Why Big Companies Still Aren’t Getting Full Value From HR Tech

For years, enterprise businesses have poured huge amounts of money into modern HR and payroll technology, promising smoother operations, smarter workforce management and fewer manual headaches. 

But according to new research from Strada, many organisations are still struggling to unlock the full value of those investments.

The company’s newly released Workforce Possibility Report 2026 paints a picture of businesses caught between modern systems and old habits, with manual workarounds and legacy processes continuing to dominate day-to-day operations.

The report found that 77% of large employers using major HCM (Human Capital Management) platforms still rely on manual checks, parallel systems or legacy backup processes to keep payroll and workforce operations running smoothly. In other words, despite the technology being in place, many businesses still don’t fully trust it to operate independently.

That lack of confidence is creating what Strada describes as a “value gap” between what these systems are designed to deliver and what organisations are actually experiencing in practice.

The findings suggest many digital transformation programmes are falling short of expectations. Less than a quarter of organisations surveyed reported significant progress in key areas such as reducing manual payroll work or improving compliance confidence.

Just 23% said they had meaningfully cut manual payroll tasks, while only 21% reported major improvements in compliance confidence. For systems often sold on efficiency, automation and risk reduction, those numbers are surprisingly low.

The problem goes beyond payroll administration. According to the research, 81% of organisations now believe workforce complexity is directly affecting their ability to execute wider business strategy.

Instead of streamlined operations, many companies are still juggling fragmented systems, manually reconciling data and maintaining fallback processes long after implementation deadlines have passed. The result is what many in the industry call “shadow operations” hidden layers of manual work that quietly drain time, money and confidence.

Jenni Flaherty, Director of Payroll Product Strategy at Strada, said organisations need to focus not just on implementation, but on continuous optimisation.

She explained that while investment in HR and payroll technology remains strong, many businesses are still in the process of fully integrating and refining those systems. Companies that prioritise ongoing improvement are far more likely to unlock long-term efficiency and value.

The report also highlights another major issue: visibility. Only 39% of organisations surveyed said they have real-time visibility over total global payroll spend, despite payroll being one of the largest operational costs for most businesses.

For many firms, even answering basic workforce questions still involves manually pulling data together from multiple systems, a process that increases the risk of delays, mistakes and poor decision-making.

The research was conducted among 405 senior decision-makers from organisations with more than 1,000 employees across seven global markets, suggesting the challenge is far from isolated.

www.stradaglobal.com

Upleashed Launches PulseAI: A Strategic Catalyst for Human Capability in the AI-Accelerated Skills Economy

Known chiefly for having the world's oldest continuous parliament, the Isle of Man TT Races and being the birthplace of The BGs, the Isle of Man is now becoming known for the next generation of business and commercial AI.

Upleashed today announced the wider availability of PulseAI, an AI-augmented skills matrix platform designed to transform how modern organisations map, measure, and mobilise their workforce capability.  

By moving beyond static spreadsheets and subjective reviews, PulseAI provides a real-time, data-driven view of team readiness, enabling leaders to spot vulnerabilities early and prioritise development with surgical precision.

Disrupting traditional HR tech pricing models, PulseAI is available at a transparent rate of £199 per organisation per year.₁  This includes unlimited Team / Project Leads and Team Members, a move specifically designed to democratise skills tracking and ensure every person in an organisation, from the C-suite to the newest apprentice, has a visible roadmap for growth.

AI as the Accelerator of the Skills Gap The global workforce is currently navigating an unprecedented shift.  Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future prospect; it is an active accelerator of change that is rapidly devaluing traditional skill sets while simultaneously creating a demand for new, complex competencies.  

Recognising this shift and understanding exactly where to change and upskill is more important than ever.   Businesses that fail to map their human capital against this accelerating curve risk obsolescence.  PulseAI serves as the essential navigator for this transition, helping leaders identify which human skills remain competitive and which require urgent evolution.

Putting the "Personal" back into Personal Development PulseAI is fundamentally putting the "personal" back into personal development.   By engaging directly in the self-assessment process, team members contribute actively to their own growth using a research-backed capability framework that ensures every evaluation is objective.  The platform moves beyond the "opinion-led" trap, grounding assessments in doctoral-level research to remove subjectivity.

