Market View
Adaptive HR in a Dynamic World: Navigating Diversity, Jurisdiction, and the Modern Workforce
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Interview with
Philippa Barnes
Director, ReThink HR Ltd
About Philippa Barnes
Director at Rethink HR. Her role involves working as an HR consultant to help clients implement HR technology solutions such as core HR systems, recruitment systems, learning management systems, and workforce planning. She has a background in HR and has specialised in HR technology. Her work focuses on helping businesses get the right HR systems and data in place so they can make data-driven decisions about their workforce.
How do your clients navigate the complexities of operating under multiple jurisdictions with varying localisation requirements and business processes?
Often we find that organisations are using different HR systems in different jurisdictions. Historically, the global HR platforms were too expensive for many companies therefore businesses have often utilised local HR systems to address localisation requirements in that country.
However, this disjointed approach makes it challenging to share data and reports between the different systems, often resulting in manual processes. In some cases, global companies have very limited visibility into basic data and rely on their regional HR team to email information to HQ. HR needs to be able to pull reports across the whole organisation to analyse and derive business insights - integrated global HR systems make that level of access flexibility and efficiency possible. This in turn frees up so much time for HR teams to focus on value-adding initiatives instead of repetitive transactional tasks.
In addition, there are major risks and costs that come with continued fragmentation - I often see projected cost savings being a big part of the business case for implementing new HR systems. The benefits of a global HR platform extend across productivity, data accuracy, analytics, and compliance - enabling HR to become a much more strategic business partner.
Having a truly global HR platform is becoming more cost effective now with technology that supports a global approach and offers the ability to localise and adapt to different jurisdictions. This is a game changer for organisations who can now easily pull all their HR data together into a unified global HR system.
How important is it that HR platforms remain flexible and adaptive to the changing needs of your client’s businesses?
It's important that HR solutions are listening to their customers to understand what their organisations are looking for, to understand the challenges they face in HR and to proactively look to solve those challenges as they build out their future product roadmap. System flexibility and adaptability are expected because the nature of work is evolving. HR platforms should focus on evolving in collaboration with their customers, to listen and adapt to the customers' needs.
It can be a struggle to try to fit a one size fits all system to a global business with different processes and needs. And it’s equally difficult to manage many different systems with competing pieces of data that are not aligned. Ideally a global HR solution that supports localisation provides a much needed coherent central structure to the HR team.
As an example when conducting performance appraisals or salary reviews, in a global HR solution you can manage people paid in different currencies and support different review processes. Having a unified HR platform makes global complexity much easier to manage.
How do you anticipate the future of HR management given the rapid changes in the working environment?
We are continuing to see an increasing focus for HR teams to be making data driven decisions and this is only likely to grow. HR is called upon to analyse and process the data to deliver meaningful insights to the business. But it’s important for HR to understand which insights will be of most benefit to the senior leadership team.
When considering a multifaceted global scenario, start by identifying the key end goals first. What questions do executives want answered? What insights are needed to drive decisions? That north star guides everything. From there, map backwards - what specific data points are required to deliver those insights?
Building a comprehensive dataset with compensation, performance and business metrics is crucial. Starting with the end in mind ensures you get the full picture and select the right data points to inform the analysis. It comes down to understanding the business questions, then figuring out the data and processes needed, and adapting the technology accordingly.
How does technology play a role in ensuring that HR strategies remain current and effective?
HR is increasingly expected to deliver data driven insights to the senior leadership team. But data driven insights are only as good as the quality of the data, and data quality is a constant pursuit. When HR systems are new, the data is pristine. But inconsistencies creep in over time as more people start using the platforms.
One pitfall is lacking active governance - engaged data stewards are key. They understand the systems and care about integrity. Stewards play a vital role in catching issues early and guiding users. Training and detailed user guides are critical too - especially for new starters. Bad habits corrode data quickly. If they learn bad practices upfront, it becomes much harder to correct later. Active training and stewardship make a major difference in sustaining quality. You can't just set it and forget it - ongoing vigilance is needed.
You mentioned that HR should always speak to the value created by technology. How can HR highlight improvements and ROI?
Once users get accustomed to new HR system features, they often forget the 'before'. It’s important for HR to consistently track metrics - what time has been saved, what processes have improved, what data can we now present that we couldn’t previously?
This is where I see systems get challenged, because HR does not measure the value they have realised in using the system. This can become an issue when senior leadership requests information and HR is not able to address all possible scenarios and questions.
When HR can demonstrate the ‘before’ picture, how they were not able to produce data points before the solution was in place, and how much time is now saved, it demonstrates the progress made. It’s very easy to assume we can do all of this now and it’s normal, but the reality is, this is only normal because they now have a well functioning global HR solution place.
Before-after data highlights the ROI. Users may critique systems over time, but progress is still made. By quantifying gains in efficiency, insight, productivity etc., HR can showcase technology's ongoing impact despite inevitable gaps. HR should not lose sight of the big picture and the transformations that have been enabled. Stay focused on telling that value story throughout adoption - the tech itself is just an enabler, not the end goal.
About ReThink HR
ReThink HR is an HR technology consultancy that partners with organisations to optimise their HR systems and processes. With deep expertise across the employee lifecycle, ReThink HR specialises in HR tech strategy, implementation, and adoption. They stay on the cutting edge of HCM technology trends to ensure clients leverage modern, agile solutions tailored for their unique needs. ReThink HR reimagines HR for today's rapidly evolving digital landscape.
