Lorna Borenstein
Founder and CEO
Grokker
What’s the single most dramatic shift you see happening in the HR tech space today?
Employees are clearly in the driver’s seat of the employment relationship: 94% of US workers want their employers to ensure the benefits offered have a meaningful impact on their quality of life–and 55% have left jobs in the past because they found better benefits or perks elsewhere. Employers need to create a culture of wellbeing and make their employees authentically believe they care about them. It’s not a CFO driven equation, it’s a CEO driven mission to care about more than just shareholder returns in order to thrive in a new workplace that is distinctly more human.
In acquiring and implementing new technologies, what’s the one or two most common mistakes HR organizations make?
Risk aversion causes HR organizations to make the classic mistake of taking too long to adopt and experiment with new technologies. So worry less about making a mistake and focus instead on how to bring a modern solution your employees will love. You may not get it right all of the time, but you will be learning, growing, and demonstrating that you are trying hard to deliver the best employee experience rather than sticking with the status quo.
Are there certain strategies that are more effective than others when it comes to getting your workforce to use new HR technologies being put in place?
Treat employees like consumers if you want them to use new technology. This means delivering an experience that delights them: pick tech that resonates with how employees like to interact (on their smartphones, using video, on-demand, etc.) and that uses consumer-grade gamification plus the kind of calendaring and notifications they have grown accustomed to. Don’t just set it and forget it–continuously provide opportunities for your employees to use the tech. So pick partners who know how to do this and have battle tested their tech with actual consumers.
