Recruiting the very best talent available and retaining that talent will dominate HR and HCM strategies in 2015.

CRS Technologies, a leading local provider of HR & payroll services and solutions, is of the view that the management of talent will be the main issue on business agendas next year.

The second strongest influence on HCM and HR in 2015 will be compliance with corporate governance regulation and legislation.

This is a constant source of activity in the market and is driven by the need to enhance user experience. It is with compliance and the need to mitigate risks for businesses where user experience with solutions is brought to the fore.

Both these trends are expected to impact the human resource market significantly and will compel businesses to consider the technology they use and the possibility of having to outsource the responsibilities to experts.

James McKerrell, CEO of CRS Technologies, says the main consideration when it comes to technology is that it should enable business processes in a way that frees up decision makers to focus on strategy. “These professionals need to have the time to effect the necessary HR change and strategy alignment.”

The reality of today’s HR and HCM solutions is that they can be easily integrated and can add measurable value from an early stage, however, many of them still require trained personnel to operate. Otherwise, the value is diluted McKerrell continues.

“Typically employees are only exposed to the critical components on new systems in order to get them up and running as soon as possible. But this is only one step in the process, the crucial stage is to have employees understand the fundamentals of the system in order to extract the maximum benefit,” he adds.

This is a challenge in the solution development and supply market, and one that service providers have an opportunity to address in order to differentiate their service offerings.

When it comes to potential service provider partners, McKerrell advises that businesses source a suitable partner with the necessary level of knowledge and capacity to add value.

“I believe 2015 will be a very important year for HR and HCM. The market in South Africa has matured and is growing, but there are significant challenges that have to be met in order to keep the country on par with international developments and ensure that we remain competitive,” he says.