Creating a talent technology stack that will give you an unfair advantage

Let’s say you’ve made your business case, the powers that be gave you the nod and you’ve got a healthy budget – finally! – to build out a tech stack that’s going to empower the business with real data and insights on what motivates their people and what makes them stay.

Awesome. Or is it? If the business is new to the power of tech for organisations and their people, then here are some tips on how you can be purposeful with your tech stack roadmap to ensure enhanced employee experience and effectiveness of the tech for the business.

Tech stack roadmap: What is that, how do I get one?

Designing a talent tech stack and roadmap can be really challenging. For enterprise and large organisations, there are critical compliance and core data requirements to ensure that the complex HR, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and payroll considerations are managed effectively. 

That’s why you see so many businesses implementing SAP, Oracle and Workday as their core HR solution. Don’t get me wrong, these systems are good; however, they aren’t exactly shooting the lights out around the recruitment or onboarding. They seem to fit the bill for many organisations because they are so configurable that it’s tempting for organisations to lift and shift broken processes from previous systems into one of these platforms, but this maneuver just exacerbates existing problems.

The TQ Talent Maturity Model shows organisations rank at a low 41 per cent for their technology being designed and deployed with user experience and moments that matter in mind. This shows that there is not enough thought going into “purposeful” design of HR and talent systems. So, how can you get around that?

Talent tech stack 101

An enterprise tech stack has many layers, and they are underpinned by clarity on “the moments that matter” within a life cycle for defined user groups.

There are three distinct layers: 

1. Data and compliance layer – this is your ATS and HRIS/HCM systems that will act as your source of truth and compliance monitoring to ensure the appropriate governance is in place. 
2. Enabling tools layer – these are domain-specific and best practice tools that will deliver the specific functional needs that are their core focus. There will be specific tools for HR, such as payroll, learning management, employee wellness, employee listening, knowledge management, gifting, performance reviews, and employee assistance programs (EAP). There will also be specific TA tools such as AI matching, programmatic advertising, video interviewing, assessment, online reference checking, background checking, and onboarding experience.
3. AI, experience and intelligence layer – this is where enterprise data and open source data come together to create unbiased and ethical AI-powered recommendations and insights. Automation and intelligence play an important role within these systems, and they typically will augment your data/compliance layer (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Workday). Experience is a key driver within this as CRM (external talent focused) and talent marketplaces (internal talent focused) are growing in importance within the stack. Many organisations are now running the process and experience within these systems while having them sync the data back with the compliance layer (ATS/HRIS). Learning-experience platforms (LXPs) are also starting to play a role here as well, but with less talent data. 

Building a purposeful tech stack roadmap

If you know your organisation needs a purposeful tech stack roadmap, here’s what to do:

• Get clear on the key problems to solve.
• Define the purpose of the system – who is doing what, where and why.
• Incorporate the voice of your customers (internally and externally).
• Your broader tech strategy is important, so ensure you are engaging with the tech team.
• Integration is key, so ensure that you have thought through and understand what data is flowing from where and in what format.
• Automation represents a huge opportunity for time-saving. Quick wins could be in areas that are admin heavy and repetitive.  

So it’s time to release the buckles from your straight jacket, throw it to the ground, turn the music up and cut loose on the dance floor, practising those super slick moves you’ve always been wanting to try. The tech will be the music that inspires your moves. Without it, you may as well be dancing in that straight jacket, on your own, with no music on.

By Alastair Schirmer, general manager of technology and innovation at TQ Solutions

Part one of Alastair’s article can be viewed here.