Perhaps most importantly, when a misalignment surfaces between a team member and their leader regarding specific skills or targets, PulseAI acts as a catalyst to accelerate meaningful dialogue.  This ability to spark honest, data-driven conversation is a powerful tool for aligning individual progress with strategic organisational goals.  It turns a potentially awkward review into a collaborative roadmap for success.

Eliminating Workforce Blind Spots: Too often, capability gaps only surface when a project fails, onboarding stalls, or training budgets are misallocated based on popularity rather than proven need.  PulseAI brings structure to this widespread problem.  By providing a framework where teams define essential skills and record proficiency against agreed target levels, the platform generates a "shared truth."  This allows organisations to move from administrative monitoring to visible capability signals that managers can act on immediately.

Strategic Resilience: Eliminating Key-Person Dependencies One of the most critical vulnerabilities in modern business is the "key-person dependency," which is the risk that essential knowledge or skills reside in a single individual. When these individuals leave or are unavailable, delivery stalls.   PulseAI’s heat map views allow leaders to identify these single points of failure in seconds.   By making skills visible across roles and projects, organisations can proactively manage cross-skilling and succession planning, building a more resilient, anti-fragile workforce.

Meeting the "In-Pocket" Demands of Gen Z and Millennials The modern workforce, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, expects transparency, instant feedback, and clear career progression.  Traditional annual reviews and "locked" spreadsheets no longer meet these expectations.  PulseAI meets this "on-demand" culture by delivering development roadmaps directly to the user’s mobile device.

When a team member can see their current proficiency versus their target level on their phone, development becomes a continuous, daily conversation rather than a once-a-year administrative burden.  This level of transparency is a significant driver for talent retention, as employees can clearly see the path to their next promotion or role.

Intelligent Efficiency: Solving the Population Pain Point PulseAI is research-informed and shaped by real-world data. Upleashed’s underlying dataset spans over 105.5 million skills assessments, combined with direct feedback from teams navigating the complexities of modern capability frameworks.  A primary barrier to skills mapping has historically been the administrative burden of initial data population, which often led to project abandonment.

PulseAI addresses this with a "light touch" AI implementation that automates the initial population of skills, removing the friction that once stalled progress.  Once the initial baseline is established, AI within the platform generates automated analytics summaries from the datasets.   These insights help to guide and inform leaders, providing instant clarity on team health without the need for manual report generation.  This enables teams to apply the Pareto principle, focusing on the 20% of skills that drive 80% of the value.

The Shift to a Skills-Based Organisational Model The global business landscape is shifting from traditional job-title-based structures to a skills-based organisational model.  In this new paradigm, work is deconstructed into specific tasks and the skills required to complete them.  PulseAI is built to be the engine for this transition.  By providing a dynamic inventory of workforce capabilities, it allows HR professionals and operational leaders to align their human capital with evolving strategic goals in real-time.

A Simple, Four-Step Workflow for Immediate Impact Unlike legacy ERP or HRIS systems that require months of configuration, PulseAI is built for rapid deployment:

Define: Leaders map the essential skills required for specific roles, teams, or upcoming high-priority projects.

Assess: Team members and leads record current proficiency levels against agreed benchmarks on a doctoral-backed 0 to 5 scale, reducing subjectivity.

Analyse: The platform generates visual, colour-coded capability matrices, highlighting strengths and exposing "red zones."

Act: Leaders deploy targeted training, mentoring, or recruitment initiatives based on objective data rather than guesswork.

Key Platform Highlights:

Eliminate key-person dependencies: Make skills visible across teams, roles, and projects using clear current-versus-target views to instantly spot vulnerabilities.

Spot capability gaps early: Proactively prioritise training spend and development actions with intuitive reporting that flags team readiness before it impacts delivery.

Reduce manual administration: Replace outdated spreadsheet tracking with structured, repeatable assessments and AI-automated data population.

Deliver "in-pocket" development: Share accessible capability roadmaps instantly on web and mobile to meet the expectations of modern talent.

Democratise skills tracking: Transparent pricing at £199 per organisation per year, with unlimited seats included to ensure high adoption.

Democratising Access to Growth By offering PulseAI at £199 per year for the entire organisation, Upleashed is removing the financial barrier to workforce development.  "We obsess over measuring revenue and output, yet we guess at capability," says Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith, Founder of Upleashed. "PulseAI ends that guesswork. We built this to move capability mapping out of closed-door reviews and into the hands of the people doing the work, driving growth for everyone."

