Keeping HR technology simple and accessible

The first-ever HR Festival Asia, brought to you by the combined experience of HR Technology Conference & Exposition (US) and HR Summit (Asia), takes over the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre on May 8 and 9. With a line-up of more than 100 speakers across six dedicated streams, and an Expo Hall with more than 100 exhibitors, there’s a little something for everyone at the event. Check out our HR Festival Asia tag for more coverage direct from the event.

For Singapore food and beverage group The Lo and Behold Group, it was imperative that its HR technology was designed to be simple, accessible, and integrated.

That was because its previous administrative and productivity systems were complicated, isolated, and had limited accessibility, Chief Talent Officer Merle Chen told audiences at the HR Tech Stage at HR Festival Asia.

“We wanted the technology to be all those things so as to provide a superior employee experience,” said Chen.

That objective led Lo and Behold to implement a HR Management System across the organisation. But the roll out was, as Chen said, “where the rubber met the road for us”.

The deployment hasn’t always been easy, but having a strategic approach has helped to ease this transition to a new platform for employees. System functionalities are timed to be launched around the needs and activities of the business, rather than all at once.

At a micro level, HR also took a unique approach to coaching employees on the new system. Instead of using FAQs and user manuals which are lengthy and uninteresting, HR posted YouTube video guides to help employees familiarise themselves with the tools.

Even HR, which was involved at every stage of the system design, found it difficult to keep up at times.

“HR itself had to go through the biggest change. We had to list down every step of every process. It’s a tough journey, but the right one,” said Chen.

Chen concluded her talk by saying that the key to a successful technology roll-out lies in keeping a tight focus on the culture of the company and its goals.

“Have the courage to learn, unlearn, and relearn, and never forget to have fun and keep the heart of your teams strong,” she said.