Quincy Valencia's Analyst Perspectives

The past five years have witnessed unprecedented innovation and investment in HCM technology. As quickly as the world of work has changed, so too have new technologies emerged to support those changes to optimize human engagement and business outcomes. Point solutions and platform providers alike have made headlines with advances in talent intelligence, personalization within the flow of work, pay equity analysis, skills gap identification and AI-powered career pathing, to name a few. But one thing that people often overlook is that all this new data and information still needs a central repository; a single source of truth for each worker that provides a complete picture of an individual from hire to exit, and that is found in an organization’s core HCM platform. These platforms have historically been focused on process and workflow automation and compliance, a digital replacement for the personnel folder in a file cabinet and the in-and-out box on the corner of a desk. But in order to support the influx of new data and information from adjacent systems, core HCM technology providers have been evolving as well. The result is a new breed of HCM platform, as accessible and valuable to employees and managers as they are to human resources teams, engineered with user experience as an equal priority to workflow automation and compliance.

Organizations are constantly striving for agility and efficiency to stay competitive. From a human-capital standpoint, a logical way to achieve this is by moving away from a job title and education-based workforce and transitioning to one that is skills-based. This approach emphasizes the skills and capabilities of individuals rather than their prior job titles or education, enabling organizations to tap into a broader talent pool and adapt to changing business needs. However, creating a skills-based workforce requires overcoming challenges such as defining and measuring skills, changing workforce architecture and gaining the buy-in of human resources and business leaders to an entirely new way of viewing talent. Organizational structures today are largely built around functions with jobs that have titles and tasks to be completed. Individuals are evaluated for these jobs based on education, prior job titles and, sometimes, references, all used as a means of verifying that what is listed on a resume is true. In a skills-based workforce, the value of a resume is voided, as prior job titles and degrees would no longer be the pillars of measurement for a candidate’s qualifications, which I have previously addressed in this analysis as well as offering guidance in this publication on five strategies that should be embraced. Skills, though, cannot be verified by phoning a university or verifying employment tenure and titles.

The world is witnessing a long overdue and significant shift in the realm of pay equity and transparency. On March 30, the European Parliament passed the Pay Transparency Directive, mandating pay transparency and equity within organizations in an effort to close the gender pay gap and ensure equal pay for equal work. This legislation comes with teeth, providing strict mechanisms for enforcement including shifting the burden of proof from the worker to the employer in the event of legal challenges, and stiff fines and direct remuneration for non-compliance. Although not yet passed, similar legislation is under consideration in the U.S. Congress in the form of the Salary Transparency Act and the Pay Equity for All Act of 2023. Combined, these laws and proposals are signaling that this trend is likely to become a global standard. Many organizations have already adopted progressive pay transparency and equity practices, but for those that have taken a wait-and-see approach, preparing for the inevitability of pay equity and transparency mandates could prove challenging.

In recent years, organizations have struggled to find and retain the right talent to fill critical roles. This can be attributed to a combination of factors, including an aging workforce, a lack of critical skills needed for current and future organizational needs, and increased competition for talent from other organizations seeking similar skills. Our research shows that, within the next five years, one-half of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling in order to keep pace with the changing job market. As a result, organizations are facing a talent shortage and are struggling to fill their open roles with qualified candidates. This poses a clear threat to the ability to execute critical business initiatives. In response, we assert that by 2025, one-half of organizations will implement a more comprehensive approach to determining organizational readiness, including sentiment analysis, skills gaps identification and adjacencies assessments to optimize employee potential.

People analytics is the application of data and statistical methods to better understand and optimize the human capital within an organization. It has become a crucial aspect of business strategy as organizations seek to make data-driven decisions about the workforce. In the past decade, the people analytics market has experienced substantial growth, as businesses look for ways to gain insight into the effectiveness and efficiency of human capital investments. Most HCM technology platforms today boast native capabilities.

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index: Total Compensation Management 2023 is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal to human capital management vendors supporting the spectrum of total compensation management. Using this methodology, we evaluated vendor submissions in seven categories: five relevant to the product experience ﹘ Adaptability, Capability, Manageability, Reliability and Usability ﹘ and two related to the customer experience ﹘ TCO/ROI and vendor Validation.

Having just completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Total Compensation Management, I want to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced since our assessment three years ago. For more than two decades, Ventana Research has conducted market research in a spectrum of related areas including Total Compensation Management (TCM) as well as broader HCM areas ranging from employee experience, learning management, workforce management (WFM) to payroll management and learning. We have also done research on the employee experience and candidate engagement. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index.

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Learning Management Value Index 2023 is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal to learning management vendors supporting the spectrum of organizational learning. Using this methodology, we evaluated vendor submissions in seven categories: five relevant to the product experience ﹘ Adaptability, Capability, Manageability, Reliability and Usability ﹘ and two related to the customer experience ﹘ TCO/ROI and Validation.

Having recently completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Learning Management Systems (LMS), I’d like to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced since our assessment three years ago. 

A decade ago, organizations were sold on best-of-breed technology stacks. In the world of human capital management, that meant a separate system for each of the myriad processes that make up a worker's life span with a company. The approach seemed to make sense because a single system cannot be the best at everything, can it? Is it realistic for a single provider to create the most advanced applicant tracking, onboarding, learning, payroll, compensation, performance management, succession planning, benefits management and off-boarding system – all in one platform. And so, individual process owners purchased the software that would perform its single task better than every other system, and the Monster Stack was born.