What I Learned About HR and Digital Transformation from Martha Stewart at the SHRM Show

Okay, so I didn’t actually get a chance to talk to either Martha Stewart or Lionel Richie — despite being under the same roof with them (along with 20,000 others) at the recent Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference in Las Vegas.

The HR technology landscape is massive and crowded – as is the SHRM show. And that’s why we were so excited to experience a significant amount of booth traffic at the event.

Summarizing the key business drivers that brought many SHRM members to our booth, they include: 1) the need for centralization and ease-of-access to information contained in Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), 2) HR automation, and 3) the need to store, organize and manage employee records.

Many of our visitors shared with us their pains in trying to extract data from their HRIS. The inaccessibility of HRIS data can impede organizations in complying with regulatory requirements. Currently the industry is in limbo, awaiting official direction from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on whether employee pay data must be included on their EEO-1 reports for the next period. Experts advise employers not wait, but instead start evaluating their organization’s ability to compile this data now.

The need to liberate data from the clutches of HRIS also is needed to address the growth of virtual and extended workforces that can be global in nature, and which require HR departments to push processes outside of the four walls of the traditional organization to extend out into the workforce.

Clearly, these two reasons alone underscore the need for enterprise content management to be in place alongside HRIS – they are “better together” – forming a powerful technology 1-2 punch that can help HR transform to address today’s new and emerging data-driven business requirements.

Which got me thinking about Martha Stewart, who herself has also undergone a radical transformation in recent years – thanks in part to her partnership with Snoop Dog. The two first met when Martha had Snoop on The Martha Stewart Show where she taught Snoop how to make her signature mashed potatoes. Throughout the years, the collaboration between the two celebrities has continued, including, a new show on VH-1 – Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party – which garnered a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes along with a 2017 Emmy nomination.

The pairing of the 78-year-old millionaire lifestyle maven and 47-year-old veteran gangster rapper and entrepreneur seems odd, and yet it’s brought new relevancy and opportunity for transformation to both stars – similarly two things the addition to ECM to HRIS can support

In speaking about his relationship with Martha Stewart, Snoop said in a 2016 Rolling Stone interview. “When we come together, it’s a natural combination of love, peace and harmony.”

While the pairing of ECM and HRIS may not bring your organization the same benefits, it can definitely bring a newfound level of agility, responsiveness and ease to supporting your HR initiatives.

– Bill Fuesz for DocStar

Martha Stewart has undergone a radical transformation in recent years – thanks in part to her partnership with Snoop Dog.

Martha Stewart has undergone a radical transformation in recent years – thanks in part to her partnership with Snoop Dog.