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This article first appeared in the Australian Financial Review on 25 March, 2021.
For businesses with employees, having good human capital management systems and processes in place has always been important.
But the rapidly changing dynamics being experienced across the workforce, including the significant increase in contract workers, and the number of full-time people now working remotely, means having optimal systems has arguably become more critical than ever.
Remote working, remote learning, automation, the virtual employee experience, and data-driven HR are all trends that have accelerated in response to the global pandemic, shifting the ways in which organisations operate and manage their people.
As organisations expand across locations, hire remote employees, and manage multiple workforce types, the need for structured human capital management software has grown significantly. Companies are increasingly looking for technology that can centralise HR administration, automate workforce processes, and maintain compliance across the full employee lifecycle.
It’s why more and more businesses are turning to fully integrated, scalable, and customisable human capital management digital solutions to manage and proactively engage with their employees.
These platforms, often referred to as HCM software systems, enable organisations to manage recruitment, onboarding, payroll, workforce compliance, employee performance, and workforce analytics in a single connected environment.
Human capital management explained
Human capital management (HCM) practices are focused on organisational need and generally fall into three categories:
- Workforce acquisition
Attracting and hiring the right people - Workforce management
Administering payroll, contracts, compliance, and workforce processes - Workforce optimisation
Developing employee capabilities and improving organisational performance
In simpler terms, human capital management guides an organisation’s approach to hiring, managing, and optimising how its workforce performs its work.
If implemented correctly, HCM practices improve productivity, support a business’ strategic goals, streamline operations, and help organisations scale sustainably.
To support these practices at scale, many organisations adopt cloud-based human capital management systems, which enable HR teams to manage workforce data, automate administrative processes, and support employees throughout the entire employment lifecycle.
HCM solutions
These solutions are enabling employers to interact with their workers at every touch point, from the moment they hire people right through the full cycle of their employment.
Modern human capital management platforms are designed to support the entire employee lifecycle, helping organisations manage people, processes, and compliance in a structured and transparent way.
As well as full payroll management, businesses are wanting platforms that provide advanced features such as paperless employee onboarding, online induction and learning modules, performance management benchmarking and measurement capabilities, along with easy access to employee and business analytics.
These capabilities reflect the growing demand for digital HR management systems that allow HR teams, managers, and employees to interact with workforce processes in real time.
For example, many companies now implement cloud-based human capital management systems so employees can complete onboarding documentation, training modules, and compliance checks from any location. This approach supports distributed teams, remote hiring, and modern workforce mobility.
And another vital need is having a robust compliance framework around everything, because getting employment processes correct from the very beginning is essential.
Organisations increasingly recognise that HR compliance management software plays a critical role in mitigating employment risk, ensuring labour law compliance, and maintaining accurate employee records.
Benefits of HCM software
Adopting human capital management software to put HCM practices into place can streamline everyday procedures and allow HR and payroll teams to focus more on strategic work.
Depending on the HCM platform adopted, HR functions such as onboarding, payroll administration, and workforce reporting can be automated. This can improve workforce efficiencies, reduce administrative overhead, and help mitigate compliance risks across an organisation.
Automation of HR & payroll processes
Automation is one of the most practical benefits of modern HCM software platforms.
Studies consistently show that HR managers spend a large portion of their time in meetings and on administrative tasks, followed by risk and compliance responsibilities. Automation allows organisations to reduce manual processes and redirect HR resources toward workforce planning and employee development.
Automated workflows can handle repetitive HR and payroll tasks, replacing manual and paper-based procedures. Examples include:
- Screening CVs when sourcing new talent
- Segmenting and organising candidate applications
- Managing timesheet calculations
- Updating leave balances in payroll once requests are approved
By automating these processes within human capital management systems, organisations can significantly improve operational efficiency.
Enhanced employee experience
Modern HR strategies increasingly focus on empowering employees to manage their own workplace information.
Many human capital management platforms include employee self-service tools that allow staff to submit timesheets, request leave, update personal information, and access pay slips without requiring manual HR intervention.
Mobile accessibility is also increasingly common. A well-designed HCM system often includes mobile applications that allow employees to interact with HR systems securely from any location.
