HUMAN RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY

WEAVING A FABRIC OF
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 Introduction

03 Redefining the Role of HR And so the campaign began

05 The New Millennium What Changed?

07 Trends in HR Technology The Threads that Wove a Change

21 Closing Threads And so the tale ends

 AND SO THE TALE BEGAN…
History in many ways is what aspires growth. What did it take to end
great empires? What did it take to revolutionize change, to invent the
wheel? The past is forever a god of infinite wisdom to learn from.

The relatively archaic time between 500 BCE – 475 BCE noted the rise
and demise of one of history’s darkest philosophers, so-called
because of his hard to understand writings. Little did we realize that
in his words echoed wisdom reflective of the world of today, wisdom
that continues to baffle.

They called him Heraclitus of Ephesus, who said with provocation

and obscurity, “The only thing that is constant is change.”

“ The only Nothing is immune to change, be it people, fashion, or even trends.

thing that is But among them, technology has always remained a beast in its own
league, aggressive with its growth in weaving a fabric of change. It
constant is has certainly affected us all.
change. Within Human Resource Management as well, technology has
altered considerably over the last decade, empowered but with an
unequivocal consensus about where it’s headed.

01
 Through the automation of processes, HR technology has advanced to create an era of HR professionals, who
view their roles not as mere administrators, but strategic enablers for key organizational decisions.

This advancement occurred in parallel to the changing needs of organizational HR; whether as a cause or
consequence of it is worthy of a debate. But in tandem, over the past decade, HR and its native technology
have sophisticated to great lengths in terms of how they measure and justify their purpose.

Consequently, with an increased dependency on HR technology, we are today amid a $15 Billion industry. This,
from HR software alone, resulting in an explosion of start-ups and new ideas.

“As money comes to HR technology, so do new ideas and smart people. The result: we are seeing one of
the most innovative times ever in the HR technology market.”
Josh Bersin, Principal and Founder, Bersin by Deloitte

WHAT DID WE TELL YOU? AH YES, A FABRIC OF CHANGE.

02
REDEFINING THE ROLE OF HR
AND SO THE CAMPAIGN BEGAN…
The story behind Human Resources dates to the 1970s, a concept still But, despite the surge in technological advancements, the
in its infancy, but with a potential unknown. Owing to their historical redefinition was also in part facilitated by recent recognition of the
roles as administrators in hiring, firing, managing compensation and words: ‘Human Capital’ and ‘Talent’.
payrolls, the entity continues to struggle to be known as business
partners within an organization. For years, organizations viewed people as merely another cost
centre, leaving it largely unacknowledged for the strategic asset that
Even today, business leaders view HR as a reactive department it is. This, of course, changed with new-era companies like Google,
rather than a more proactive business partner with an ability to help Apple, and Microsoft among others, who brought to focus highly
organizations and its people grow. successful products and services that were direct embodiments of
their talent pools.
However, the onset of a change in technology relevant to the
fraternity and sorority saw HR mount a campaign against the stigma
of the “Human Resource Department” tag and effectively transform
into HR Business Partners.

Considered impossible in the 70s, HR is now in the process of a

redefinition, much like when Alexander likened his legacy to history’s
most unprecedented military campaign through Asian and northeast
Africa, creating one of the largest empires of the ancient world.

03
With their wisdom, Human Resources shifted to the science of using strategic planning to improve business value, which would in turn make it
possible for companies and organizations to reach their goals.

The shift towards attracting, managing, measuring and retaining talent is a discernible one, indeed. And, while there are those who
believe that these are simply new phrases for old work, the reality truly reveals a new identity for HR.

NOW, HOW THIS WORKS IN THE

CURRENT ERA IS MOST DEFINITELY
A TOPIC WORTH EXPLORING.