To learn more about the platform or to start a baseline assessment, visit Upleashed online https://upleashed.com/PulseAI-PressAt/

New National Conference Launched in Response to Growing Demands for Employee Resource Groups to Demonstrate Strategic Impact

A brand-new conference designed to elevate the work of employee networks, resource groups and forums, and those who lead them, is launching in April 2026 in London.

ERG Blueprint, created by iCAN (the Inclusion and Cultural Awareness Network) and people intelligence company Howlett Brown, is a one-day, in-person conference aimed at professionals shaping the future of employee impact and workplace inclusion.

Taking place on Tuesday 28 April 2026 at Leonardo Royal St Paul’s hotel, the conference will bring together ERG leaders, HR and DEI professionals, Executive Sponsors and workplace inclusion advocates from across the UK. 

It will be hosted by TV personality AJ Odudu and feature high profile speakers like Richard Etienne (The Introvert Space), Charlene Brown of Howlett Brown and We Are The City’s Vanessa Vallely.

At a time when employee networks are needed more than ever to mitigate the national decline of employee engagement, as well as facing increasing pressure to demonstrate impact, navigate political tension, and align with shifting business priorities, ERG Blueprint offers future-proofing strategies, practical guidance, real-world insights, and renewed purpose.

“Employee networks are powerful engines for change – but the people running them are often under-resourced, under-supported, and expected to deliver extraordinary impact,” Ajay Mistry, Co-Chair of iCAN told That's Business.

“This conference is designed to change that - giving leaders the tools, strategy and support they need to succeed.”

What to Expect?

ERG Blueprint will offer a series of high-impact sessions on everything from future-proofing ERG strategies and structure, to influence, conflict navigation, data, branding, and resilience. 

Highlights include:

Identifying Challenges and Barriers Workshop

Framing the Value of ERGs for Chairs, Members, DEI Leads and Sponsors

Influence and Persuasion Workshop

Identifying Challenges, Barriers & Solutions Workshop

The day will also explore why ERGs matter and the challenges of leading through turbulent times, while also offering interactive workshops to help networks define their unique value points and capture their impact through better metrics.

“We know network leaders sit at the intersection of culture, strategy, and lived experience, making them the true catalysts of inclusion and belonging,” said Charlene Brown, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Howlett Brown. 

“They aren't merely volunteers, they are also strategists, influencers and connectors. This conference equips network leaders to future-proof their networks, scale their impact, and deliver measurable value aligned to organisational purpose.”

Who Should Attend?

The ERG Blueprint conference is designed for:

ERG Chairs, Co-Chairs and core team members

HR and DEI Professionals embedding networks into organisational strategy

Executive Sponsors advocating for inclusion from the top

Aspiring ERG Founders, leaders and members

Stakeholder groups, partners and consultants working alongside employee networks

Join Them

The conference is open to all sectors and is designed to foster cross-industry learning and collaboration.

Tickets are now available at: https://erg-blueprint.co.uk

FACTFILE:

iCAN (Insurance Cultural Awareness Network) is the UK’s leading independent multicultural inclusion network for the insurance sector, with over 13,000 members worldwide. ERG Blueprint marks its latest cross-industry initiative to support practical, inclusive change.

Howlett Brown is a people intelligence company, specialising in investigations, culture, sustainability, business intelligence, diversity, equity, equality and inclusion (DEEI), workplace training communications, conflict resolution, crisis, and people advisory solutions. Howlett Brown exists to help organisations build an environment where their integrity, inclusion and purpose thrive and their people risk is low.

Staff want financial education from employers, but few have access

The vast majority of employees believe that they'd benefit from financial education and guidance from their employers, but only a third have access to it, according to new data released by CloudPay.

The data, sourced by the global employee pay company, revealed 91% of employees believe they or colleagues would benefit from employer-led financial education, support and advice, however, only 34% currently have access to it.

CloudPay’s data also showed that the number of people using Earned Wage Access (EWA) to pay for household bills grew between January and July 2023, highlighting the ongoing challenges that many are facing due to the cost-of-living crisis and other inflationary pressures. Employers are being encouraged to modernise pay and payroll processes in order to better support their staff in light of the challenges many are facing in the current economic climate.

Judith Lamb, who is VP of Global HR at CloudPay, said: "There's no secret many people are facing significant difficulties managing their finances, especially in the challenging conditions we’re currently experiencing. 