As an employee’s first touchpoint with an organisation’s HR processes, HCM software can also transform the onboarding experience.
Xemplo’s own advanced onboarding includes WH&S inductions and employee background checks integrated into a single online journey, allowing new hires to complete documentation before their first day and begin their role with greater clarity and preparedness.
Centralised workforce data
One of the most valuable capabilities of human capital management software is its ability to consolidate workforce data into a single system.
A well-integrated HCM platform connects HR processes with payroll, finance, and accounting systems to create a centralised source of truth across an organisation.
This centralisation improves visibility across workforce data, allowing HR leaders to make more informed strategic decisions.
Employee information stored within HCM systems often includes:
- Contact details
- Employment contracts
- Licences and certifications
- Work rights documentation
- Training records
Centralising this information in one secure platform allows organisations to monitor workforce credentials, manage compliance obligations, and maintain accurate employee records.
Stronger data security
Workforce data includes some of the most sensitive information within any organisation.
HR teams are responsible for ensuring employee data is stored securely, accessed appropriately, and protected from unauthorised use.
Human capital management software helps address these responsibilities by encrypting workforce data and storing records securely within cloud-based environments.
Access permissions can also be configured based on role requirements, ensuring that managers, HR staff, payroll administrators, and external advisers only access information relevant to their responsibilities.
Compliance & regulatory oversight
Compliance is one of the most important reasons organisations adopt human capital management systems.
Managing compliance manually becomes increasingly complex as businesses grow, hire remote workers, or operate across multiple jurisdictions.
HCM software can monitor employment documentation, alert HR teams when contracts or work rights are approaching expiry, and notify organisations when legislative changes affect workforce obligations.
Xemplo has been architected with a compliance framework that uses workflows defined by in-country employment experts to guide HR processes, including how to engage new workers correctly based on their employment type, whether independent contractor or permanent employee.
The platform also supports compliant procedures for managing employee performance, disciplinary processes, and termination decisions.
HCM platforms with multi-jurisdictional capabilities can also offer employment contracts, policy templates, and HR documentation that are maintained in line with evolving workplace legislation.
Cost efficiencies through streamlined HR operations
While human capital management software does not necessarily replace people, it can deliver tangible cost efficiencies for organisations.
By simplifying and automating HR administration, organisations can reduce the time required to manage workforce processes, allowing HR teams to focus on more strategic responsibilities such as workforce planning, employee engagement, and talent development.
For growing organisations, this efficiency can help align HR resources more closely with workforce size and operational needs.
Workforce compliance & employment contracts
A key feature of Xemplo’s platform is that it provides its users with a wide range of industry-specific employment contracts that are legally compliant, which effectively eliminates the risk of a company running into employment contract issues down the track.
“Everyone wants to talk about pay issues but don’t respect the compliance upkeep across the employment life cycle,” explains Sean Donnelly, chief technology officer of Australian digital human capital management platform Xemplo.
“Xemplo provides a framework for the management of a workforce.”
The workplace contracts on Xemplo’s system are fully customisable, enabling the inclusion, or exclusion, of specific contract clauses, and the ability to make additions and amendments over time.
The system also enables users to upload their own employment contracts, and then seek legal input, either from Xemplo’s employment lawyers, or from an external firm, or other type of specialist.
Donnelly adds: “There’s a lot of smarts in the system that lets a company, or HR manager, configure how they want to employ people. There’s full visibility over how many employees are using a contract, and as workplace updates come up we proactively notify customers of changes, and which employees have been affected by those changes."
Ongoing compliance in human capital management
It’s not only imperative to have employment contracts that are applicable to different workforce types and employment conditions, but ones which are fully compliant with the workplace laws applicable in specific jurisdictions.
Not having that compliance overlay potentially brings serious business risks to the fore.
Sean Donnelly notes a key reason why some businesses are being targeted is simply because the contracts they’re using are not up to date in terms of current workplace laws.
“If a contract is wrong, it’s a problem right from the employment, or contracting, stage,” says Donnelly.
“Employing people incorrectly is a significant commercial risk for any business.”
