SAP Success Factors HXM: Managing Employee Experience in Today's World | Protiviti Netherlands

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As the world continues to develop and becomes truly global, more and more lists of “Seven Wonders” become available. Gone are the days when there was only one list available, and now we find ourselves in an era where natural or man-made structures are categorized into ever growing wonder lists. These wonders include structures such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia; a city — Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia; a building such as the Empire State Building in New York or even deep underground in the United Kingdom — the London Sewerage System. All are magnificent, but most of these have one wonder in common that never makes it onto any of these lists: The wonder of people and what we can achieve when working together.

Some of the greatest business leaders around the world believe that placing people at the heart of business creates highly motivated and engaged employees. Richard Branson, Founder and CEO of the Virgin Group once said — “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients.”

Today, we find ourselves at a time where the workplace environment has had to adapt to manage this “new era.” Acceptance of innovation has accelerated, and businesses find themselves having to define and refine the ways in which they operate, thus increasing investment in workplace changes.

This does not come without any challenges and businesses are continually pivoting to handle the existing environment, as well as prepare for the next big event. Businesses continually strive to get the maximum return on investment from their workforce, but this can only be done by unlocking the full potential of your employees.

So, what are these challenges and how can we mitigate them?

Understanding the challenges employees face at work and at home

Since the start of Covid-19, new workforce challenges have presented and started to evolve. These challenges — including the need to navigate around local issues and individual needs as well as the unpredictable nature of the months ahead — will require attention to long-term workforce planning.

Employee benefits that were never a consideration have now become an option, and remote work has become a talent magnet which must be considered as part of a long-term investment. This potentially includes changes to policies, which in-turn creates other challenges that require new remote collaboration tools and adjustments to HR systems. Additionally, employees that work remote seem less concerned about relocation and seek out areas where complex factors such as bandwidth, privacy, access to childcare or personal circumstances play an important role.

Remote work or flexible working options also creates a potential 2 tier workforce, which creates new challenges for HR leaders. A 2-tier workforce implies that there are those that work remotely and those that must work on site. Even though companies are down-sizing locations and creating open plan or coworking space, the physical workplace is not going away. Additionally, there is a shift in working hours paradigm. Some employees are working longer hours with less travel.

New challenges also drive changes to an employee’s outlook on the future. There is motivation for employees to reskill which is due to an increase in diversity and equity as well as the need for preparation for future disruptions.

The Rise of HXM (Human Experience Management)

As we have covered, strategies need to be adapted and require significant changes to working environments. Employees are increasingly expecting more. Employees want workplace experiences that match experiences that they have come to accept as consumers. Employees want experiences that are designed around how they work and how they behave. They want to feel connected and productive as well as have access to digital tools that are easy to use, convenient and intuitive, similarly to the applications used in everyday life on their mobile phones.

SAP SuccessFactors HXM suite is all about how businesses can provide employees with the right experiences that will make employees want to work for them. Employees expect action to be taken from their feedback and recommendations and where their career paths and growth is mapped out and provides clarity to them. HXM is about providing these experiences that help better manage employee career paths and unlock employee growth. In turn, this allows employees to become more efficient and intuitive, and impact towards the broader organization.

But HXM is not only about the employees. HXM offers businesses the ability to adapt, define and refine resources allowing them to staff up or down more quickly, or deploy resources to areas where they can manage changing business needs. HXM provides companies a way to show employees empathy and seeing the perspective from others, while offering individuality and uniqueness. HXM provides employers the technology needed for agility and adaptability required to equip employees with what they need to be engaged while allowing the business to deliver at its best.

Traditional HCM systems were built to provide the HR department with a platform to manage processes and programs to capture HR transactional data, with very little focus on employee needs and motivations. This is where SAP SuccessFactors HXM helps close the gap, enabling businesses to build on existing `industry leading solutions to develop experiences that serve your people — be it individuals, teams or your organization.

With HXM tools and services available, and an understanding of current market trends and issues, Protiviti offers customers the skills and tools needed to enable maximizing ROI on your “people” investment, ensuring the results businesses need to survive and thrive…

References

The future of work arrives early — HRMS - Human Resource Management System | SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite

5 Reasons Why Human Experience Management Is The Future Of HR — 5 Reasons Why Human Experience Management Is The Future Of HR (forbes.com)

Leadership

Tom Steen

Tom is an accomplished SAP Enterprise Resource & Planning professional with 21+ years of experience in Human Capital Management and a proven track record of successful contribution within the Human Resources environment across a wide range of industries, both local ...