Today’s announcement that ServiceNow has acquired skills solution provider Hitch Works indicates that HR technology companies are estimating that upskilling and the internal marketplace will remain important to HR leaders — even as economists say concerns about an impending economic recession.
HCM solution provider ServiceNow purchased Hitch for an undisclosed amount for AI-powered, skills-mapping and intelligence offerings, which ServiceNow has not yet provided on its Now platform, Gretchen Alarcon, vice president and general manager of HR Service Delivery for ServiceNow, says HRE.
“As we look at where things are going in the world of work, the Great Resignation and the changes happening in the HR space, we feel now is the time to look at the skills that organizations need,” Alarcon said, isa. ng HRE2022 Top 100 HR Tech Influencers. At HR Tech this fall, he will participate in a panel discussion titled “Shaping the Future for the Next Generation of Women in Tech ”during the Women in HR Tech Summit.
“Everyone needs to care about developing and retaining talent, and the key here is the ability to understand how an employee’s skills can affect the business,” he added.
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Although the two companies share many clients, Hitch will “help customers meet talent gaps by tying employee learning and development to workforce planning. company people on projects–all from a single platform, ”the newspaper said in a statement.
“Hitch seems like a natural thing to us,” Alarcon said.
The acquisition is a growth play for ServiceNow, which boasts approximately 7,400 customers from most Fortune 500 companies, according to Josh Bersin, analyst and keynote speaker for 2022 HR Tech Conferencetaking place in Las Vegas on September 13-16.
It’s also a strategic change, he says.
“If you look at the problem with job skills, you realize that it’s very complex, highly distributed, and constantly changing. We have a proliferation of HR tools that try to manage skills: training platforms, recruitment systems, compliance programs, badging, and internal mobility systems, ”Bersin wrote on his blog. “What most companies want to do is tie it all together.”
The hunger for skills will not fade
According to Alarcon, large organizations today struggle to manage and develop the skillsets of their employees.
“If you think about how skills drive business results, understanding the capabilities you have within your organization means you have a better chance of making sure you’re putting the right people in. the right projects, “he said.” At the same time, employees see that they’re getting those opportunities and their work is becoming more meaningful. You’re more likely to see an increase in retention as well. “
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And HR leaders are asking about the role of skills in their employee retention strategies.
“All of our clients are asking what’s next,” Alarcon said, adding that Hitch can help with ServiceNow’s Onboarding and Journeys platforms, which address a new employee’s productivity potential.
With Hitch’s skill management solution, the Journeys platform can be more focused on employee role and its requirements.
“We can take [Journeys] down a layer and say, what skills will it take to be productive? ”Alarcon said.
Management skills remain a priority as the U.S. economy shows signs of high inflation and low unemployment. (The Department of Labor reported this morning that last month, nonfarm payrolls rose 390,000 while the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%.) Despite a recession, Alarcon believes that HR will continue to focus on upskilling.
“You have to always think about how [organizations] are trained or retraining their workers. Organizations can use this as an opportunity to think about who people are, what skills they really need to possess, and how they can best meet the need associated with their projects, ”he said.
For example, if a bank sees more refinancing requests, it can redeploy newly trained employees.
“Maybe that’s not where someone used to work, but those are the skills they can use,” he said. “Employees can actually develop themselves to have a better fit where the organization needs it.”
To learn more about reskilling and other challenges in HR tech, register here for HR Tech 2022 in Las Vegas.