Next year, Subscribe-HR celebrates 10 years in business! For us, the last decade has been a journey of the road less travelled in tech. We've consciously made many choices that were different to the status quo for a tech startup in the SaaS space. Taking the road less travelled has not been without its challenges, however, we know they were the correct choices. They've resulted in Subscribe-HR being one of the only profitable HR Software businesses in the country. We did that by implementing a sustainable business model and built an independent, service and customer-driven business - all without tapping VCs, selling shares, or going public. Many HR Software businesses are built on massive amounts of debt, little to no equity and more often than not, generate zero profit. We're proud to say that we're now ten years strong and our business model is the exact opposite of that. AND. We're also proud to add a bronze medal for Cloud HR Software in the HRD Service Provider Awards 2018 to our cap. 

The way we work is in constant flux. Old assumptions about the best way to work are being questioned. New ways of doing business are being tested against productivity measures, return on investment and benefit to employees. A hot topic at the moment is the four day work week, but will it work for everyone? The reality is that absenteeism is a major ongoing problem in Australia. The rate of absenteeism across the country continues to rise, with as much as 5% of the Australian workforce calls in sick on any given day. To put it another way, this means that in a company with 20 employees, there will be one absence every single day. An unexpected employee absence can cost a business as much as $340 a day, while the annual cost to the Australian economy of lost productivity through absenteeism is a staggering $33 billion, with a total of 92 million working days being lost through unexpected absences. Whether it is a sign of entitlement or burnout, the impact these levels of absenteeism have on business are significant and some businesses are trying different ways of working in an effort to transform this challenge.

Every year, EthicalJobs hosts the Not For Profit People Conference in its home town of Melbourne; the biggest event of its kind in Australia. The conference provides an opportunity for NFPs, social enterprise and local councils to explore best practice in attracting, managing, training and retaining people in these sectors. The EthicalJobs platform was created almost ten years ago to promote businesses and jobs that contribute to a more equitable, more just or more sustainable world. With the rise of public awareness about the ethics (or lack thereof) in certain market segments, a shift to more purpose and values driven economic choices is underway. Every year, more businesses are transitioning to (or being started with) the mission of creating a more equitable, just and sustainable future. We've witnessed an increase in these types of businesses here at Subscribe-HR. In fact, an increasing proportion of our customers operate in the NFP, social enterprise or local council segments, and we recognise the importance of supporting these businesses. That's why we've signed on to support the Not For Profit People Conference this year.

With the mass adoption of cloud-based solutions, systems and apps, businesses need an easy, effective and secure way to provide access to the increasing number of tools being used by employees. Not only that, from a user experience (UX) perspective, making it easier for employees to manage access to workplace systems by reducing the number of user names and passwords, is a smart business decision. According to our Identity-As-A-Service partner OneLogin, the first and most critical step to achieve this, is to enable employees to access their business solutions, systems and Apps using only one username and password. Single Sign-On solutions enable you to layer multiple types of authentication factors for enhanced security, with the added convenience of only having to sign in once. Let's take a look at some best practices for Identity and Access Management (IAM).

A trend emerging inside the workplace, but outside of current HR best practice, is unlimited annual leave. The Guardian recently reported that communications group STW is offering its consultants unlimited paid annual leave, stirring interest in the business community, although it’s not the first company to do so. Consulting firm CEB Global estimates that about 9% of companies around the world offer similar arrangements. Netflix does it and so does LinkedIn. And Virgin Management, the parent company of Virgin’s worldwide operations, has offered its top layer of management in the US and the UK extended paid leave since 2014. So how does an unlimited annual leave policy look in practice?

One of our most popular ever blog posts dates way back to 2013, and we've decided it is time to provide an update because the world of work is constantly evolving. In the world of work and HR best practice, a lot has changed in the last five years. The key risk areas for HR change through time, and the risk areas we identified almost 5 years ago are a little different to those HR Professionals face today. Whilst it is true that there are certain risks that remain a constant in HR operations, it is also fair to say that the changing nature of work introduces new risks all the time. The current pace of change makes it hard for HR to keep up. Outlined below are the 5 key risk areas we believe HR needs to pay attention to right now.

Our last post about the Digital Transformation of HR made it clear that no organisation, business, government or NGO, will be able to realise a successful digital HR transformation without putting people first and having those people onboard and committed to the process. Many of you know from experience that when things change too fast, or the change management process doesn't take into account the individuals impacted by change, (as well as their concerns), this can be a recipe for failure. From a broader perspective, a poorly executed change management process can potentially result in organisation-wide resistance, which is a disastrous outcome for the business. As the way we work makes it more possible for the HR department to make the transition from an overhead towards being a revenue generator, and as HR best practice continues to transform, we pose the question: 'Can technology transform HR from cost centre to profit centre'?

Digital transformation isn't just ubiquitous, it is ultimately unavoidable and quickly being absorbed into HR best practice. Twenty years from now, few aspects of the world of work will have escaped the digital revolution. But what exactly does it mean for HR, and how can such transformation be successfully implemented, both within the HR department and organisation wide? What we're really talking about here is a change management process. A process which HR Professionals and business leaders are often being called on to execute in a new and constantly shifting context. Not since the third Industrial Revolution has there been such a significant change in the way we work, meaning that lived experience of this type of quantum leap in workplace practices simply don't exist in boardrooms and leadership teams. That's why resources such as i-Scoop's 'Online Guide To Digital Business Transformation' are so valuable. The guide offers a highly educational deep dive into what digital transformation is, what it requires of businesses, and how to implement such transformation successfully.