04
 Recruitment is no doubt a war, and the new millennium altered the
concept of talent management in this regard.

Excellent Work Space

Modern Hiring System

Better Engagement

Easy Communication

THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Learning and Development

Frequent Feedback
WHAT CHANGED?
These are merely some of the many asks from the new generation of
talent, which now highlights a changing workforce – a generational shift,
if you prefer. With this, the perception of HR has also undergone a
massive change, moving from a support function into something more
advisory in nature.

05
In fact, HR is no longer the ancillary role that it once was – to employ and manage grievances. They are now an entity that affects the bottom
line of an organization, where some of the focus areas now include:

1. Talent Sourcing, Acquisition & Retention

2. Employee Systems of Engagement
3. Performance & Productivity Analytics
4. Learning Management
5. Training Administration
6. Succession Planning

This, to top off the tip of the HR iceberg. In parallel, certain technologies that bind these new focus areas hover in the realms of social
recruiting, online skills assessments, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), e-learning systems and more.

Yes, the HR tech industry is at a stage of rapid innovation to keep pace with the changing demands of Human Capital Management. This
eBook touches these disruptions and trends in this multi-billion-dollar business, which in the coming years, is predicted to set the tone for
organizational HRM (Human Resource Management).

LET’S DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER, SHALL WE?

06
TRENDS IN HR TECHNOLOGY
THE THREADS THAT WOVE A CHANGE…
HUMAN RESOURCE IS ONE OF THOSE INDUSTRIES, WHICH DOES NOT
QUITE MAKE ITS WAY INTO SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS. CERTAINLY, NO
KID GROWS UP THINKING OF REVOLUTIONIZING THE TECHNOLOGY
INSIDE THIS MARKET. BUT IT HAPPENED NONETHELESS.

BEHIND THE SCENES, THE INDUSTRY CHANGED, EVEN IF THE

TECHNOLOGY AT ITS INFANCY WASN’T DESIGNED FOR HR TO BEGIN
WITH.

07
 RECRUITING
Given the sheer size of the global recruitment market, the TECHNOLOGIES
traditional paper-résumé-screen-interview-selection method is
hardly the most optimum in matching talent to the right job. FOR
Online recruiting and applicant tracking systems brought great
efficiency to the process, but social recruiting remained a realm MILLENNIALS
apart in providing global businesses a solution to build an
effective workforce.

I
LinkedIn was first to demonstrate social media prowess in
corporate recruitment, while others followed suit, contributing to
the $1.5 Billion sized market we know of today.

THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO THIS COIN.

08
 With that out of the way, it is easy to state that recruitment technology is
bringing about a change in candidate experience. This is what many would like
HEADS to call, a primitive to employee engagement – namely candidate engagement.

Born into technology, the Millennials also Why candidate engagement? Simply because, employers are now increasingly
contributed greatly to the entire recruitment aware of the impact a job application process has on their employer brand,
process going digital. We often see candidates future employee engagement and retention levels.
seek and apply for jobs online, use remote
assessments, interview via audio-visual tools In a bid to create favourable candidate experiences, employers are looking to
and more. We call this market, “Social Referral rise above the usual résumé and screen processes, moving to something we
Recruiting”. call: Gamification.

With game mechanics and simulated environments, employers can test

employees more on hands-on skills, doing away with bookish knowledge. It
TAILS also delivers at great length to a positive brand memory and recall.

For employers, social recruiting opened an

opportunity to build customized talent networks, A SUCCESS STORY FOR THE AGES,
which served to improve employer branding, job YOU ASK?
visibility, interest, sourcing through highly
targeted groups and more. Additionally, the end Marriot International Inc was among the first to use gamification for a unique
to geographic barriers in the online space recruitment campaign. In the online social media game titled My Marriott
opened for HR a chance to map talent to a Hotel, the hotel chain invited potential candidates to demonstrate their skills as
much larger field kitchen manager in a close to real-life game scenario.

