New technology doesn’t solve all our problems, but man does it make life easier! Sure, we complain about people always having their faces in their phones, but you have to admit that navigating before Google Maps was mission impossible.
When it comes to HR, many don’t realize the technical challenges that go with the job. Not only are HR professionals resolving internal conflicts, but they’re also responsible for ensuring everyone gets paid the correct amount, every single pay period.
Even in smaller companies, this task is much easier said than done. Despite best efforts, things can and do go wrong. Direct deposit failures, missing salary information, and untimely notification of pay increases are just a few frustrating dilemmas that plague HR generalists on a biweekly basis. While technology can streamline the payroll process, thus far no software in particular has garnered much excitement in the marketplace. Until now.
Investors in the Silicon Valley have dumped all their eggs in one payroll processing technology basket, and the winner is ZenPayroll. This past week, the startup released a list of more than fifty investors who’ve placed their stake in the organization’s new product. Some primary contributors include CEOs from leading companies such as Evernote, SurveyMonkey, and Instagram. Other top investors to climb aboard include the founders of Yahoo, Reddit, and PayPal.
But what makes this software so intriguing?
The company promises a system that’s faster, cheaper, simpler, more efficient, and (of course) cooler than the competition, including ADP and Paychex. Executives of ZenPayroll plan to use this latest financial backing to expand nationally and advertise to more companies. Time will tell if the company’s product will eventually claim cloud supremacy, but one thing is for sure: for now at least, ZenPayroll has top investors on its side.
What else is new?
Great news for HR professionals! ZenPayroll isn’t the only exciting addition to the HR tech landscape. Advancements in hiring technology have begun to simplify the headhunting process. Instead of placing ads all over the internet in hopes talent will flock to open positions, automated outreach can be used to recruit candidates who already fit the job description.
Other trending technologies in the sourcing space include apps that allow job hunters to complete applications on their phones, software that informs companies how attractive they are to top talent, and programs that automatically reject candidates with “red flags.” These advancements are designed to save time and money in recruiting efforts and may even eliminate the need to hire recruiters all together.
Another big chunk of up-and-coming HR technology that will reshape the scope of business is crowdsourcing.
For those who aren’t familiar, crowdsourcing is the method of using the internet to gather information from large groups of people. For example, companies can use crowdsourcing to collect data about new product design. Crowdsourcing is also a means of getting answers to specific inquiries. At PayScale we have long used crowdsourcing to gather real-time data about trends in employee compensation. Crowdsourcing is an excellent alternative to the traditional method of artificially aging stale data to match the current market.
Looking to the future, we’ll see more companies begin to follow PayScale’s lead in using crowdsourcing technology to create products that are more tailored to consumer demands. After all, who wouldn’t want to get immediate feedback on an idea before it goes to market and fails?
Bottom line? It’s out with the old and in with the new when it comes to HR tech, and you aren’t going to want your company to fall behind the curve.
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