Q&A with Matt Moralo-Langan, Talent Acquisition Lead for International Business at Personio

Halian caught up with Matt Moralo-Langan, Talent Acquisition Lead for International Business at Personio. 

HR technology is a fast-growing trend. Why do you think this is and what are the key benefits?

We knew that before but the corona crisis showed once more that people are the single biggest influence on the success of any business, which is why an empowered HR function is absolutely crucial. We believe that HR is the backbone of any successful organization and the pandemic has shown that having a strategic, digitally enabled HR function has helped businesses keep people connected and motivated during times of crisis. After all, it’s a company’s people who add value to any business. Business resilience depends on a strong and enabled HR function, but HR can’t be strategic until it excels at operations. In order for HR to become a strategic business partner, companies need a solid foundation for their core processes. To further support HR being a strategic enabler and driving higher levels of productivity across the business, HR needs to go beyond HR – and so does HR technology. 

 

What is it that Personio does that supports HR professionals in their day-to-day job?

Personio is the all-in-one HR software for small- and medium-sized companies and makes the core HR tasks that have to happen in every company as simple and efficient as possible. Our HR software is digitizing and automating processes, offers seamless integrations, and provides data-driven insights. That means accelerating daily work, reducing administrative chaos, manual tasks, and ensuring that every core HR process works like a dream. Because if you get them wrong – or spend too much time getting them right – strategic HR initiatives will never get off the ground. At Personio, we believe HR can’t be strategic until it excels at operations. That’s because a successful strategy is based on effective day-to-day operations. 

 

What insights does Personio deliver to support key business decisions?

People analytics help HR managers become (better) decision-makers so they can assume their role as HR business partners. Companies that want to stay competitive need to make sound, data-driven decisions. As processes become more and more digitized, Personio’s HR software delivers more efficient workflows while automatically collecting all of a company’s key indicators and datasets. HR teams have all the reports, people analytics, and workforce analytics they need to succeed. This allows them to make confident decisions when it comes to workforce planning and more. 

 

How is the Personio platform developing? What new tools and offerings can we expect to see over the next 12 months?

We have recently launched Personio Marketplace, a new suite of software integrations designed to make HR processes more efficient and automated. This allows Personio customers to link and complement the HR platform with other tools and processes. With Personio Marketplace, customers can currently connect over 40 tools easily and quickly with the Personio software for automated and integrated people processes so they don’t have to manage multiple tools. These integrations lead to less process fragmentation, less micro-delays and therefore more productivity among the workforce. 

Personio Marketplace is an important milestone in our mission to unlock the productive potential of European SMEs by making all HR-related systems talk to each other. It provides a new home for the multitude of existing integrations and is the cornerstone for an all-encompassing ecosystem of partners around Personio as a central HR platform. 

 

What do you think the biggest trend will be in the HR technology landscape in 2021?

Establishing agile processes, meaning more automated and digitized processes, and making strategic decisions based on data, so KPIs and other metrics. 

 

What technology do you envisage coming to market in the next 3-5 years that will change how we work? 

In the future, HR needs to go beyond HR and drive higher levels of productivity across the overall business. This requires an investment in people operations and the support of tools. People processes should facilitate productivity, alignment and work quality across the business, involving several stakeholders like HR, employees and managers.

 

What advice would you give to professionals within the HR sector that are looking to grow their career?

Gaining experience in smaller organisations can be quite beneficial as you may be exposed to a wider breadth and scope. If you’re willing to look for problems and put your hand up for various projects and initiatives, this can be a great way to develop new skills outside of your core role. Be mindful not to stretch yourself too thin, factoring in work/life balance.

 

As technology evolves and the way of working adapts to become more flexible, remote, and collaborative (to name a few) what challenges do HR professionals face?

Companies and leaders will need to find new ways to connect people and maintain team spirit as more people opt to work remotely. HR professionals have a valuable role to play in finding solutions that work for the employee and the business, and can play a strategic role by providing data and metrics that support data-driven decisions.

Companies need to develop a solid people strategy that ensures clarity. It is closely linked to the business plan and helps companies e.g. drive engagement, productivity and retention, using in-house talent to grow, and determining how teams are managed.