India Inc bets on HR tech to up productivity
HYDERABAD: Indian firms are betting big on technology to not just increase productivity but also to keep employees engaged. Human resource technology budgets are increasing throughout the Asia-Pacific market, says the Sierra-Cedar 2016-17 HR Systems Survey.
According to the survey, which studied 1,528 organisations representing a total workforce of 20.6 million employees, 56 per cent of all Asia-Pacific organisations are planning to increase their HR technology spending this year. Notably, 64 per cent of the Indian firms surveyed said they would increase their spending on HR technology.
“No one can deny that we are in an age of continuous change when it comes to both enterprise and personal technology environments. For India, fast-paced technological changes are coinciding with economic and cultural changes, making the topic of HR Technology central to business outcomes. Companies are therefore increasing their spending on HR tech,” said Stacey Harris, vice-president (research and analytics), Sierra-Cedar.
Indian companies are shifting to cloud-based HR systems and are also investing in emerging areas like analytics, mobile and social technologies.
“Technology is being adopted at a fast pace in all walks of life and the HR sector is not alien to it. Though companies from IT/ITES, financial services, and pharma stand out in spending on HR tech, companies from all sectors are increasing their spending on HR tech now,” said Achal Khanna, CEO, Society of Human Resources Management’s (SHRM) Indian chapter.
According to him, the employee has become the core in HR policy for companies. New-age employees are mostly tech-savvy youngsters. “Companies are looking towards HR tech to not just keep these young employees engaged but also increase their skills, abilities and aid their career and overall growth,” Khanna noted.