- Meta4 and KPMG organized the “Global HR Management” conference focused on analyzing the strategic role of technology and people in internationalization processes and attended by major multinational companies.
- Thomas Otter, Research Director at Gartner Group, highlighted the increasing demand for talent management solutions in an environment where companies are adapting their HR policies to new ways of working.
Madrid, 22nd October 2010.- Meta4, a world-class leader for human and intellectual capital management (HICM) and payroll solutions, together with KPMG, an audit, tax and advisory services firm operating in more than 146 countries, recently ran on October 15th the “Global HR Management” conference focused on analyzing developments and trends in the overall management of human capital as a determining factor in making multinational companies efficient and competitive.
The human capital management is one of the major challenges facing companies in the 21st century, especially when it comes to global organizations operating in different countries and markets. The event identified what type of organizations require a global technology system, what are the characteristics that these systems should cover and what are the benefits of implementing these solutions for multinational organizations.
Thomas Otter, Director of Research at Gartner Group, shared his views on the overall management of human resources with more than 100 people from major multinational companies. Otter showed the evolution of HR technology solutions in recent years and how companies today are tending to demand talent management solutions, as well as new procurement models, such as software as a service (SaaS). There is also an increased demand for applications with high-quality graphics and great usability for business managers. Additionally Otter highlighted that companies are taking into account the high costs of integrating its own independent system and opting for a single solution for Talent Management, thus avoiding isolated information systems.
Carlos Castellanos, Presales Director at Meta4 stressed the need for multinational companies to have a technology solution that ensures they can make the most of their their intellectual assets to be more competitive and agile in decision making. "Organisations have a need to consolidate information on its workforce and to plan their local and global costs, but they also want to go further to strengthen their management processes and support their employees and managers." Castellanos highlighted the importance of a solution that offers a unique up-to-date online system that helps to apply transparent and common policies for all countries. This will lead to the realization of the company's strategies and increasing productivity.“Meta4 as a specialist in HR information systems has spent 20 years evolving with its customers. Increasingly, we face a common problem in multinationals: the need to manage information and HR processes to serve the business and strategy in a single system, all with the minimum total cost of ownership in the information system—and that’s precisely why we’ve grown tremendously in this field, " said Castellanos.
Miguel Arias, Partner at KPMG Spain for outsourcing, focused his talk on the regulatory environment affecting global human resources and how these can be outsourced. According to Arias, most of the regulations affecting HR management is regulated locally, such as labour relations or taxation. "The regulation at a global level is very heterogeneous and complex. It is vital to have skilled professionals and efficient technology solutions that help companies adequately meet the local requirements for industrial relations and taxation, but also to be able to identify opportunities, adapting to legislative changes in each country. Companies with global focus and local knowledge present in the countries in which multinationals operate, can meet this challenge," concludes the partner.
Cecilie Pedersen, Manager of Global HR Processes at Wilh.Wilhelmsen, provided her views on future scenarios and organizational structures that make up today's multinational companies. The Norwegian shipping company has more than 16,000 employees, 400 offices and presence in 78 countries worldwide, so their HR management is complex and multicultural. Pedersen noted that thanks to the Meta4 solution they have a secure and unified human capital management system "with a stable organizational structure that allows us to manage our human resources easily and systematically."
Mut Matias, a manager with deep experience in the tourism sector, showed the importance of HR management in this sector. Mut said that in this sector marked by strong geographical dispersion, it is crucial to have a technology platform that allows for complete global management of payroll and all HR processes. "The idiosyncrasies of each country should be taken into account and yet not hamper the consolidation of information. With Meta4, hotel chains deliver centralized, uniform and standardized management for all HR processes."