HCM software has been commonplace in enterprise organizations for the past few decades. What began with automating transactional tasks, like payroll, vacation tracking, and time sheet management, has evolved into an enterprise suite of software that helps large organizations manage and maintain all facets of its workforce. With the push to modernize on-premises environments with digital technologies, now may be the optimal time to move to Oracle HCM Cloud.
Talent management is a key area of the HCM space that’s advanced far beyond transactional processes from a capabilities standpoint, and Oracle HCM Cloud’s full suite of functionality covers recruiting, retention, learning management, performance appraisals, career development, and succession planning, along with talent analytics. It’s an example of how HCM has become a strategic asset for an enterprise. The cloud HCM solution integrates seamlessly with ERP Cloud and provides the foundation for a digital HR solution for the modern enterprise.
However, let’s keep our focus on talent management for the moment and explore two key advances in this area of Oracle HCM Cloud:
Digital Assistants Enhance Employee Experience and Mobility
Chat bots, or what Oracle calls digital assistants, are already available to support the digital goals of HR leaders. For example, employees should simply be able answer a series of questions from the digital assistant and raise absence requests, check their balances and avail of additional information as needed.
UIPath Partnership Enables Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Oracle launched its partnership with UIPath in 2018. Oracle expects to deliver even more digital functionality based on RPA which embeds intelligence into a bot to automate high volume transactional activities. One example is reducing the amount of payroll transactional data keyed by payroll administrators. The UIPath partnership is opening-up new doors for RPA process optimization across enterprise functions.
Picking back up on the topic of an HCM cloud solution that’s integrated with an ERP cloud solution, much like Oracle HCM Cloud and Oracle ERP Cloud, multinational enterprises that deal with a continuum of acquisitions and consolidations can find huge benefits from the integrated functionality, including:
Native-Built Modules with Rich Functionality
From transactional HR modules to complex workflows to strategic workforce initiatives, each module in the hire-to-retire lifecycle is purpose-built for Oracle HCM Cloud. With a guided on-boarding workflow, new employees can quickly understand which mandatory trainings to attend, discover mentorship opportunities, advance their career, get answers to common HR questions, and view FAQs to locate answers to specific questions. With an integrated Oracle HCM Cloud and Oracle ERP Cloud, there are no clunky third-party interfaces, which avoids functionality gaps and creates a cost-effective solution.
Standard but Flexible
Most enterprise organizations want flexibility in their cloud solutions, and HCM is no exception. At the same time, no one wants to reinvent the wheel. However, rigid products that don’t allow a company to tailor the solution to accommodate critical nuances doesn’t work either. Oracle HCM Cloud balances the fine line between standardization and custom functionality. Whether you’re dealing with localizations, implementing new workflows, or integrating alerts, Oracle HCM Cloud gives you the flexibility you need with the standardized functionality you want.
Contextual Insights and Help
Consumer-like experiences are an expectation in the enterprise application space these days. Hyper-personalized systems automatically recommend content based on search strings, allowing employees to find specific information and accomplish an HR task. With company data all in one place in a cloud-based Oracle HCM and ERP Cloud implementation, information is accessible and always up to date.
Mature Framework for Career Management
Gone are the days of the uniform career advancement. Millennial and Gen Z workers want personalized career mentoring, self-initiated and self-guided learning opportunities, and transparency of career paths across the enterprise. Oracle HCM Cloud provides Development Planning and Career Development Modules to track skills and map career paths. This advanced functionality allows managers and direct reports to create and track development goals, compare achievements with requirements for a sought-after role, and seek advice in learning communities and enterprise social forums. The HR department can also determine where there are skill gaps and clusters of similar skills to strategically plan for new initiatives.
UI, UI, UI
It is so important and can quite literally grow or hinder user adoption and engagement. Oracle has invested time and attention on its HCM Cloud UI to make the platform as intuitive as possible, especially with the responsive UI introduced in Oracle Cloud R13 to further support smartphones. With digital assistants providing self-service workflows to guide transactional processes, the UI helps the employee manage how much or how little personal information the application captures.
The role of HR and HCM in an organization has evolved dramatically to become a strategic asset, guide the organization on workforce trends, indicate skill gaps or points of strengths, and enhance the employee experience to boost retention. Oracle HCM Cloud has evolved right along with this shift, and it can facilitate the goals of an enterprise HCM team.
Now that we understand the importance of the digital transformation in your organization, most people would ask where do you really begin your digital journey from? The following points would provide some insights on how to embark on this digital journey.