Human Capital Management (HCM) transforms the traditional administrative functions of human resources (HR) departments—recruiting, training, payroll, compensation, and performance management—into opportunities to drive engagement, productivity, and business value. HCM considers the workforce as more than just a cost of doing business; it is a core business asset whose value can be maximized through strategic investment and management—just like any other asset
The term HCM can refer both to a business strategy and a set of modern IT applications and other technologies that are used to implement that strategy. Though sometimes used interchangeably, the terms related HR, HRMS, and HRIS do have subtle distinctions:
Simplify your HRIS systems and manage your entire workforce with a single, global system of record.
Enable organizations to manage the entire talent lifecycle—from effectively sourcing and recruiting to onboarding new hires, managing goals and performance, rewarding for performance, providing continuous learning, developing careers and conducting talent reviews and planning for best-fit successors—all while keeping employees engaged.
Control labor costs, reduce manual processes, and simplify compliance for all of your employees, globally.
Attract and retain the right talent and drive value through a differentiated workforce rewards strategy. Maximize the accuracy of payroll and compensation data using modern and innovative technology.
The term “human capital” was first used in the 1950s and 60s as computing began to accelerate the automation that had begun in the industrial age. Economists and business people began to see employees not as replaceable units completing routine tasks, but as knowledge workers with specific skills and talents that could fuel business growth.
Not surprisingly, the term returned to prominence with the rise of the internet in the late 1990s. New technologies were rapidly automating a whole new set of business processes. While the internet changed the how employers and managers worked and collaborated. All of this change meant that workforce leaders had to transform how they went about attracting, retaining, and engaging talent in an evolving set of job roles.
This decade could be called The Golden Age of HCM. New digital technologies are enabling HR leaders to provide a more engaging and personalized employee experience at scale. At the same time, emerging technologies, such as data automation, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), have added new innovations for understanding, managing, incenting, and engaging the workforce. And HR leaders have a whole new set of tools that can maximize the value of their workforce, from intelligent, social-driven recruiting and personalized retention practices to highly optimized compensation.
The cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery models are quickly becoming the new normal for HCM technologies. The cloud approach accelerates deployment, turns variable capital expenses into fixed and transparent operating expenses, lowers IT costs, and drives agility by speeding and simplify upgrade paths.
Although there are many SaaS HCM providers, they are not all alike. In evaluating vendors and solutions, businesses need to ask key questions as they consider not just the HCM capabilities they want today, but the ones they will need in the future.
Clearly, technology is disrupting the world of work as we know it. New technologies are changing business strategies, eliminating job roles, and creating new work opportunities. But while traditional hierarchical structures are changing, the workforce is transforming as well—into flatter, more agile networks of teams, becoming more mobile, global, and diverse. HCM too, is evolving rapidly. Expect to see accelerating adoption of already-familiar technologies, such as SaaS and mobile, as well as leading-edge technologies, from machine learning to AI.
For global, comprehensive insights into HCM strategy, emerging technologies, and best practices, check out Oracle Modern Best Practice for HR and Talent Management. This covers: