Over the past decade, HR technology has undergone a seismic shift—from process automation and compliance to employee-centric design, intuitive interfaces, and integrated talent experiences. Since late 2015, I’ve had the privilege of working with a high-growth client to assess the global HR systems landscape, support procurement, and prepare for the rollout of a new HR and Payroll solution across Asia Pacific.
The brief was ambitious:
- Deliver an exceptional user experience for employees and candidates
- Centralise employee data and streamline leave, absence, and localisation
- Enable recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and succession planning
- Integrate payroll across Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
- Offer single sign-on and seamless interoperability across all modules
With the business set to double from 400 to 750+ staff, the stakes were high. After reviewing 37+ platforms, here’s what I’ve learned—and what I believe others should consider.
The Landscape: Legacy vs. New Breed
The HR tech market is split between legacy enterprise platforms and a new wave of niche, UX-driven solutions. While many vendors tout open APIs and easy integration, few deliver truly seamless interoperability—especially at scale and within budget.
Australian businesses continue to wrestle with the “All-in-One” vs. “Blended Stack” debate. The former offers simplicity and unified data; the latter promises best-of-breed functionality but demands serious integration effort and governance maturity.
Standout Solutions by Category
HRIS (Small to Mid-Sized Businesses)
- Namely (New York)
- BambooHR (San Francisco)
- Benefit Road now FlareHR (Sydney)
Recruitment, Onboarding & Workforce Planning
- PageUp (Melbourne)
- Lumesse (UK)
- Lever.co (San Francisco)
- Greenhouse (New York)
Performance Management
- Reflektive (San Francisco)
- PageUp (Melbourne)
- Oracle HCM (San Francisco)
Benefits Integration
- 🇦🇺 Benefit Road — a standout for simplicity, UI, and employee experience
Enterprise-Grade Contenders
For larger organisations or those scaling rapidly, these platforms offer robust functionality—though often at a premium:
- Workday (my personal favourite)
- SuccessFactors
- Oracle HCM
Workday, in particular, is aggressively targeting the mid-market. Its intuitive interface, powerful reporting, and near best-in-class functionality across modules make it a compelling choice for organisations seeking depth and scalability.
Final Thoughts
If you’re considering a blended solution, be prepared: integration is not for the faint-hearted. Achieving harmony across recruitment, onboarding, HRIS, performance, and workforce planning requires strong architecture, governance, and vendor accountability.
As I now prepare to deploy a complex Workday implementation over the next 6–7 months, I’ll share further insights post-launch. The journey from selection to rollout is as much about organisational readiness as it is about technology.
