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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

NGA HR research reveals HR systems failing to meet employee demands

inability to harness new technologies limiting workforce productivity and HR performance

NGA HR, formerly NorthgateArinso, warns that HR operations may be falling behind when it comes to keeping up with the latest technologies that employees now demand at work.

The results of NGA HR’s ‘Mind the Gap’1 research report, conducted by Coleman Parkes, found many HR IT systems fail to address employees’ demands and this is hindering staff productivity and operational performance.

The advent of new mobile and cloud-based technologies, and a more flexible, mobile workforce means employees want to work smarter and more efficiently, even when on the move. NGA HR’s research found that whilst there is a clear appetite for greater productivity and mobility, the tools are not yet in place or being fully adopted when it comes to HR systems.

Few businesses are able to provide access to HR systems to employees on the move with many only able to connect using laptops. The research found that less than one in three (28 per cent) can log on to HR systems via a tablet, fewer than one in four via smart phones (24 per cent), with the figure dropping to less than one in five for Android phones (18 per cent).

Conversely, HR leaders have higher levels of accessibility to their HR IT systems than end users. In general, around half of those questionned can access systems over tablets (50 per cent) or smartphones (48 per cent) and almost one in four over Android phones (37 per cent). According to NGA HR this difference in accessibility levels is mainly due to security concerns or limited budgets.

“The mobile workforce is a not a future phenomenon, it’s here now. Our research found that access to HR systems from smartphones and tablets is limited in many cases and this shouldn't be the case,” commented Jonathan Legdon, president and CEO, NGA HR UK and Ireland. “HR systems need to be simple and easy to use so that employees on the move can take advantage of productivity improvements that can be made through HR solutions – less time on admin, more time on adding value to the business.”


1Research Methodology

The ‘Mind The Gap’ research included 100 HR leaders and over 200 employees and examined the progress made by organisations in harnessing new HR technologies in order to help employees be more productive and to improve HR performance.

In-depth interviews were conducted with HR leaders followed by an online questionnaire completed by over 200 employees. All participants worked in UK-based companies with more than 500 employees.