HXM Right Now — HR for the hybrid workforce

The last two years have been tough for Australian businesses. When Covid-19-related restrictions began to take effect, these businesses needed to evolve quickly, adopting remote working practices on an unprecedented scale. Now that the situation is hopefully improving, these same businesses need to evolve once more, moving towards a more fluid approach to in-office and work-from-home (WFH) models.

The hybrid workforce is going to be a key driver for business during the recovery phase of the pandemic, and way beyond. But, while this hybrid system does bring advantages, it brings challenges too. Businesses need the right set of solutions and tools to meet these challenges, which is why HXM Right Now, with its extensive suite of SAP SuccessFactors modules, is going to be making a real difference.

The emergence of the hybrid workforce, post-Covid-19

Covid-19 made significant changes to the Australian workforce and how businesses operate across the country. In August 2021 — following one of the most stringent periods of lockdown in Australia — it was estimated that 40% of employed individuals were regularly working from home. For managers and professionals, this figure was around 64%. 

Before the pandemic hit in March 2020, just under a quarter of the Australian workforce was working from home at least once a week. Other sources put this number even lower — the Australian Government's Productivity Commission, for example, cited a work-from-home figure of 8% pre-March 2020. During the worst of the pandemic, we have seen WFH arrangements become more common, and also more intense — i.e., long unbroken phases of remote work rather than working from home one or two days a week.

It's important to remember that remote work and WFH arrangements are nothing new. Australian business has been pivoting towards these models for many years, with digital technology supporting the shift. However, the pandemic accelerated the move to an unprecedented degree. Rather than a manageable shift from the status quo to a new normal, we were essentially met with an "embrace WFH or perish" scenario.

As we hopefully look towards the recovery phase of the pandemic, businesses are moving towards a more manageable form of WFH and remote work. This is the hybrid working landscape — essentially providing the best of both worlds. With the hybrid model:

• Businesses gain increased flexibility and agility from remote work.
• Businesses are able to reduce operational costs and minimise their carbon footprint.
• Employees also gain flexibility within their own working environments while also reducing the cost of commuting and other expenses.
• Employees gain the convenience of working from home without experiencing the isolation of a comprehensive WFH model.

Challenges and requirements for HR staff in this new landscape

The hybrid workforce certainly seems like a viable option, and people seem to agree. Increasing numbers of individuals say that they expect to see hybrid working in their own roles in the future, while 90% of those already operating in a hybrid environment said that their mental health had improved or stayed the same as a result. However, while the hybrid model does bring potential benefits for employers and employees alike, there are challenges to be overcome — not least in terms of human resources.

Some of the key HR challenges of the hybrid working environment include:

• Leveraging the flexible potential of the hybrid working model while adhering to structured growth
• Maintaining visibility for all employees — especially new hires — and keeping all team members on their growth and development pathways
• Ensuring equal access to resources, data, and tools across distributed teams and individuals
• Bringing staff members together for communication and collaboration
• Developing a strong corporate culture and identity
• Providing the proper support for all team members
• Guaranteeing regulatory compliance on an ongoing basis

Where HXM Right Now can make a real difference

HXM Right Now is an HR cloud solution that brings together a range of SAP SuccessFactors software modules, essentially providing a single access point for business owners. The idea is not only to ensure that human resources teams are properly supported with all the capabilities they need to manage the hybrid workforce but also to actively provide all of this capability to small and medium-sized enterprises.

SAP SuccessFactors modules, such as Employee Central, Performance & Goals, Compensation, and additional complimentary enhancements like SafetyFactors (Discovery's Workforce Health and Safety module) are already helping business owners to optimise their HR departments. These modules are well suited to the more dynamic nature of modern business — including hybrid working models — and provide the capability required to get the best of this flexibility and dynamism while retaining a strong corporate culture. 

However, they have not always been accessible to all businesses. small to medium enterprises (SMEs) may have had to look elsewhere to find the support and tools required, leading to a lack of unification and integration between solutions. HXM Right Now is a different proposition altogether, delivering accurate payroll monitoring, team insights, reporting capabilities, and compliance management, within one single vendor package.

HXM Right Now makes sure that businesses leverage the following benefits for their HR departments:

• A unified set of tools and processes, providing comprehensive insight into the whole employee experience from hire to retire
• Access to Employee Central, Employee Central Payroll, Recruiting, Onboarding, Learning, Performance & Goals, Succession & Development, Compensation SAP SuccessFactors modules, and SafetyFactors extension.
• Embedded insights and capabilities, all accessible from a single centralised dashboard
• Automated workflows to optimise HR tasks and provide insight into team performance
• Real-time, highly accurate payrolls delivery that minimises errors and supports a positive working environment for team members
• Modules designed with compliance in mind, including health and safety and incident management tools
• A scalable set of solutions that grows alongside the business

Implementing HXM Right Now

SMEs can gain access to all of these SAP SuccessFactors modules as part of the HXM Right Now single vendor solution, for the reasonable cost of $9.99 per employee, per month, per module. This means that the benefits of SAP SuccessFactors are available to all businesses that need them, regardless of size.

Installation, setup, and onboarding are quick — the full project is completed in only eight weeks — and there are no upfront costs. Reach out to our team today for a consultation and to get started.