The document discusses how technology is disrupting HR practices such as recruitment and healthcare spending. A survey found that 73% of companies' recruitment processes have changed in the last two years due to technology. While technology can automate some tasks, humans are still needed to make final decisions. The document recommends that HR professionals become proficient in data analysis to adapt to these changes. It also provides statistics on companies' recruitment budgets and tool investments.

1. EMBRACE THE TECH DISRUPTION

2. INTRODUCTION
The world is changing. The rise of machines in the day-to-day activities of Human Resource Professionals
is becoming the new normal.
Simply, technology is disrupting common HR practices across the board. Data analytics, more so than human decision making, is driving recruitment. Potential candidates are
chosen based on preconceived sets of data versus a phone call or the manual reading of an application/résumé. As technology continues to flood Human Resource departments
around the globe, more processes will be less human-involved and more computer-involved.
The same can be said when considering an audit of employee healthcare spending. Some of that spending is wasteful as errors continue to impact the bottom line. New technology
can help companies track spending and eliminate errors thus freeing up new funds.
How can Human Resource Professionals compete with technology? The reality: while technology seems to automate the practices of Human Resource Professionals, computers still
need humans to make the final decision on hiring the best candidate possible. Humans are still needed to interpret data and statistics when evaluating potential candidates. Humans
are still needed when decisions on healthcare spending must be made. In short, the human condition is more valid today than ever before.
Human Resource Professionals must become fluent in data analysis and its intelligent use. Its importance will impact all parts of the Human Resource field.
This report offers data driven solutions to deal with the changing human Resource landscape.
• HR Exchange Network conducted a survey with HR and Talent Professionals who have direct influence in their organization’s budget.
• Data for Embrace the Tech Disruption Report was collected between July and August 2017.
• 42% of those surveyed are Directors, VPs or C-Level Executives and 49% of respondent organizations have 1,000+ employees.

3. TRENDS
1. Recruitment planning is increasingly becoming a budget priority.
2. Technology is disrupting recruitment and hiring practices.
3. Technology is being used to mitigate healthcare costs.
4. Technology is being used to improve employee engagement.
RESPONDENTS OF OUR SURVEY:
COMPANY SIZE – NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
SENIORITY
0-500
C-Level
1,001-5,000
Director
5-10,000
Manager
10,000+
Other
501-1,000
VP
36%
12%
14%
5%
22%
25%
9%
54%
18%
4%

4. THE TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
HAS THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY CHANGED YOUR COMPANY’S RECRUITING OR HIRING PROCESS IN THE LAST 24 MONTHS?
HOW HAS HR TECHNOLOGY CHANGED YOUR COMPANY’S RECRUITING PROCESS? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
73% 28%Yes No
56%
Reduced time
cost to hire
8%
Increased length of
new hires stay with
the company
40%
Increased number
of candidates /
Improved quality of
candidates
22%
Increased
employee referral
29%
Reduced recruiting
spending
42%
Better reporting
42%
Improved the
Candidate
Experience
11%
Reduced turnover
11%
HR Technology
has not changed
recruiting process
In just the last two years, corporate leaders have recognized the impact technology has had on their companies’ recruitment process. In fact, nearly three quarters of
respondents make that claim. The effect has been different across the board. 56% say they’ve seen a reduction in time and in cost to hire. 42% say they’re seeing better
reporting and an improvement in the candidate experience. Companies also reported seeing an increase in the number of candidates applying for jobs.

5. BUDGET
0-20% 0-20%
41-60% 41-60%
21-40% 21-40%
61-80% 61-80%
81-100% No response
Can’t disclosure
HOW MUCH OF YOUR COMPANY’S RECRUITING BUDGET IS OUTSOURCED? WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR COMPANY’S OVERALL BUDGET IS ALLOTTED TO RECRUITING?
55%
17%
9%
3%
4%
64%
17%
3%
1%
18%
Human Resources do not directly produce revenue for a company. However, with the talent shortage, HR leaders have gained a spot at the C-Suite table. Companies are
investing more in recruiting in order to make it more efficient and reduce costs with turnover. In fact, 52% of corporate leaders say their company is using data analysis
or analytics to improve recruitment and hiring. Those include anything from applicant tracking system software to mobile recruiting tools. It’s important to note most
companies still allocate a large portion of their budget toward job boards, but more leaders are hoping to spend more on artificial intelligence or mobile recruiting tools.

6. DATA & ANALYTICS
IS YOUR COMPANY USING DATA ANALYSIS OR ANALYTICS TO IMPROVE RECRUITMENT AND HIRING?
52% 42% 6%Yes No No response

7. Job Boards
82%
64%
Employee Referral Platforms
RECRUITMENT TOOLS
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING RECRUITMENT TOOLS DOES YOUR COMPANY USE? (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) for screening resumes and/or selecting ideal candidates
11%
RPO
15%
Applicant Tracking System/Software
62%
Social Recruiting Tools
62%
Cloud-based Recruitment Management System
18%
16%
Mobile Recruiting Tools
36%
Video Interviewing/Conferencing Tools
44%
Employment Branding
12%
Recruitment Apps
30%
Recruitment Data & Analytics
7%
Predictive Hiring

8. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING RECRUITMENT TECHNOLOGIES WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR COMPANY TO INVEST IN?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) for screening resumes and/or selecting ideal candidates
42%
Job Boards
10%
Applicant Tracking System/Software
14%
RPO
3%
Cloud-based Recruitment Management System
29%
Social Recruiting Tools
29%
34%
Mobile Recruiting Tools
23%
Video Interviewing/Conferencing Tools
16%
Employment Branding
19%Employee Referral Platforms
22%Recruitment Apps
29%
Recruitment Data & Analytics
26%Predictive Hiring

