Employers have been using defined contribution plans to attract and retain top talentsince the launch of 401(k)s in 1978. These plans transferred most of the risk involved with defined-benefit plans from the employers to the employees. The only problem? Managing a 401(k) comes with high administrative costs that most small businesses can’t afford. As a result, only 53% of workers at private companies with fewer than 100 employees have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans.

People continue to quit their jobs at a mind-boggling rate as the Great Resignation continues. More than 4.4 million people left their jobs in 2022 so far. Employees are being more selective about the employers, company cultures, and the nature of the work.

You’ve finally decided that you’re going to outsource some or all of your payroll woes! But when you sit down to research the market and find potential vendors, you’re overwhelmed by a never-ending list of payroll service providers — each claiming to be the best.

When considering payroll options, it’s important to choose a reputable company. Ultimately, it’s your business that’s responsible for paying your employees and your taxes on time — not the payroll service provider.

There’s a lot at stake here. You should do your homework to ensure the payroll company you pick is compliant with regulatory standards, offers what you need, and is reliable.

The market for HR technology is always changing, especially software solutions and how they’re packaged by vendors. The lines between the terms used for different HR software have become increasingly blurry. Perhaps the two terms that are most often confused are human resource information system (HRIS) and human capital management (HCM).

It’s common for people to confuse these types of software because they overlap in terms of their functionalities. However, these solutions have historically differed in terms of their scopes. Whereas an HRIS typically only deals with core HR responsibilities, an HCM system offers everything an HRIS does, along with features for talent management and advanced analytics.

You’ll likely come across these terms when researching tools to digitize HR. Having clarity on HCM vs. HRIS will help you select a suitable solution that fits your needs.

HR was traditionally viewed through a narrow lens — a function that relied on intuition to make decisions with no real way of measuring their impact. The closest HR managers got to analytics was reporting on a handful of metrics, such as headcount, employee retention, and turnover. However, they rarely got involved in extracting insights for business leaders and driving company-wide decisions.

Today, analytics is at the center of HR. Known as people analytics, it’s what enables businesses to make informed strategic decisions about workforce and talent management. 73% of HR professionals say that people analytics will remain a top priority for their organizations until at least 2025, according to LinkedIn.

Your company will experience higher efficiency, happier employees, and better decision-making by relying on people analytics. More businesses are beginning to realize these benefits and are investing in analytics solutions to gain a competitive edge.

When a business reaches a certain number of eligible participants for their 401(k) plan, federal law requires an independent audit of that retirement plan. Larger companies are more accustomed to this annual requirement. However, owners and managers of growing businesses may never have experienced a 401(k) audit or don't know enough about it.

You probably have a lot of questions if you’re about to undergo an audit for the first time. At what point is an employer required to complete a 401(k) audit? What is an "eligible participant," and why is this important? Who performs the audit, and what documents do they need?

A little homework will help you determine whether or not a 401(k) audit is required. Plus, it’ll help you better prepare for one.

Your work experience, accomplishments, and education largely define your career as a human resources professional. But a competitive certification tucked in your title and resume can go a long way in positioning yourself as a true expert and leader.

Earning human resources certifications will equip you with the latest knowledge and validate your skills. What’s more, it’ll likely result in a boost in pay — 31.6% to be exact, according to research by PayScale.As a bonus, you’ll get access to professional communities of like-minded individuals who share your values and goals.

Earning a professional certification for educational and networking reasons is commendable. However, the investment won’t pay off if you’re not careful when shortlisting programs. It’s vital that whatever certifications you pick align with your goals and are well-recognized in the industry. This roundup of the best HR certifications will provide a firm starting point for your research and your path toward human resources superstardom.

The world is currently going through the fourth industrial revolution. Human productivity has reached an all-time high thanks to developments in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotic process automation (RPA). Today, technology has penetrated all areas of business, including human resource management. A digital HR strategy is no longer just a nice to have if a business wants to remain productive and competitive.

A digital HR strategy is a roadmap that guides the digital transformation of manual HR processes. The general goal of such a strategy is to digitize and automate — and, thereby, improve — key HR functions, such as recruitment, onboarding, and workforce management.

Digitizing your HR processes takes time, but it can lead to improved productivity, reduced costs, and even higher employee engagement. That said, it warrants carefully planning out a strategy that takes your company’s requirements and future HR needs into account to avoid wasting resources in the wrong places.

Human resources entails a lot more than creating processes and systems to manage personnel. Training doesn’t mean anything if you’re only focused on the participation rate instead of its actual impact. Similarly, recruitment won’t do much if you’re just worried about reducing time-to-hire without improving the quality-of-hires. Today, HR needs to be a part of your overall business strategy, and human capital management (HCM) is the missing link!

Human capital management is the set of practices and tools that help a business manage and grow its most vital asset: its people. This management approach ties HR functions such as recruitment, training, compensation, and performance management to an organization’s strategic goals. In doing so, human capital management improves the overall business value of your workforce.

A business can make impressive leaps and bounds if it focuses on HCM and starts viewing its employees as investment opportunities.

Common features for learning management systems

Learning management systems (LMS) have been around since the 1990s, though at the time, employee learning and development often meant in-person training. Today it is common for employees to take training classes online to meet certification requirements or expand their knowledge and many companies offer some type of learning management system.

But two factors are contributing to the rise in popularity of LMSs in 2022. The first is the COVID-19 pandemic, which challenged HR professionals to accommodate remote work and put an end to the majority of in-person training programs. The second factor is the current employee turnover trend where workers are participating in what’s been called the great resignation or the great reshuffle, resigning at historic levels. Employee development is an effective tool employers have to retain talent, and deploying meaningful training programs for all employees is essential to meeting retention goals in this new work environment.

Today’s workforce wants the flexibility to work remotely and to feel their company is investing in their growth through learning and development opportunities. If companies are going to meet their training and retention goals, they are going to need the right technology to get them there.