09
The campaign drove brand recall to astronomical heights, luring It is easy to note that a bad experience during the
many of Marriott’s target audience – the Millennials – between interview/assessment stage could stop a good candidate from
ages 18 and 27 to apply. applying or accepting a job offer in the future.

BUT WHY STRESS SO MUCH ON CANDIDATE

ENGAGEMENT AND EXPERIENCE? WELL, PERHAPS A There is much more to be looked at though. Some of the other
PEEK INTO THE TALENT BOARD’S CANDIDATE trends contributing to recruitment technology explained later in
EXPERIENCE AWARDS COULD HELP. the eBook are:

Video Interviews

45000
Mobile Recruiting
Online Assessments
SURVEY RESPONDENTS
Web Proctored Assessments

61% of positive experience respondents agreed to encourage

colleagues to apply.

A simulation game akin

to the annoyingly famous
Farmville, My Marriott hit
27% of negative experience respondents would discourage colleagues
the digital world to
to apply.
engage, educate, and
potentially source good
candidates into the
hospitality industry.
50% of positive experience respondents shared their experience.

32% of negative experience respondents broadcast their bad news.

10
 Not merely research, but detailed case studies on
companies such as Google indicate with ceaseless
pressure that data driven assessments lead to better
quality of hire. This, even more than several traditional
pre-hire screening methods.

Yet less than half of all global organizations include any

form of assessments as part of their recruitment strategy.
Why? Why, indeed.

The use of assessments beyond recruitment – in the

measure of engagement, conducting training, ROI of
development programs and more – generates great
interest from a variety of organizations. After all, there is
immense value in the data acquired from assessments.

This growing interest has led to a sharp increase in the

market size for assessments, and more importantly, the
breadth of assessment technologies - a goldmine of an
opportunity.
THE SCIENCE OF With the shift to an online platform, assessments have

ASSESSMENTS reached a higher level of sophistication in terms of

content, administration, results, benchmarks and more.

11
This, from the basic multiple-choice question format to simulated
environments – a performance based testing that allows
candidates to demonstrate what they can do with what they know.
Now, from knowledge-by-rote to hands-on skills evaluation, the There is no denying that the integrity of online assessments was
digital world has created a highly favourable environment for once in doubt. But with the introduction of technologies to contain
employers to hire the right candidates. fraud in exams, such concerns have since vanished. This also
includes one of our highly valued products – Online Proctoring, or
the process of using a web camera and its consequent audio
YOU DON’T BELIEVE US? WELL, HERE’S AN EXAMPLE
technology to capture candidate behaviour.
TO HELP WARM YOUR TRAIN OF THOUGHT.
The system has since evolved into a remote monitoring solution,
which allows exam administrators the ability to record test takers
A top-notch employment agency, headquartered in Boston, sought
even without being around in physical capacity.
a way to evaluate IT professionals on coding ability. This, to create
a roster of job-ready candidates worthy of recommendation to
But how trustworthy is this system?
their prestigious clients.

Well, the cameras are trained to track movements in the eye, the
Using an advanced Mettl front-end coding simulator, the
presence of another person, sounds in the background, attempts
employment agency mandated every candidate to solve
to open alternate browsers and a lot more – captured into both
challenges around code in real-time; a stroll away from the run of
static and live feeds.
the mill multiple-choice exams.

Such tight security measures have advanced the use of

The effort helped the company hard-verify each claim made by the
assessments to facilitate remote recruiting, large-scale recruiting,
candidates, effectively improving their process to new heights.
shorter time-to-hire, and improved quality-of-hire among many
others.

