anticipating the day after tomorrow. oracle's hr tech world 2016 - coffee break cut

Copyright © 2016, Oracle. All rights Reserved.

Coffee Break CutAnticipating the day after tomorrow

HR Tech World, London, 2016


Welcome to Coffee Break Cut, our condensed overview of the insights shared at this year’s HR Tech World congress.

In this agile age it can feel like HR professionals are faced with a near impossible task. They need to take a global view while providing localised tools. They need to tailor processes to people while enabling them to form an increasing number of specialised teams. Above all, they need they need to maintain a dual focus – looking to the future while affecting change in the here and now.

Fortunately, for all the disruption it’s causing, technology is a great enabler. Data and analytics are helping us to see clearly, the cloud allows us to act quicker than ever and social collaboration is transforming how our employees work together.

– Andy Campbell HCM Strategy Director, Oracle


We all know that we live in an age of rapid technological change

“The memory stick you buy at the counter of Dixons next to the Tic Tacs has a million times more memory than the Commodore 64 did.”– Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks

“It took the telephone 75 years to reach an adoption base of 50 million people. It took Angry Birds 35 days.” Ben Wharfe, EDF Energy


But we’re still struggling to grasp the nature of this change…

“We have linear minds. If I tell you to take 30 linear steps you can easily understand the distance involved. If I tell you that taking 30 exponential steps will take you to the moon and back then around the earth eight times, we struggle to conceptualize that.”– Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks


And what it really means for business

“Silicon Valley is shifting from being the technological centre of the world, to the industry disruption centre of the world.” – Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks

“Digital isn’t new technology – it’s new ways of behaving” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


Fail to adapt, and we could sleepwalk into disaster

“UPS employs 470,000 people. If you ask how many of them are focusing on the disruption that driverless delivery will cause it’s probably about 0.1%. What’s worse is that the other 99.9% are looking at them saying, ‘What are you doing? We need to get these parcels out the door!’” – Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks


The fact is, the faster things move, the further you need to look ahead…

“In the age of optionality businesses need to regenerate before they’ve even peaked. But how long do we spend thinking about today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow? The reality is it’s about 93%, 7% and 0% respectively. This destroys your long-term value creation capabilities.” – Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks


And the more clarity you need to see with…

“Most vision statements are written in the abstract, but to be a vision you actually have to be able to see it. It’s a leader’s job to articulate the vision.” – Simon Sinek, Simon Sinek inc.

Some things that will be part of the picture for everyone…


DataThe great differentiator


Number crunching is no longer about understanding what’s already happened – it’s about seeing what’s around the corner

“Data is the oil of the 21st century. Analytics is the combustion engine.” – Bart Cools, Anheuser-Busch InBev

“Data is the capital of the future.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


Data-driven analytics have the potential to transform all areas of HR. From the obvious…

“HR should not be the last remaining function that’s subject to mysticism and gut feel. With good use of data, selection can move from a soft skill to a hard science.” – Bill Schaninger, McKinsey & Company


…To those that haven’t traditionally been seen as strategic

“Payroll has the opportunity to become strategic by providing a wealth of metrics on the organisation’s people – who are its greatest assets and largest expense. It’s about correlating metrics with business processes. For example, perhaps overtime is a predictor of falling accuracy of work due to fatigue…” – Karen Beaman, Teilasa Global

“In the modern world, HR and finance have to work in tandem. They’re intrinsically linked.” – Chris Preston, Perform Group

Oracle Customer Panel


Performance management is one area in definite need of transformation

“88% of companies don’t think performance management is worth the effort put into it.The org chart is now a network. The way we work has changed. Performance management has to change. The yearly performance review and engagement survey has to go.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


And data could hold the key…

“The word ‘feedback’ has a negative connotation. We prefer to use the word ‘insight’. All our insights are collected through an app. The annual appraisal is now just a summary of touch points.” – Tim Highet, GE


And when feedback goes both way, the data generated can be even more valuable

“More feedback is a good thing. If you use tools that allow teams to continually feed back on management, that data will actually be a predictor of their business performance.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


Besides – it’s what the next generation of employee expects

“Millennials want feedback all the time. To them transparency is natural.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte

“Now that’s it’s enabled by technology, we encourage continual dialogue” – James Atkins, Caterpillar Inc.

Oracle Customer Panel


Indeed, it could be what helps bring them into your company in the first place…

“Data tells us referred candidates are 2.6–6.6% more likely to accept an offer. And that’s actionable. Not only can you look at driving referrals, you can look at how you can give other channels the qualities of a referral. We’ve also seen that every 10% increase in the difficulty of the interview translates to a job satisfaction increase of 2-3% down the line. This holds up to the point where an interview would be rated 4 out of 5 for difficulty. At 5 out of 5 it drops off dramatically.” – Diarmuid Russell, Glassdoor


Even candidates you don’t hire can generate data that improves your approach

“We created a streamlined candidate experience where almost all applications are invited through to an automated assessment. This is more inclusive, kills bias and gives us more data we can use to improve our process in future.” – Catalina Schveninger, Vodafone

“Acquiring talent is critical to a business’s success. Recruiting should be measured like sales and marketing.” – Tim Highet, GE


So there’s no reason to delay

“Your data is never going to be perfect. If you wait until it is, you’ll never get around to analytics. The competition aren’t going to wait.” – Bart Cools, Anheuser-Busch InBev

“No matter what shape your data is in you’ve got enough to start. Even if you can improve a little bit in an area like retention – you’re going to show a return.” – Bill Schaninger, McKinsey & Company


