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30 August 2012 10:16
A third of companies plan to increase their spending on HR technology in the coming year in an attempt to continue growth and improve efficiency in the face of a challenging economic environment.
According to annual research released by global professional services company, Towers Watson, over half (53%) of the 628 global organisations involved in the research were planning to match last year's investment levels while only 16% expect to reduce HR technology spending.
"In many ways this year's findings are surprising," said Mike DiClaudio, head of Towers Watson's EMEA HR service delivery practice. "Despite the obvious pressure on budgets over the past few years, many companies have decided that investment cannot be postponed any longer as HR departments face pressure to adapt and update the way services are delivered."
The 15th annual survey on HR service delivery trends and practices also found that, in addition to investment, more organisations were looking to change the structure of their HR functions within the next few years in order to deliver HR services effectively. According to the survey, 44% of the organisations surveyed indicated they will change their HR structure in the coming year, a sharp increase from the 26% of respondents who were planning this last year.
"Companies are increasingly gearing up for large-scale investment in HR change with the number of organisations planning a major restructure increasing by 75% compared to last year," said DiClaudio. "These are major change projects that take a lot of planning and investment and are not taken on lightly. After the last few years of uncertainty and cost savings, many organisations are realising that their HR structure needs to be refreshed in order to effectively service organisations that have themselves changed significantly over the past few years."
