People, processes and technology all have to work together to have a successful HR organization. We – consultants and companies alike – know that, yet so often we seem to lose track of it. Or more precisely, we lose track of the importance of balancing our effort among all three components. We tend to favor and emphasize technology all too often, at the expense of improving processes and people.
It's easier to focus on how technology investments help us out because technology is impersonal (though it can have a personal impact). We can easily and objectively debate the merits and weaknesses of any given piece of HR technology. It's more difficult to objectively debate the merits and weaknesses of our own business processes, and most difficult of all – our people. It's tough for many HR leaders to go there, to admit their processes are messed up and they are at a loss on how to improve them, or that their staff don't have the skills to take the HR function to the next level of performance. Instead of those tough discussions, let's implement a new recruiting system, or let's outsource benefits administration. That's the easier, lower-hanging value-fruit.
I've worked with HR technology since the mid/late 80's – it has advanced by leaps and bounds every couple years. I like technology, and I know my way around code and configuration. However, in most every case, project and client I've worked with, the amount of value we can achieve is limited most often by people and processes, not by the HR technology. So although it is important to select the right technology for your given situation, I believe it is much more important to develop the business processes and people so that they can keep up their end of value-generation.