HR Steadily Adopting Mobile Apps

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February 14, 2013 | COMMENTS

Slowly but surely, human resources (HR) is embracing mobile, reports Workforce.com.

Mobile applications for HR functions now include recruiting applicants and managing hiring, processing and approving time sheets, and filing health-benefits claims.

Recruiters and HR professionals who use mobile apps in their work remain a small minority, but their numbers will more than double this year to 13% from 6% in 2012, according to the 2012–2013 HR Systems Survey from technology vendor CedarCrestone.

So far, companies have used mobile apps for recruiting job candidates more than any other HR activity. That’s no surprise since recruiters were some of the first HR professionals to integrate smartphones and mobile apps into their daily routines.

In 2013, however, the industry will see apps for tracking payroll and time and attendance and will catch up or surpass recruiting apps for the first time—further proof of the maturing market, according to the CedarCrestone survey.

"2013 is going to be less about why and more about how—how to integrate, select vendors, and decide whether to go mobile website or app,” says Michael Marlatt, a mobile recruiting conference organizer and staffing consultant for Microsoft.

Some vendors are taking the intermediate step of creating mobile-optimized websites that smartphone users can log onto from a browser to do some or all of the tasks they could do from a desktop or laptop computer.
  
At companies that still rely on older, on-premise HR management software, adopting mobile apps for activities that aren't tied to those systems is now feasible. This includes functions such as on-demand learning, timekeeping and scheduling, certain elements in payroll, and talent management.

Recent growth is inspiring industry veterans to write their own apps, including one intended to launch this year to measure employee engagement. Companies can conduct simple surveys to gauge employee satisfaction, and then adjust accordingly.