Annual HR Systems Survey Analysis Is Here!

One of the highlights of the HR Technology Conference each fall is the publication of the annual HR Systems Survey White Paper by Sierra-Cedar. With the retirement of long-time analyst Lexy Martin, Stacey Harris has stepped up magnificently and published a whopper of an analysis of all things HR tech, the 18^th since 1997.

Sierra-Cedar encourages the dissemination of this white paper and I encourage you to download it here because it’s full of interesting survey data analysis. Here are a few high level nuggets from the executive summary:

• This is the year of the Enterprise HR Systems Strategy: 43% of organizations are undertaking a major HR systems strategy initiative

• HR organizations achieve higher levels of HR, Talent and Business outcomes by embracing their organization’s culture.

• We’ve hit the tipping point: over 50% of purchased core HRMSs are SaaS solutions.

• More than 50% of organizations are using new Talent Acquisition tools outside of their applicant tracking systems.

As organizations invest more time, attention and financial resources in HR management solutions, Sierra-Cedar sees three primary outcome models for these investments: Talent-Driven, Data-Driven and Top Performing. It’s good to see organization principles for how business spend their money and time. And these three buckets make good sense. We could probably all tick off well-known brands in each of those buckets. As a business leader, I find it interesting to see the comparison between talent-driven outcomes vs. data-driven outcomes.

Here’s one of many charts in the report that I found interesting:

It is interesting to note here that the business outcome measures – especially market share and profitability – trend higher across the board. A great reminder that using data and business intelligence to be smart about talent makes the business more successful.

I love reading this report each year. It provides a frame of reference for what’s new, what’s old and what’s coming. If your organization is currently thinking through the effectiveness of any of your suite of HRMS solutions, this is a must read. If your organization is not currently thinking about the availability of HR related business intelligence, this is a must read. If your current HRMS solutions all live on premise, this is a must read. Come to think of it, if you’re in HR, this is a must read.

You can download it here. And then read it. Really. And then send Stacey Harris a thank you note.