Here’s the final in our 3-part series of HR tech trends & industry disruptions. What a great time to work in this industry!
Parts 1 and 2 of this series, can be found here, and here, respectively.
Otherwise, heed the warning once more…..hold onto your seat. Things are about to get real!!
Maturation of the Learning Market:
- Traditional ‘Learning Management Systems’ (LMS) are on the decline. Instead, organisations are purchasing digital tools, to custom-craft learning, best suited to their business needs
- New solutions like Workday Learning, Fuse Universal, SAP Jam and other tools focus on scaling video learning to the enterprise
- There is another category of learning products coming referred to as ‘learning experience platforms’, there the focus is on delivering a ‘learning platform’ and not just a ‘learning management platform’. In other words, they are places to go to browse and learn, not merely to register for courses
- A great article to reference from earlier this year, can be found right here
Benefits Technology
Employee benefits are the new landscape ripe for growth in the HR tech space:
- Technology is disrupting the HR industry with a change in dynamic for employee benefits, where new offerings are now on the rise. For example, managing employees healthy food choices or assisting with student load debt
- Gamification is becoming increasingly important in the talent benefits space, often seen as the motivator for achievement & reward – and of course, recognition
- ‘Smart Employee Benefits’, a SaaS company, is experiencing rapid growth in the US, with the automation of workforce benefits, in addition to a host of other functions
- Employee benefits are also taking on a new face, in the age of advanced HR tech: benefits such as flexible working arrangements, technologies and systems to cater for home working, blended workforces – all are seen as a positive in the ‘benefits’ realm, and all of which are due to or enhanced by, technology
Investment In HR Tech
- According to a recent study by SelectHub, the cloud is the dominant investment target for HR tech spend, followed by payroll and benefits admin software. To be clear, as a target, this means there’s yet to be further spending in these categories
- Flare, an Australian software company that manages the on-boarding of employees, payroll and other HR functions, recently experienced another round of funding: $7million via Westpac’s VC fund, Reinventure
- In the US, employers with at least 1,000 employees, spend, on average, $250k pa on HRIS (Aberdeen Group)
- Investor blindness seems to be on the decline with respect to HR tech: companies previously not on the VC radar, are now getting closer to centre stage, Smart Employee Benefits (mentioned earlier), is just one of these
- According to Workforce, CB Insights – a VC & angel investment database – in the first quarter of 2016, HR tech firms received approximately $600m in VC across 106 deals
- The trend of VC investment in HR isn’t abating: Zenefits (the online HR benefits tech company), despite recent financial woes, is the most well-funded HR tech firm, with $584m in funding rounds to date
If you’re keen to see the round-up from this week’s ATC Contingent Workforce Conference (which had a heavy tech leaning), click here to see our live feeds, analysis of presentations, interviews and more!