12
MOBILE DOMINATION

Millennials are, as we often love to say, children of technology, or From answering work related emails to using HRIS (Human
in a classier way – Digital Natives. As employers identify ways to Resource Information System), employees of this generation seek
comply with employee needs and desire to use technology, flexibility and convenience in all things work-related. This would
policies such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) are offering implore HR to offer specifically-built mobile applications rather
solutions to integrate the same with the necessary corporate tools than mobile versions of what already exists.
for professional success.
The approach offers organizations the obvious benefit of reduced
In fact, in a 2013 study conducted by a group of Cisco partner costs, and an opportunity to appear more favourable to the talent
firms, 90% of full-time American workers claimed the use of their market.
personal smart phones for work. This was regardless of whether
they received allowance or reimbursement from the company for For HR, this revolution translated into the redeployment of several
the same. functions to mobile platforms.

13
Job applications, candidate communication, feedback systems, learning and training programs, administrative tasks and more now integrate
a lot better with mobile, giving employees the capacity to manage just one device and employers the ability to expand access with swift
precision.

Simply put, consider a Multinational company with a natural spread of offices across the globe, a learning program for managers made
available on mobile could easily generate far greater enrolment from multiple locations , and at a fraction of the cost. Now this is something
traditional-office based programs could only ever dream of.

WHAT A RECRUITMENT CYCLE ON MOBILE LOOKS LIKE

sm sm assessment portal

11:23
HELP HELP
HR
WANTED! WANTED!
APPLIED

1 HR Posts a Job on 2 Candidate Applies 3 Business Emails 4 Candidate Takes 5 Candidate Emails 6 Employer Schedules
Social Network for Job on Mobile Candidate About Initial Skill Résumé Video Interview
the Shortlist Assessment

14
 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT,
E-LEARNING AND MOOCS
Employees now hold more power than they ever did, with great “ Annual Performance reviews is one of seven deadly
ability to seek and apply for new jobs as and when they see fit via
diseases; it nourishes short-term performance,
the digital world. At the cusp of this new development,
annihilates long-term planning, builds fear,
organizations have had to shift gears, taking performance and
demolishes teamwork, nourishes rivalry and politics.
learning management systems that have existed for decades up a
WILLIAM EDWARDS DEMING,
notch. American Engineer, Statistician, Professor,
Author, Lecturer and Management Consultant.

Annual evaluations and appraisal programs simply failed the new Sounds like an important person is all for the digital age. Well, new
generation, most of whom expected a lot more than a steady pay performance management tools allow for regular assessments,
check. With Millennials, especially, there was an increase in transparency in goal-setting, and an overall conversation about
demand for opportunities to learn, mentor guidance, recognition, performance as opposed to a zero-sum dispute about appraisals
development, a 360-Degree Feedback and more. and compensation.

15
CASE IN POINT: ADOBE But these are rare cases, indeed. In fact, only a small number of
companies admit to having a performance process that drives any
level of value. In a 2014 study by Deloitte, over half of the survey
Multinational software company, Adobe, is sometimes known for respondents (58%) believed that their current performance
the way it overturned its performance management system. With a processes fails to drive employee engagement and high
global workforce of 11,000 employees, performance evaluations at performance.
Adobe clocked about 80,000 managerial hours – a process of
exhaustion and demotivation at the very least. “ 70% of 32,000 employees across 26 markets want their
organization to understand employees to the same degree
After several unsuccessful attempts to overhaul the entire system, that employees are expected to understand customers.
Adobe finally managed to incorporate a simpler method, i.e. either
GLOBAL WORKFORCE STUDY,
employee or manager could request a check-in every three Towers Watson, 2014
months.

Before the actual meeting, a group of employees provided

MOVING ON TO E-LEARNING
feedback on the reviewee’s performance. While this led to tough
discussions with a struggling employee on his or her performance As an increasing number of factors make it to a millennial
issues, it also opened a channel for quick elimination of wasteful employee’s list of what constitutes a good workplace, employers
activities. have turned to technology that focuses on providing internal talent
mobility, career growth and learning opportunities.
The new system led to a 30% drop in voluntary attrition and
helped create a culture of teamwork and creativity. Online assessments, feedback portals, e-learning, MOOCs, are
among technologies that have facilitated the creation of talent
strategies. This helps HR review employee performance, provide
11000 80000 rolling feedback, access to new roles, custom learning programs
EMPLOYEES MANAGERIAL HOURS FOR and more.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

