As the world increases reliance on Technology, some of us HR bods are very likely sat there in meetings wondering what on earth people are talking about, longing for the days we had a payroll book with coloured pens to highlight different types of Absence. But we don’t. I therefore believe you can either hide from technology or, embrace it. I do both!
I’m Louise Johnston, the Business Development Manager at Phase 3.
I’ve wanted to start this series for so long and really not be afraid to hold my hands up and say, “I don’t know”. It then struck me that many might be in the same situation as me where you seem expected to know something techy but actually don’t. I too have therefore felt like a fish out of water because I’m a HR person working in Technology. I have however learnt to swim thanks to an amazing team and want to share my knowledge with you.
So, if you work in HR and are learning that you are expected to know more and more about technology, whether its choosing a new HR system, fixing your current system or getting some help with BI or analytics, follow me and hopefully we can learn something together and build confidence when talking to software vendors and/or consultants.
I worked as an HR Generalist for 12 years and knew a fair bit about a well-known product called iTrent. Fate then brought me to Phase 3 where I met Kate Wadia. Kate’s goal was always to bridge the gap between HR and technology. Kate enlisted me to help her do that and since her passing it has really made me want to carry this on for her. So, I’d like to start reaching out to HR folk and help us to get to grips with buzzwords, trends and an ever changing world.
As HR people, we want to get on with the good stuff and let Technology do the boring processing. Problem 1: we can’t have the technology unless some sort of human has set up the technology.
Problem 2: I know nothing about software, hosting, universes, interfaces, infrastructure (insert as many scary words here as you like!). So how on earth can I tell a vendor or a consultant how I want my piece of kit to do, or how to fix my current piece of kit that just gives me a headache.
These 2 problems lead very quickly to Problem 3: I’m getting charged an awful lot of money for help that I don’t know is right or wrong. I can’t ask the right questions because “I don’t know what I don’t know”.
There we have 3 problems which soon spiral out of control and lead to a fortune spent on the wrong thing.
I can’t fix all your problems, but I can personally help you sound a bit more like you know what you’re talking about to make sure that you get the most from your HR system.
So, how is this blog going to work? I have a list of questions that I have taken away from meetings to ask the Technical people. But if you want to submit questions for us to answer please send them to me – Louise.Johnston@phase3.co.uk .We’ll publish this monthly from now on. Let’s get started…
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