Do you have a cloud-centric HCM strategy? Per this Gartner report, by 2025 it’s estimated that 60% of midmarket and large companies will have invested in cloud HCM to help with both HR admin and talent.

However, they will still need to source 20% to 30% of their HR requirements via other solutions.  

How should they ensure this is money well spent?

It’s a complex landscape, where legislation, workforce needs, and employment practices are rapidly evolving. Cloud-centric HCM is a crucial part of the solution, but only if employers approach it in a planned and strategic way.  

“Moving human capital management (HCM) to the cloud is essential to doing business for most organisations in the hybrid world of 2022. Application leaders in EMEA-centric organisations supporting HCM technology transformation frequently struggle to determine an optimum investment strategy. This research will help you to determine such a strategy.” 

How EMEA-Centric Organizations Build an HCM Technology Strategy (Gartner®) 

Determine your organisational complexity

The first step, the research suggests, is to define the level of complexity in your organisation. Nine organisation types with differentiated investment approaches are put forward.  

The key factors here are the number of countries operated in, and the level of centralisation in the organisation. 

The needs of a centralised multinational, for example, will be different to those of a regional decentralised conglomerate. 

Define your technology investment options 

Having established where your organisation sits within the classification, the next stage is to opt for the most appropriate investment approach. Gartner® maps out the typical solution sets chosen by different organisation types. 

A full HCM suite, including payroll, is the approach most often selected. Large, single-country organisations and decentralised multinationals are among the types of company following this path. 

Of course, what others are doing is far from the only consideration. A number of key factors will have a bearing, including: 

  • Availability of technology 
  • HR process maturity 
  • Risk appetite 
  • Innovation appetite 

Then, of course, you’ll have organisational priorities, challenges, and constraints. To navigate this complexity, it’s vital to collaborate with HR, IT, and management stakeholders. Only then can you be sure of taking an approach that meets your current and future needs. 

Review market offerings aligned with each investment approach

Understanding the available market offerings and how they can meet your needs is the crucial third step. Payroll guidelines and regulations are both varied and continuously evolving. Organisations operating across the UK and Ireland, for example, must work with two different legislative regimes.  

For example, statutory sick pay and gender pay gap reporting are recent introductions to the Irish market. The UK is set for income tax changes and may have ethnicity or disability pay gap reporting on the horizon.  

To ensure the growing investment in cloud-centric HCM pays dividends, any strategy must include the ability to flex with changing HR and payroll circumstances. 

Learn more by downloading the full Gartner® report here: How EMEA-Centric Organizations Build an HCM Technology Strategy.

Attribution and disclaimer 

Gartner, How EMEA-Centric Organizations Build an HCM Technology Strategy, 30 August 2022, By Helen Poitevin Et Al. 

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.