16
WE CERTAINLY DID NOT FORGET MOOCS CASE IN POINT: TIN CAN API

Another trend making giant strides in the realm of corporate Tin Can API, an eLearning software, set new standards for the way
learning and education is Massive Open Online Courses, or learning behaviour is recorded and integrated within existing
MOOCs. This combines the best of subject-specific knowledge with learning management systems.
assessments, evaluation, certification. Additionally, they also come
with the access, flexibility and cost-effectiveness required of a With the capability to track learning plans, goals, games,
modern learning platform today. audio-visual content, eLearning on mobile applications and more,
Tin Can API is weaving a fabric of change in how learning merges
How does this affect the two separate teams? with performance data.

Employees: The chance to make an informed choice, upgrade The result is an ability for organizations to interact in entirely new
their knowledge and skills to become more relevant to his or her ways with learning modules for employees.
business.

Employers: The chance to possess a skilled workforce, and to be

seen as a company that cares about employee development.

In a recent Future Workplace Survey, completed by 195

corporate learning and HR professionals, 70% of the
70%
respondents noticed opportunities to integrate
MOOCs into their own company’s learning programs.
“ The global learning management industry is
estimated to be worth $2.5 Billion.
JOSH BERSIN,
Principal and Founder,
Bersin by Deloitte

17
 With newer ways of assessment science creeping into the organizational
ecosystem, eLearning and performance management continue to create
data subsets for businesses far and wide. There is now a mountain of HR
data that businesses sit on, with little to no idea on how to utilize them.

When harnessed to Big Data, these talent analytics reign with the potential to
revolutionize how organizations hire, fire, promote, retain and more. While
raw or unprocessed data by itself represents little value, it remains a
farmland for powerful insights. It is these insights that determine a data’s
worth to Human Resources.

TRANSCENDING
So far, organizations have concerned themselves with data that is merely
descriptive, but within the realm of reporting and predictive analytics, the
same data transforms into something far more relevant, critical even.

DESCRIPTIVE
Descriptive Data is what summarizes a finished occurrence. Simply
ANALYTICS put, think number of job applicants to specific jobs, percentage of
hires that remained after the first six months, etc.

Through the utility of statistical tools, predictive analytics uses large data sets
to recommend courses of action, revealing the likely outcome of each
decision.

YOU WANT HARD PROOF?

In a 2013 study by The Economist Intelligence Unit, global executives ranked
predictive analytics third on a list of technologies they would prioritize on in
the following three years, behind mobile and cloud services.

18
 HOW DOES BIG DATA & TALENT ANALYTICS APPLY
TO HUMAN RESOURCES?

Well, let’s break it down into parts.

Sourcing Candidates. Predictive Analytics could reveal in

advance where best to place your online recruitment marketing
campaign for optimal performance and cost.
BRAD PITT & JONAH HILL IN MONEYBALL (2011)
In Hiring. Identification, qualification and prediction of future
performance of a candidate before the hiring decision. In
YOU WANT PROOF IN POPULAR CULTURE? simpler words, if you had to choose between two candidates of
equal qualification, talent analytics could help identify the one
Well, let’s take the popular 2011 movie, Money Ball, which
more likely to succeed, and his or her time to maturity for
chronicled a true story about the resurgence of a losing baseball
success.
team – Oakland Athletics – managed by GM, Billy Beane. Here,
Beane used predictive analytics to identify players low on
Engagement & Retention. By measuring factors that drive
popularity, but with specific abilities to turn a lean budget into a
engagement, satisfaction and motivation, predictive analytics
scientifically balanced team.
could effectively transpire into a retention strategy. Who is going
to leave, when and why? How can we make them stay? Is it
Oakland Athletics went on to power through a win streak seen
worth it?
never before in American League history. The record stands till
date.
Learning & Development. The gap in development, a method
to close them, and the learning needs for teams in the future.
Now that we have proof, it’s time to ask a big question.