This agile mindset is something that HR will need to bring to everything it does, whatever the company’s size

“Perfection is the enemy of speed. We want to be fast and agile.We’re applying the Silicon Valley mindset to one of the world’s largest multinationals.” – Tim Highet, GE


Thinking AgileThe importance of a future-facing attitude


Organisation is now a balancing act

“Traditional organisations are plantations. They’re very efficient at producing their crop. But if you wake up thinking bananas, it’s not very likely you’ll think up anything else. Start-ups are like the rainforest. It’s dangerous. There’s a high mortality rate. But you might find a bug that secretes a cure for cancer. It’s not about being one or the other. The key is to be both.” – Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks


Networks are increasingly fuelling innovation

“Think about Uber and Airbnb. They’re big networks of people, operating in different places.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte

“Look at the hugely successful Haier. It’s a big company but it’s essentially a network of hundreds of micro-enterprises – any of which can start an initiative.” – Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks


And enabling the rapid creation of smaller teams

“We find innovation works best in enclaves.” – Bill Schaninger, McKinsey & Company

“They say if there are more than two pizzas on the table, the teams too big.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


At the same time cloud is allowing quicker delivery of new tools

“When delivering a new system, move at pace, use a ‘why not?’ approach and focus on your minimum viable requirements.” – Ben Wharfe, EDF Energy


Which can be adapted as time goes by

“The day you go live with an on-premises system, that’s the best it will ever be. From then, everything you add will make it harder to use. With cloud the opposite is true – it will improve over time.” – Ben Wharfe, EDF Energy

“The true benefit of the cloud is the constant development of the process.” – Annika Lindholm, Skanska AB


The most important thing, however, is to bear the end user in mind

“Too many systems are designed for HR people, not the workforce who use them.” – Jason Averbrook, jasonaverbrook.com

“Design thinking is not about a process, it’s about people – mapping a journey, seeing where people trip up and creating interventions.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


Putting people firstBecome the EEO


Even as we look to the future, it’s important not to lose sight of what’s going on within our organisations.

“You have to be the employee experience officer.Your job isn’t necessarily to deliver more cloud solutions or more integrated systems. It’s to make work better.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


Because it’s people who will always determine success

“CEOs aren’t responsible for customers. They’re responsible for the people responsible for customers.” – Simon Sinek, Simon Sinek inc.

“If you’re not providing a love at first sight experience for your employees, they’ll start looking for another relationship.” – Fernanda Alonso-Gautrais, Voyage Prive


And no matter what the future holds, engagement will always be key

“Engagement is at a worldwide low of 13%.” – Bill Schaninger, McKinsey & Company

We talk about motivation. The question is: ‘are you making it easier for people to do what you need them to do?’


Of course, technology can help…

“We’ve gamified our training using apps and the fun aspect is really key to each game platform.” – Huibert Evekink, Amadeus


But it’s not necessarily the most important thing

“The most engaged companies aren’t all new, small tech companies. The thing they have in common is leadership.” – Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte


LeadershipRealising the vision


Navigating the challenges ahead will require courageous decisions

“We call you a leader not because you’re at the top but because you go first – first into danger, first into the unknown.” – Simon Sinek, Simon Sinek inc.


“In 2012 Netflix was split between their mail order operation and their streaming service. They made the call to focus on streaming. They chose the future. Not enough businesses do.” – Peter Hinssen, Nexxworks


Because remaining conservative won’t be an option

“Most HR departments manage risk, not innovation. We need to flip that around.” – Jason Averbrook, jasonaverbrook.com

“75% of HR professionals in Europe expect investment in HR technology and innovation to increase.” – David Perring, Fosway Group


That means trusting people…

“We realized that it was better for our people to ask for forgiveness if things went wrong than to ask permission before doing anything.” – Anna Loew, Giant Swarm GmbH

“If we don’t have a sense of trust, if we don’t feel safe in our environment, the response is cynicism – the opposite of innovation.” – Simon Sinek, Simon Sinek inc.


And, where necessary, letting go of the past

“If you were starting out now. you’d have the internet as your starting principle. We need to reimagine our services.” – Martha Lane Fox, doteveryone.org.uk


Deciding what to prioritise is one such tough decision that HR leaders will need to make

“What do you want to be great at and what is it OK to just be OK at? Who wants to be the best in the world at payroll? Until you know what you want to be great at, can’t think about using new technology, because it affects how you deploy it.” – Jason Averbrook, jasonaverbrook.com


And if we’re to make these tough calls, we need to address the issue around our capabilities and the learning available

“The HRBP role is what Elliot Jacques would call a level 3 job. But most HR people have been recruited from level 1 or 2. So what do they do? They simplify the job to match their abilities.” – Nick Holley, Henley Business School

“We don’t teach our leaders to lead.” – Simon Sinek, Simon Sinek inc.


“83% of HR professionals said classes in communication skills would be helpful to their role. But only 35% thought the same of change management, only 32% for strategy management and only 2% for finance.” – Nick Holley, Henley Business School


And ensure that as well as thinking about the day after tomorrow, we take a holistic view of our own businesses

“The best way to develop HR people is to roll them in and out of the function so that they become intuitive about other business units.” – Nick Holley, Henley Business School


While there’s no denying that the role is getting increasing complex – and that technology will be key to overcoming the challenges we face – HR is even more human-centric than ever

“It’s not about being in charge. It’s about caring for the people in our charge.” – Simon Sinek, Simon Sinek inc.


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anticipating the day after tomorrow. oracle's hr tech world 2016 - coffee break cut

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