume a more strategic role within the organization.

As a result, HR technology benefits business leaders and employees alike. Technology trends in HR promise to dramatically enhance business operations and meet the challenges in the future of work.

HR Technology Boosts Efficiency

In 2023, HR leaders will find new opportunities through human resources technology trends. For example, disseminating information to a remote workforce is made easier when the proper digital communication channels are in place. Small businesses may also realize that now is the right time to capitalize on trends in HR tech and upgrade their systems to more efficiently:

• Manage compliance with applicable employment laws and regulations
• Track time and attendance
• Process payroll for employees
• Maintain up-to-date employee information

For larger corporate structures, advances in human resources technology are helping HR teams become even more engaged in their company's overall strategic objectives.

According to the 2022 Paychex Pulse of HR Survey, HR technology tools help HR leaders "streamline tasks and manage new and ongoing responsibilities more efficiently, helping to alleviate some of this burden of managing remote work." In the same survey, half of the respondents reported that HR technology has helped improve operational efficiency, and simplified management of payroll and benefits administration.

New HR technology generates measurable results by enhancing the pace and efficiency of both managers and the teams they lead. These individuals and teams are supported in turn by HR and IT professionals, helping them determine where technology works best and implementing it to achieve maximum success.

Trends in HR Technology for 2023

A variety of HR technologies are assisting HR professionals to manage new conditions in the post-pandemic business world.

Self-service technology can help employees access and manage their personal information. HR technology may also allow leadership to communicate news about changes in health plan coverage, company holidays, and other time-sensitive information in a timely manner. The technology may also assist employees who want to expand their range of skills and knowledge through an online learning management system.

The expansion of HR capabilities remains a significant focus of growth for businesses. Salary negotiations, conflict mediation, and strategy-setting are perennial areas of concern to HR professionals. Ramping up the use of HR technology can also help automate much of the work involved with new-hire training, time tracking, and benefits administration.

For 2023, future HR technology trends will likely focus on:

• HR strategic initiatives
• The hybrid work environment
• Employee wellness, safety, and support
• Cloud-based systems
• Data integration
• Hiring and retaining workers
• Enhanced decision-making
• Learning management
• Improving diversity in the workplace

HR teams are continually expected to do more, so HR technology that helps bridge potential labor gaps and enables HR professionals to have more time for strategic work is essential to success in 2023 and beyond.

HR Strategic Initiatives

Future HR technology trends will assist companies by identifying critical worker skills needed for business growth. For example, if a company must quickly adapt a new business line, HR technology can help identify and leverage the versatile skills of current staff members to help take the business in a new direction. In this way, a business may have a greater chance of long-term success.

Embracing Hybrid Work Environments

With an investment in new HR platforms that support remote work, companies can leverage hybrid capabilities to build in additional flexibility for employees. New-hire training and onboarding are HR functions that can now take place in hybrid environments, with some employees on-site and others joining remotely.

HR professionals can also leverage technology to communicate with remote employees more seamlessly, allowing for expanded hybrid schedule offerings. By using technology to embrace the hybrid work model, HR professionals can stay more competitive in today's current hiring landscape.

Employee Wellness, Safety, and Support

Although the objective of attaining a healthy work/life balance isn’t anything new, work life and workspaces became fixtures in many employees’ homes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providing employees with a safe and healthy work environment is critical to maintaining a strong workforce, especially amid labor shortages and staffing difficulties. Programs addressing employee health and work/life balance are widespread, with momentum building to meet the physical and emotional needs of growing numbers of remote workers (and those who serve the company on a flexible work schedule).

The stress of shifting routines both at work and home may also prompt the need for additional mental health resources. Companies may want to allocate benefit dollars toward an employee assistance program (EAP). When adopted, managers throughout the company can refer employees to this important benefit.

Video resources such as Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams are proving to be highly effective resources for sharing wellness-focused webinars and updated safety guidelines. Remote employees can also be updated via social media feeds on new in-house wellness initiatives and related efforts. This is a useful way to inspire and encourage remote employees to participate in team challenges, leaderboards, and other social options.