"But it’s also clear staff are seeking out additional financial education from their employers to help them navigate this tough period. There’s very little resources for education around money management in the UK school system and the onus is falling on employers to provide information that can help professionals to tackle conditions that they have never faced before.”

She went on to say: “Providing this sort of education isn’t only just the right thing to do, it can also prevent staff attrition levels from increasing as employees move to source better paid jobs.

"Few organisations can afford to continue offering higher salaries at present, but providing education around how employees can better manage their available resources can help salaries go further. The onus is on employers to lead this charge as there’s currently a major gap in the market for this sort of expertise."

She concluded: "Being able to access earned wages as and when they are needed can obviously provide a huge helping hand, however, there’s clearly a demand for greater degrees of financial education on top of this.”

https://www.cloudpay.com

(Image courtesy of Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

EPOS Software Leader, Total Retail Control Ltd., Selected as HRVision Distributor for UK & Ireland Retail Solutions Market

Integrity Testing Software will Help Ireland and UK Retailers Stop Employee Theft.

Employee theft is not something that any business wants to think about. But sadly, it can be a reality. And all retailers need to be able to deal with the problem before it becomes a problem.

HRVision Ltd., is pleased to announce the appointment of Total Retail Control Ltd. as their distributor for the Ireland and UK retail market. A leader in retail epos solutions, TRC will be offering HRVision's highly accurate and cost effective integrity testing software, SavvyIntegrity to complement the TRC Ltd. current retail solutions product suite.

"In the retail segment where employee theft is an especially crucial issue, TRC recognises the need to offer our clients innovative technologies that can effectively aid retailers in identifying dishonest candidates before they become employees," says Gavin Peacock, CEO, TRC.

SavvyIntegrity is HRVision’s revolutionary SaaS tool for the recruiting or loss-prevention division of an organization. It has high sensitivity to theft and fraud and lets recruiters identify potentially dishonest candidates before they become employees. Utilising proven and patented technology, the SavvyIntegrity system extends recruiters' ability to immediately identify the level of integrity of candidates.

“Having established a reputation for providing excellence in retail and hospitality solutions to a wide variety of clients across Ireland and the UK, TRC is keen on delivering the most advanced retail intelligence solutions to solve real-world retail challenges,” says Gavin Peacock, CEO, TRC. "As a comprehensive retail solutions provider, we are pleased to partner with a company known around the globe for their highly predictive tools in the field of employee assessment".

Sandy Erez, Director of Business Development, HRVision adds, "TRC customers can now accurately screen potential candidates without the cost and complexity associated with lengthy intensive screening. The 20-minute web-based test can be a game changer for TRC’s wide base of client retailers, who are unaware that such technologies exist. Retailers would be surprised to know that these technologies are user friendly and affordable."

FACTFILE:
Retail solutions empowered by TRC deliver the best retail intelligence to grow your retail operation. TRC retail insights help managing retail staff, managing retail suppliers, controlling retail cash, managing retail customers and managing your retail stock to boost your bottom line.

Total Retail Control (TRC) was launched in 1991 and over the past 21 years, the company has established a reputation for providing excellence in retail and hospitality solutions to a wide variety of clients across Ireland and the UK.  For more information about Total Retail Control, please visit: www.trcepos.ie or email sales@trcepos.ie.

Established in 1997, HRVision, is a leading provider of highly sophisticated employee assessment solutions software for organizations seeking a highly accurate and cost effective recruitment solutions suitable to the workplace environment and its diversity demands.

Seeking to address key challenges faced by organizations to perform cost effective but highly qualified mass recruitment, HRVision has created a suite of empiric employee assessment software solutions (Savvy Recruiter, SavvyIntegrity, SavvyExpert, SavvyCompetencies) that revolutionizes the way recruitment is done. Empowered by this breakthrough technology that hit the market in 2005, the HRVision solution has since proven its ability to significantly improve performance and reduce turnover for organizations worldwide.

Headquartered in Israel, HRVision has sold over 500,000 SavvyRecruiter Assessment and Integrity software tests worldwide, with sales channels in Brazil, UK, Holland, South Africa Israel, and Mexico. Available in 9 languages, HRVision's fully integrated, internet-based system utilizes sophisticated technology on a user friendly, multimedia testing and reporting platform making it the most advanced employee assessment system in the world. For more information please visit: http://www.hrvision.com/products-and-solutions/Integrity/.