5 ways to strengthen HR connectivity
The more versed you become in new digital solutions, the more capabilities you will be able to use.
When we consider digital capabilities in the benefits space, there are various ways these can improve the employer and member experience. Often it boils down to data – using personal and industry data to help employees with enrollment decisions, enrollment or claim data to identify trends, or simple demographic data to create reports or facilitate evidence of insurability (EOI).
Related: How HR can adopt and scale AI to keep up with rapidly evolving technology
Now we are looking beyond the data to focus more on how quickly and efficiently it can be shared, verified and analyzed. EOI, payroll, and other data-driven tasks can create administrative burdens for HR, and leave opportunity for errors that could impact the employee down the road. Here are five considerations to ensure you are connected and making the most of it.
1. Embrace digital solutions
Often new systems make us nervous because change can be uncomfortable. Digital solutions can be intimidating at first because their very nature means that they evolve and improve quickly. Additionally, these are functions that have been manual for years, so there may be a learning curve in transitioning over to digital solutions.
Bear in mind, the role of HR is shifting, too, perhaps this past year more than ever. Workplace culture and programs to help working employees amid a pandemic have become necessarily more intensive and more time-consuming for HR. When new digital solutions become available to you, embrace them and learn what the potential is for every HRIS platform and solution. The more versed you become in the platforms, the more capabilities you will be able to use, and the more tasks you can automate going forward. Ultimately, this saves a lot of time for other priorities.
2. Establish your digital partners
The development of application programming interfaces (APIs) is a growing trend, with different interfaces automating various administrative tasks. When done manually, these tasks can be daunting and tedious for HR professionals. EOI, for example, is an administrative task that is critical to get right but prone to human error, and takes HR away from things like strategy, wellness programs for employees, diversity and inclusion, and other priorities.
HRIS and benefits partners are making benefits management easier and more efficient by proactively establishing the API connections that automate difficult tasks. Review your benefits providers’ offerings to make sure your digital journey doesn’t shortchange your employees’ coverage options. Consider the product and capability support available, particularly with regard to implementation, which can be one of the biggest pain points employers experience when choosing a HRIS platform.
3. Know your goals
As with any business strategy, it is important to establish goals and then assess the best ways to meet them. With HR, often the goals center around freeing up bandwidth to focus on more issue-driven initiatives, like employee communications, which have become even more important over the past year. Goals may also be more business-driven, like improving HR efficiency and productivity. Whatever your goals are, seek out the API and other digital connection solutions that best align with those needs.
4. Tell providers what you want
Perhaps the most valuable contribution to the development of APIs for HR is client feedback. The ultimate goal of an API build it to make the HR professional’s job easier, addressing nuanced issues or concerns proactively in product design. Building these digital capabilities from the ground up means that feedback is directly applied to the final product outcome. This insight also helps designers better anticipate HR’s evolving needs so they can proactively address those angles in future iterations of the product, or in newer products and connection capabilities.
5. Keep up with digital HR trends
The pace of API development continues to grow at a rapid pace as digital technologies expand. Staying knowledgeable about the latest development trends will keep you and your company ahead of the curve. The pace of enhancements can set your pace for adoption, usage, and transition.
Digital solutions are designed with the employer in mind, and more are developing every day. Ultimately, these developments are being created to make HR professionals’ jobs easier. HR plays such a pivotal role in employee culture, whether that is benefits, career development, or employee support programs. Many HR functions need the human touch, but data functions, such as EOI or payroll, are improved substantially through automation. The more HR automates these data transfers, the more they can focus on the human side of Human Resources.
Kevin Krzeminski is senior vice president, national accounts, for Sun Life U.S. The national accounts strategic business unit specializes in delivering client-focused employee benefits solutions for employers with 2000+ lives, including group life, absence management, disability, and voluntary benefits.
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