Have you noticed that there seems to be a bit of more serious, considered reflection about the role of technology in our lives taking place lately? As AI and algorithms become more ubiquitous, and our lives become inextricably linked to our devices and our digital footprint, there has been a call from some quarters to pause to consider how we can ensure a future where technology serves us and not the other way around. One of the most significant technological changes driving digital transformation in the workplace, is the focus on solutions designed to work the way employees do, rather than forcing users to change. The 'force fit' methodology that was prevalent in early tech was surprisingly common in the past, and the users had little choice but to convert their processes (and habits) to match the technology. Those types of systems won't have a long shelf life and it is more clear than ever that organisations which do not provide a user-centric experience won't be able to keep up as the future of work unfolds.

Management Guru Peter Drucker famously stated that culture eats strategy for breakfast. In a business environment where culture is more important than ever, developing your organisational culture is more than just having a set of values and a vision. Everyone in the business needs to live and breathe your culture and set the example. It needs to be part of everything you do, and it should act as a set of rules to help guide and empower your people with decision making. It is only when values are taken off the wall lived by all employees in word and action that you can say your organisation has a strong corporate culture. Reduced to its essence, culture = values x behaviour. In this week's HR Blog, we look at why it is important to ensure values and behaviours align, and culture is a lived experience not just a slogan.

Our recent HR Blog about the rise of the social enterprise defined this as the overarching theme of Deloitte's 2018 Human Capital Trends Report. The rise of the social enterprise reflects the fact that social capital is achieving a newfound status alongside financial and physical capital as a measure of the value of a business. This change is being driven by many factors, with trust being one of the leading metrics. Ernst & Young's global study on trust in the workplace poses the question 'could trust cost you a generation of talent?' The subtext being that businesses that don't take the trust issue seriously could suffer long-term consequences. Edelman's annual trust barometer for 2019 presents a more positive view for employers. Despite a high lack of faith in 'the system' and institutions overall, there is one relationship that remains strong, and that is the one individuals have with their employer. So how can HR Professionals ensure that these big picture signals aren't ignored in the rush to tick items off ever lengthening to do lists? Let's unpack the headlines so that you have a clear picture of how the world of work is evolving and which HR trends matter to your business in 2019.

In preparation for HRD's annual summits this year, they consulted with over 3,000 HR professionals around the Asia-Pacific region through roundtables, surveys and one-on-one executive interviews about their most pressing challenges. The results of that consultation process resulted in a wealth of insight from respondents across 10 countries. Their findings will form the basis for the topics explored and speakers presenting at this year's HRD Summits. In this HR blog, we're going to explore one of those topics - the top 5 goals of HR tech in 2019.

There is a radical transformation taking place in the public's relationship to the organisations from whom they purchase products and services. As trust levels between the public and large institutions like Government continue to decrease, private sector businesses are being called on to fill the resulting gaps in social responsibility. In Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends Report, they make it abundantly clear that organisations are no longer assessed solely on traditional metrics such as financial performance, or the quality of their products or services. Rather, organisations today are increasingly judged on the basis of their relationships with their workers, their customers, and their communities, as well as their impact on society at large, transforming them from business enterprises into social enterprises. Forecasts indicate that this trend will continue to grow and that business would do well to take heed, take stock, and ensure that going forward, there are strategies in place to make the transition to being a social enterprise.

In an environment where it is virtually impossible to get consensus on anything, I think it is fair to say that people on all sides of the equation can unite on this: no one likes to fill in or process forms. Not only that, another truism that you could add to the certainty of death and taxes is the fact that there is no getting around the high number of forms new employees have to complete when they commence employment. From employment requisition and authorisation to hire, through to requirements like tax and super declarations, Onboarding new employees requires A LOT of forms. If you're still using paper to record and process this type of information, then you're still victim to manual double (or more) handling. This is an extremely inefficient way to operate in today's business environment, not to mention an expensive one. If you're ready for change, but you're not quite sure where to begin your digital transformation, digitising your forms is an easy place to start. It also gives you big wins, quickly, with minimal impact on your budget.

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.