Figuring out when to move forward with digital transformation can be tough and very specific to the organisation making the change. In the final article in our content series on talent management transformation, we look back over the past 12 months and take some of the catalysts for change we have worked with and outline when some of our customers felt it was right for them. 

1. Business growth

Business growth tends to be one of the primary reasons an HR team needs to accelerate its technology adoption. Whether it is a cyber security business with an international footprint trying to keep its growing team at the forefront of technological advancement, or a small UK-based telco growing faster than they can recruit people, the reasons to transform are as varied as the SMBs we speak with.

However, if your business is growing fast, the odds are your HR team is going to struggle to support this expansion without the right technology to help them recruit, onboard, manage and develop your new and existing workforce. 

In HR, admin can take over your life if you don’t have the right tools in place

2. Administration overload

How much admin is too much? In HR, admin can take over your life if you don’t have the right tools in place. This is why this catalyst is probably the most common one we see in the SMB talent space.

When an organisation first gets started, running HR through spreadsheets and shared drives can seem like a quick win. However, over time as your organisation grows, or becomes more complex, keeping track of everyone and everything without dedicated technology can start to cause admin overload.

By introducing the right tools for your needs, whether that be absence management, payroll or performance tracking, the administration burden can be significantly reduced. 

3. Staff retention

When one of our customers had an attrition problem, their exit interviews highlighted a lack of easy visibility into career opportunities within the organisation. This feedback initiated a project to launch a talent marketplace, making all job openings within the business accessible to all employees. This business moved to an internal-over-external candidate recruitment strategy and used its talent marketplace to highlight where its employees’ skills could take them within the business, how they could get there and the skills they needed to succeed. 

With the opportunity to learn and grow within an organisation stated as one of the key staff retention requirements, the need for talent marketplaces will become a real catalyst for talent transformation over the coming months and years. 

4. Compliance and reporting needs

Record-keeping requirements need updating when organisations change, grow or become more complex (for example, when employing staff outside of the country of HQ or new compliance regulations come into force for their industry). Keeping track of whether machine operators are up to date with their safety certifications or which mechanics are qualified to work on electric vehicles can become difficult without the right tools in place. 

The need to track, analyse and report on specific compliance requirements can introduce a real administrative burden for talent teams.Tthis can be the tipping point for many SMB organisations. With the risk of fines and reputational damage for businesses failing to demonstrate their compliance status, the need for digital transformation can become immediate. Introducing an L&D solution that automates much of the admin necessities that come with compliance tracking can be a real game changer for smaller HR teams.

The need for talent marketplaces will become a real catalyst for talent transformation over the coming months and years

5. Corporate hygiene

The modern organisation needs to identify the skills present in its business. This is no longer simply a nice to have. As skills change and scarcity in certain areas leads to business-critical challenges, analysing your existing skill pool to see where you need to recruit or develop will become nothing other than sensible corporate hygiene, on par with the annual financial statement or sales pipeline management. As organisations grow or become more sophisticated, intelligent skills management could make or break the business’s ability to react to market conditions. 

Supporting the modern-day SMB organisation

From growth and retention needs to administration reduction and compliance reporting requirements, the reasons to start your HR transformation journey are many and varied for the modern-day SMB organisation.

At Cornerstone, our dedicated SMB team supports hundreds of organisations just like yours every year to transform their people processes with award-winning, top-rated talent technology. 

We’d love to speak to you about how we can help with your HR challenges.

View the full content series on talent management transformation here.