Succession Planning. To identify people to be groomed for

leadership positions. Additionally, what gaps can be predicted
in the coming years to identify leaders more swiftly?

19
THE BIG KAHUNA EXAMPLE There now exists a balanced perspective between what works and
what does not in changing human behaviour. While HR
Tracing back to 2011, when People Analytics wasn’t the buzzword
professionals bring with them their expertise on psychological and
it is today, Google representatives at the O’Reilly Strata offered key
social instincts, teams within marketing and sales – to name a few
insights into its innovative data-driven HR strategy.
– provide answers to other factors around the same, namely
incentives, motivation and more.
All people decisions at Google today are based on data and
analytics, including policies such as the famous 20% Time, free
Innovation and new ideas in HR technology are at an all-time high
food, unlimited sick leaves and more. This represents a dream to
today, with new companies breaking into the market – each with
most employees, but where even a remote idea of similar
their own unique solution to a specific HR task.
implementation puts several businesses worldwide into despair.

However, the winning businesses of the future in HR tech are likely

Not many realize the data-crunching behind the making of such
to remain those of visionary nature. Would it not be ideal to think
policies at Google. The fastest growing company in the world
past the individual HR function and integrate systems as
today has an entire team dedicated to People Analytics, applying
all-inclusive platforms for both the organization and the employee?
the same rigor to the people side as to the engineering side.

This is one reason for the rising adoption of the SaaS (Software as
a Service) model in HR Tech, which allows for easy upgradation
UNIFICATION & INTEGRATION and system transitions internally, or even outside the organization.
WITH OTHER SYSTEMS
As the workplace undergoes radical change in the way employees
One of the biggest transformations visibly apparent in HR interact and communicate, companies will look to more vendors
functions is in the way it collaborates and incorporates from other with an ability to offer a complete user experience – design
professions. An independent unit at its time of origin, HR now interface and modern functionality, rather than features alone.
partners with several teams to understand their workforce
requirements.

20
 Big Data, assessments, mobile, video, eLearning and more, HR technology is certainly at the cusp of
some unique and exciting developments. However, there also remains a need to prove ROI against
basic HR practices of attracting, retaining and engaging talent. And more importantly, information
will continue to be the most valuable asset to a business.

But, with the onset of such a change, HR personnel would require to learn in the face of a quagmire
of big data, redefine their roles to better grasp analytics and minimize errors. After all, mistakes in
CLOSING critical people matters could hurt a business.

THREADS Of course, we must admit that despite a prophetic increment in accuracy with regards to predictive
analytics, it is no guarantee of actual outcomes. An assumption based on the wrong interpretation

AND SO THE
of data could lead to an erroneous distribution of resources without scope of improvement in the
future.

TALE ENDS Nevertheless, never deter from exploring newer processes. In fact, studies have shown that
organizations having adopted technology in their HR processes consistently outperform those that
have not.

Even as technology continues to get more sophisticated, the focus on an easy-to-use, integrated
interface will grow. As HR continues to evolve to meet these changing pressures in business, so will
HR technology alter to provide solutions for the same.

WHY SHY AWAY FROM AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE THINGS SIMPLER AND MORE
MANAGEABLE, PROVIDING AN IMPETUS FOR THE NEXT CYCLE OF CHANGE?

Thank you for having travelled this journey with us. We also genuinely hope to have added to your
vast knowledge on the field. As we always say, the information is now in your hands; do with it as
you see fit.

Godspeed.
 mettl.com

What is Mettl?
Mettl is a Saas based assessment platform that enables
organizations to create customized assessments for use across
the entire employee lifecycle, beginning with pre-hiring
screening and candidate skills assessment, training and
development programs for employees/students, certification
exams, contests and more.

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