Cloud-Based HR Systems

The use of cloud-based HR systems continues to grow among businesses, especially with younger employees, accustomed to working almost entirely within the digital realm. Cloud software — hosted on servers and easily accessible by authorized users — provides access to secure company and personnel data in real-time from just about any location.

Other increasingly popular cloud-based benefits may include:

• The ability to incorporate HR analytics to build on prior recruitment experience and design new processes to attract job candidates
• A comprehensive training process that encompasses employee access to company materials (HR policy manuals, training videos, and other onboarding materials)
• Enhance the employee experience by enabling them to use self-service portals and chat functions
• The means to pinpoint individual employee peak performance and reward their efforts in an appropriate manner

An effective cloud-based HR system also paves the way for future growth in the workforce. As the business grows, this automated technology can expand capabilities to meet the increased demand for more employees.

Hiring and Retaining Workers

The pandemic and its aftermath brought on immense changes in the hiring landscape. In recent times, many workers quit their jobs or searched for better pay and benefits, increased flexibility, and more job satisfaction overall. These changes have left employers scrambling to refill their labor pool and fight for high-quality candidates.

To remain competitive, employers may need to rethink their benefits programs, and that's where HR technology comes in. This technology assists employers (and their HR teams) to rapidly compare benefits programs costs and offerings, and to identify benefits that resonate most with today's job candidates.

A key resource for successful recruiting and hiring is a customized applicant tracking system. This technology is designed to prevent qualified candidates from slipping through the cracks. The system can also streamline the process by making it easier for job candidates to submit their materials online, which in turn enables hiring managers and HR professionals to better access the information they need from a single interface.

An applicant tracking solution can also:

• Standardize the processes for job postings, interview scheduling, and hiring workflows for more efficient, consistent results
• Improve accuracy and time savings for HR and applicants alike (potentially saving employers more money with each new hire)
• Enable jobseekers to submit applications any time through a mobile phone or from a desktop computer, and then log into the system for an update on their application status

Advanced recruitment software strengthens a company's internal application process, so more candidates have an opportunity to find your open position.

Enhanced Decision-Making

Increasingly, companies depend upon data to make key operational decisions. With HR analytics, businesses can identify areas of exposure to risk and help devise effective solutions. Investment in data analytics technology also eases the process of linking company data to critical decisions made around staffing, compensation and benefits, scheduling, and so on. It paves the way to a deeper understanding of which processes work well and where improvements are needed.

The ability to collect new information, predict its effect on the business, and make the necessary changes may ultimately be key in meeting the above HR challenges.

Learning Management

New learning performance management techniques are transforming the way businesses conduct employee reviews and goal-setting. These changes reflect the ongoing need to prioritize employee development, ensuring that skills are up-to-date and that employees continuously learn and better understand the culture in which they operate. As the workplace changes, HR technology provides a more efficient means of adjusting performance management metrics.

Learning management software can be a solution to providing access to online courses that enable businesses to achieve their performance management and continued learning objectives. This learning management system technology often incorporates:

• Advanced digital user interfaces for online training courses for both on-site and remote workers
• Selections from training course libraries customized for specific industry or workplace demands
• Enhanced content such as easily imported videos and valuable third-party content from other providers

Future HR technology trends that reinforce employee training as a top priority can help ensure that all employees, regardless of their physical location, remain engaged, focused, and continually honing their skills. This in turn often leads to improved employee retention for a business.

Using HR Technology To Fuel Success

Having effective HR solutions software is the foundation to any sound HR strategy. An integrated HR technology solution may enable a single employee record across multiple areas of the business and allow employers to customize how they use the system based on their specific needs. This includes choosing the modules that make sense for the company, such as recruiting, benefits administration, and time and attendance.

This ability to customize enables companies to invest in their priorities, make the most important HR processes more efficient, control costs, and help to scale technology (and build on new HR technology trends) when business needs change.

Industry-leading technology from Paychex gives you greater agility by helping simplify complex HR administrative functions, free up resources, and create more efficient processes.

Learn more about how effective HR technology can help in organizations like yours.