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We evolve as we go or so we hope. When I have led HR Technology implementations in the past, my recommendations have been countered at times by word-of-mouth recommendations and/or reports by some of “human capital” firms who make it a practice of regurgitating the same HR Technology vendors in their HR Tech state of the union reports year-after-year. I think we can all agree having more information readily available has not necessarily meant for more qualitative information. In fact, I would say it is harder than ever to find a reliable, factual or useful piece of information.
The “Best-In-Class” Racket
I have read many reports on HR Technology and how players in each segment stack up. As an HR practitioner, user and HRIS Analyst, I was often dumbfounded by the results I was seeing in these reports for the following reasons:
1) Many of the HR Tech vendors that have been touted as being “best-in-class” were the most troublesome to implement, lacked in customer service and many other attributes that would be important to consider when shopping for and implementing a new system.
2) The HR Tech vendors that were providing service as specified or even exceeded customer expectations were often left of this “best-in-class” roster or given marginal ratings. How?
3) Very little of the information presented in the reports I was reading resulted from a significant sampling of actual customers who have had the experience of working with these vendors.
Users Trump All
If you are going to position your company to influence consumers on HR Technology purchases via the reports, analysis and data you provide, you better make sure that you have got the experience right from the ground floor where the practitioners live and breath with the technology daily. Part of the issue with evaluating HR Technology is as follows:
1) Too many companies rush to make hasty purchasing decisions without carefully considering teams, resources and the product’s compatibility with their processes-resulting in a lot of poorly implemented systems.
2) At the enterprise level, you have extreme variability in approach and execution with regard to sales and implementation teams with a specific HR Tech vendor. That means that, I could have a great sales and implementation team for Vendor “X” in NY; but my colleague in Minnesota will have a different team and likely a difference in experience. Different teams are fine. Variability in approach and execution from an organizational and branding perspective is not.
The G2 Crowd Difference
I believe I have encountered a report that is as true to the users experience as it is evaluating HR Tech vendors performance. The company that produces the report is called G2 Crowd. I have made their reports available here before. Their use of crowdsourced feedback from actual users makes for a far different report than I have seen. Finally, I am reading a report on Core HR or Recruiting Software and I’m not cringing at most of the results.
They published their Core HR report in July and I am comfortable with most of their results. I say “comfortable” because there are at least two systems I am not intimately familiar with – so I have to go by their evaluation. Below I share the “Core HR category” grid; but before we get there- some transparency for you. While I love a lot about this report and G2 Crowd, I have to tell you that I have not been paid by them to share this information. As always, I merely seek to keep you aware of the best of the best in HR, HR Technology etc.
What does Core HR represent?
Core HR is defined in this report as the following: systems that automate organization management, expense management, salary structures, benefits administration and time tracking. Below you will find G2 Crowd’s grid for depicting how Core HR vendors stacked up. If you are in the market for a new Core HR system and would like to purchase the entire report of customer-sourced feedback- visit G2 Crowd’s site here.
I have personally combed through their reports and found it to be a valuable asset to have when deciding which vendors to engage based on your company’s needs. Consider making this investment next time you are in the market for an end-to-end Core HR system. I can honestly say I wish I would have had something like this during the implementations I have been involved in.
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