The Strategic Role of IT in HR

June 11, 2019

 

iCIMS Staff

3 min read

Today’s most successful enterprises are fueled by tech-enabled business processes. However according to a recent report by Gartner, inadequate talent management will cause 60% of digital transformation failures over the next decade. As digital transformation evolves from a buzzword to the backbone of today’s most successful enterprises, a strong workforce is required to effectively scale operations.

Month over month while  the unemployment rate sinks to a 49-year low, we see the pressure rise for human resources (HR) to remain highly-competitive with a strategy to quickly and efficiently fill vacancies in an extremely tight labor market. As experts in transformation, IT can partner with HR to respond proactively to industry shifts and navigate the ever-growing list of talent acquisition (TA) software options together. In doing so, HR can assure they are leveraging the most sustainable solution available, in line with the broader IT strategy.

Now is the time for CIOs and CHROs to become strategic allies and establish a workforce backed by intelligent technologies to fuel corporate objectives, and directly impact the bottom line.

The IT Mindshift

The recent velocity of change in the recruitment software market encourages IT to emerge as a powerful force in shaping an organizational culture that embraces transformation, by supporting TA strategies. This requires a shift away from the transactional IT role that is often reactive to new system requirements and more to one that builds closer relationships spanning the CHRO, TA leadership and end-users as strategies are being defined.

When IT and HR are in sync on areas of recruitment strength as well as barriers to improvement, challenges can be addressed quickly with minimal business friction. By gaining trust and alignment on requirements before they are passed along, IT is in a better position to present back to the c-suite with a more holistic digital transformation strategy for the entire organization.

Breaking Down Barriers: The CIO and CHRO Relationship

Recent years have introduced TA technologies that empower HR departments with smaller headcounts, resources and budget by enhancing productivity and decision making. As candidates continue to gain buying power in the growing job market, CHROs are regularly challenged with growth, leading to new hiring needs, an impending skills shortage, stricter compliance regulations, diversity and inclusion initiatives and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

At the same time, IT has their own priorities when it comes to determining the ROI of any new tech solution. CIOs have an excellent opportunity to flex leadership skills by providing CHROs with proactive guidance to define a recruitment tech stack that not only solves for short-term challenges, but scales with long-term goals.

Digital Transformation of HR Technologies

For some time, organizations have felt the pressure to decide between using their human capital management (HCM) solution for recruiting or using a separate applicant tracking system (ATS) that is built to focus solely and expansively on the recruitment function. The good news is, it doesn’t need to be one or the other.

IT can support TA with a platform built to their needs, while the rest of HR continues to drive strong talent management in an HCM solution because of robust HR integration capabilities introduced to the industry. When a talent platform is integrated right into an HCM, results can look like:

• Teams that are lean, yet filling positions faster with automated tasks
  • Sustainable technology to support proven integrations with leading third-party TA tools (sourcing, screening, onboarding) and the ability to swap them in and out on a dime         without disruption
• Data that is smoothly transitioned throughout the entire hiring lifecycle and into the HCM
• Implementation and data migration are simple to reduce training and IT support needed

Ultimately, the strongest decision making is a result of a tight collaboration to define what technology can do to enable HR operations and fuel ROI. The long-lasting relationship formed will continue to provide value in the way of reduced conflict, aligned strategies and increased value perception within the c-suite.