Human tenancy plays the most significant role in any implementation program. You can have the best technology, the best implementation team, and the most abundant resources available, but if you don’t address some basic human tenancies, the implementation program will become challenging

“We just don’t have time for this right now” is a common theme in HR. It feels like no matter how hard HR teams work, the work is never done, and some projects get pushed out further and further. While technology promises to alleviate some of the team’s workload, reality can often be different—the more technology you plug in, the more work your team takes on. This is incredibly counterintuitive. So, where and when does it stop?

To be honest (and at the risk of aging myself), even today, when someone says AI, Tom Cruise and The Minority Report come to mind. Over the years, sci-fi literature and the entertainment industry have finessed the man vs. machine archetype. With AI becoming a trending topic in the professional world, some illogical beliefs are now permeating the content that I hear and interact with.

Just like doing pull-ups at the gym, becoming an HR Tech professional doesn’t happen overnight. We all have to start with knee pushups. While I cannot teach you how to go from knee pushups to full pull-ups, I can summarize the thinking patterns of some HR Tech and People Analytics pros out there so you can use them to become a pro yourself.

HR cloud tech has been around for over two decades. Yet, some HR leaders are still struggling to understand their technology landscape and how technology is integral to their overall strategy. So much so that I have heard the words, “We’ll just let the techies deal with this” in meeting rooms. If we can’t “get it” as a function in 20 years, do we stand a chance of fully understanding and utilizing tech in HR in the next five years?

Throughout my career, I have always heard two opposing ideas in HR Tech: 1) technology ignores the Human Touch, and 2) technology is needed to ensure the Human Touch experience continues. How can both ideas exist at the same time? I have started to make sense of it this week, and I'm inviting you to join me in deciphering the Human Touch Fallacy in HR.

Times are rough, and the budget is tight. Now more than ever, corporate functions like HR need to show everyone how scrappy we can be. What better way to showcase your ability to save the company a few dollars than by embarking on a collaborative journey with your IT partners, pooling your skills and resources to build an in-house solution instead of buying it from another SaaS vendor?

I have calculated, finessed, and recalculated the ROI case for HR for over a decade. Yet, very little has changed in the conversation about allocating a sufficient budget to invest in the HR tech stack. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get myself out of this rut until this conversation made me realize something: While HR’s role in the organization has matured and its functions and processes have become more complex over the past decade, how we view HR productivity hasn’t changed.

It's about what works best for you. We've all duct-taped and super-glued things around our house that really should not be super-glued together, and sometimes, you have to do what you have to do to get through the next quarter. Whatever decision you make, make sure you do it with your eyes wide open and that your stakeholders are well aware of the pros and cons of that decision.

While the desire for certainty has allowed organizations to thrive to an extent, it is tough to ignore the age of disruption we are living through. When, arguably, the only constant thing is change (and has been that way for a while). In this age of disruption, the yearning for certainty can hurt your organization and talent more than you think. After all, what got us here will not likely get us into the future

As an industry, HR has more than figured out how to build for and optimize high performance at an individual level. We have yet to figure out how to sustain and maintain high performance in the organization at a macro and environmental level.

As many potential AI solution users are still waiting to see how the technology and market evolve, this might be a good time to look at the foundational setup around processes and business rules. Because AI or no AI, getting the basics right will allow any HR function the flexibility and agility to adapt to changing workforce needs and technological advancements.

You can either agree with something or disagree with it. I think it’s much easier to state your agreement if you agree. If you disagree with it, it’s also relatively easy to state your disagreement, and we can work through it together. To me, the sentence “I don’t disagree” is like burning calories to say the words but not really convey anything in the process—it’s inefficient.

Have you ever wondered what is actually going through your prospects’ heads as you look at their muted icons on the conference line or watch their eyes move across multiple places on the screen as you present to them?

One of the most profound questions I heard recently was, “Is HR creating outcomes or just generating outputs?” That sounds like a redundant question, right? Is there a difference between outcomes and outputs for HR?

I felt uneasy about this a year ago because, first, we are looking to address a series of loosely defined problems with a set of incredibly defined solutions. Skills tech is sold on the promise of “if you do A, B, and C in this order, you will address challenges 1, 2, and 3.” Second, we are selling a solution to a series of symptoms that can be band-aided over by other “simpler”/more familiar solutions.

Regardless of whether you are a founder, business development rep, or account executive, here are some observations I’ve made from being on the receiving end of way too many HR tech sales calls, and suggestions I have from an industry buyer’s lens that might help with your future conversations.

As I told someone a few weeks ago, while I can write a whole playbook with tools and templates on how to start and scale a People Analytics function from nothing, it doesn’t guarantee success at another organization because no two organizations and no two stakeholders are the same. This is also precisely why I advocate hiring HR, HR Tech, and People Analytics resources with zero experience in the field.

HR shouldn’t only think about how it needs to function like a business unit; it also needs to think about its brand in the organization as a business. The simplest way to get there is with its People Analytics teams.

The unfortunate truth is that large organizations will probably not move much faster than they are just by the inherent way they are organized. The good news is that you, as an individual contributor or mid-level manager, can do things to help speed that along instead of staring into the abyss for a day when a decision is handed to you.