9. IF YOUR COMPANY IS PLANNING TO INTRODUCE NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR RECRUITING,
WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME FOR IMPLEMENTATION?
0-6 months – 16%
6-12 months – 22%
12-24 months – 25%
24+ months – 10%
Don’t have a specific time frame yet - 23%
Company is not planning to implement new technologies for recruiting in the near future – 5%

10. HOW STRONGLY DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS:
EMPLOYER REPUTATION/BRANDING IS IMPORTANT FOR RECRUITING AND RETAINING EMPLOYEES.
HOW STRONGLY DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS:
A POSITIVE COMPANY CULTURE DETERMINES HOW LIKELY EMPLOYEES ARE TO REMAIN AT THE COMPANY.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Neutral
Neutral
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
75%
81%
0%
0%
22%
16%
4%
3%
0%
0%
“Did you know that having an engaged
happy workforce can increase your
profitability my more than 20%?” WorkStride, a
company located in New York, helps business leaders
recognize, motivate, and develop employees using
a modern rewards software program. Based on the
HR Exchange Survey, however, there seems to be a
disconnect between budgeting the money spent on
solutions and employing a technology-based solution.
A little more than 60% of survey respondents say they
allocate between one and 10% of their budget toward
solutions for employee engagement, recognition,
and/or rewards. Nearly the same amount says they
currently have a technology-based solution.

11. DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE A TECHNOLOGY
SOLUTION FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, RECOGNITION
AND REWARDS?
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR BUDGET IS SPENT
ON SOLUTIONS FOR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT,
RECOGNITION AND/OR REWARDS?
35%
65%
Yes
No
None – 18%
1-10% - 60%
11-20% - 15%
21-30% - 4%
Over 30% - 4%
“If you follow this journey again… you
recruit, you onboard, you pay, you
invest in performance improvement. You
invest in learning. And then when they
do all of that, you have to recognize their
achievements, right? It just
follows a natural progression.”
Tom Silk, Workstride Chief
Customer Officer

12. HOW OFTEN DO YOU HOLD PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS?
HOW STRONGLY DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS:
HR TECHNOLOGY WILL BECOME A NECESSITY FOR TALENT ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT BY 2025.
Once
per year
Agree
Twice
per year
Neutral
Every
quarter
Disagree
Never
Strongly
Agree
Regularly
Strongly
Disagree
3%
57%
7%
0%
48%
34%
34%
8%
8%
1%
Meeting with employees is important. In fact, interacting with workers as often as possible from
their first day is best. In terms of a review, it’s really an event to work with a system of record to
document all of those interactions.
“What works, generally, for most of our customers that I think are doing it
successfully is that you have a quarterly-type cadence where you’re putting
information into a system of record that ultimately culminates all of your one-on-one
interactions for the past couple of months,” Workstride Chief Customer Officer Tom Silk said.
“You don’t want to go too much longer than that because then you start to lose some timeline.
You lose some memory. You lose some, I think, cadence around it. And you don’t want to go too
shorter because then it’s like everything else. It’s just overburden monotony of… ‘I’m doing this,
not because it’s the right thing to do or it makes sense. I’m doing it because somebody told me I
had to do it on a monthly basis.’”

13. ABOUT THIS REPORT:
This report draws upon both qualitative and quantitative data drawn from reports, surveys, third-party
resources, interviews with subject matter experts, and proprietary data. The research was conducted by
HR Exchange Network.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mason Stevenson is the Editor at HR Exchange Network, overseeing content and
engagement across all digital platforms, as well as coordinating research for monthly
and quarterly research projects.
Mason worked at radio and television stations in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida most
notably WBKO in Bowling Green, Kentucky, NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, and News 13 in
Orlando. He has worked with elected officials at all levels of government, produced political debates,
traveled to Cuba, and produced half hour specials and town hall meetings on a variety of topics.
Mason graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2006 where he earned a Bachelors Degree,
double majoring in Political Science and Broadcasting.

14. ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTOR:
TOM SILK, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, WORKSTRIDE
Tom Silk left the mortgage industry to join WorkStride as its first salesperson in 2000. He proved instrumental in the early success of the company,
bringing on customers such as Pepsico, Samsung, and Verizon Wireless as the company built up its recognition and incentive software offering.
In 2004, Tom was promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing, heading up a nationwide partner network and taking over digital marketing
activities for the company.
Today, Tom is Executive Vice President of WorkStride, having facilitated the company’s sale to The Riverside Company in 2012. He has expanded the sales team to
include both channel partners and in-house representatives, built a marketing team, and formed distribution partnerships for the WorkStride platform. Under his
leadership the company has grown from a small startup to serve more than 100 corporate customers, including several Fortune 500 companies. Tom has a BS in
Accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

15. WorkStride helps companies recognize, motivate, and develop their
talent through configurable software, modern rewards experiences,
and strategic program design. Our software is a tool that companies
can use to help engage employees through recognition and improve
sales performance through incentives. But we do more than build
software—we work with you every step of the way to build, manage,
and communicate your program in order to get results.

16. www.hrexchangenetwork.com
ABOUT HR EXCHANGE NETWORK:
IQPC Exchanges are unique, invitation-only events driven by pre-scheduled face-to-face business meetings between pre-qualified solution providers and
senior decision makers. Thought provoking conference sessions, panel discussions, executive roundtables and innovative networking opportunities round
out the agenda, resulting in three days of focused knowledge exchange, high-level relationship building, and structured business development.
HR Exchange Network is the digital partner of live event producer HR Exchange, engaging a community of more than 270,000 HR professionals across our
digital platforms. HREN provides news and advice from our staff, contributors, columnists and sponsors, as well as educational and informational products,
including research reports, webinars, podcasts, videos, and more.