How Cloud Based Technology is changing the role of HR Managers

Planday’s Christian Brøndum explains why access to cloud based technology is transforming the role of HR Managers 

It is often said that someone who worked in Human Resources forty years ago wouldn’t recognise the current HR Management sector as it is today. Gone are the days where their role was limited purely to ‘hiring and firing.’ Now, HR departments are responsible for establishing the procedures that generate the culture of a work environment. Having an employee-orientated approach that encourages a productive work culture has never been more important.

And with the third industrial revolution well underway, it is now essential that management in any business uses technology to keep apace of a fast-moving commercial world that shows no signs of slowing down. Tech is an indispensable part of every business’s work culture. In fact, a recent survey revealed that HR departments have been working hard to decide on the most effective strategy to maximise productivity and avoid outdated modes of working alongside this technological wave.

The most common solution has been to take your business’s data onto the Cloud, a decision which has a profound impact on productivity as well as work culture. Having your business’s data live purely online is obviously an attractive prospect, as you can access all your data on any device with an Internet connection. And your work culture becomes an accessible, dynamic, and adaptive network of employees all working in real time to achieve the best possible results for themselves and your business. Making your business’s data accessible for all your employees allows them to align their personal concerns with your business needs, creating an environment where they have more control over both parts of their life, work and home. It’s no surprise that employee turnover is 25% lower at businesses that support remote work. Going cloud-based transforms, expands, and protects your work culture.

Just ask Alyssa Costello, Assistant Director for Caring Inc, a care home provider for developmentally disabled individuals across New Jersey. Before switching to cloud-based HR software, every six weeks she created schedules for her part-time shift workers in Microsoft Word, afterwards printing them out and delivering them to each of the 51 care homes under her purview. Obviously, this method was both time-consuming and expensive, with printing and postage costs ramping up over time. Going paperless and switching to the cloud was the obvious answer.

Alyssa began using specific shift and their managers were able to see who had requested which shift when, allocating work on a first come first served basis and thereby avoiding unfair management decisions. The cloud-based technology of the Planday platform revolutionised the work culture at Caring Inc., keeping each employee in the loop and keeping everyone organised.

New technology has changed every sector and HR is no exception. And although we deal with human resources, the switch to tech-based methods hasn’t held us back. With three quarters of European businesses now planning on implementing policies where employees are required to use their personal smart devices at work, there’s no point in being left behind.