{"id":1867,"date":"2021-09-02T13:30:56","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T17:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog2wrkdev.wpenginepowered.com\/workforce-experience-layer\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T16:10:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:10:30","slug":"workforce-experience-layer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/workforce-experience-layer\/","title":{"rendered":"The simplification agenda: enhancing the employee experience using HR automation and a workforce experience layer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the pandemic arrived, many HR teams didn\u2019t have a remote working strategy in place, let alone a crisis management plan for getting their employees working from home with next to no notice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So how did HR teams respond?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many added more technology, apps, and channels of communication, despite already having between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applaudhr.com\/tei-report?utm_campaign=forrester-tei-2021&amp;utm_source=Quest&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_term=partner&amp;utm_content=Quest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6-15 HR systems in place<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The increasingly important role of technology in employees&#8217; daily working lives has casted an even greater spotlight on the existing flaws within the digital HR experience. And for many, the digital employee experience has been the <em>only <\/em>employee experience they\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s premature to say that we\u2019re \u2018in the wake of the pandemic\u2019 but we\u2019re certainly on the other side of some monumental change and the message coming back to businesses from employees is loud and clear: they don\u2019t want more change. Instead, they want simplicity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Companies are recognizing that subjecting their employees to multiple, unintuitive HR technologies is hurting their employees\u2019 productivity and satisfaction. However, now that businesses find themselves managing a spaghetti mess of HR systems, they\u2019re faced with the question:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Companies are getting creative with the way in which they solve this challenge and many (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.applaudhr.com\/tei-report?utm_campaign=forrester-tei-2021&amp;utm_source=Quest&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_term=partner&amp;utm_content=Quest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two out of every three organizations<\/a>) are looking to workforce experience layers\u2014a new breed of technology that\u2019s come into prominence\u2014as a potential solution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the name infers, Workforce Experience Layers \u2018layer\u2019 over an organization&#8217;s existing HR tech stack, simplifying convoluted processes and delivering one unified experience to the employee.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/Ko_J8TxO8ssUuMC0ZVfV9wkE2pZFy2DB2JNjNMYS8ETrSY2mI8cC-fLO8k9Dq8-jRec7kV6Gt3b48b_me5QfxIfe67QoLb2b0f0NQwaNqIQqxeB15X-9nl9c3hiKkSewi27yXrUc=s0\" alt=\"A screenshot of an employee's homepage in Applaud\" width=\"427\" height=\"488\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By enabling businesses to retain all their HR systems, whilst delivering a unified experience for the employee (who remains blissfully ignorant to the myriad of systems sitting under the hood), it\u2019s easy to see why it\u2019s an obvious choice for many. Connecting existing systems, simplifying convoluted processes and delivering an experience that\u2019s intuitive for employees is high on the strategic agenda for many organisations, regardless of industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workato.com\/the-connector\/hris-integration\/\">How an integrated HRIS can improve the employee experience<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The knock-on effect of having technology that employees find familiar and easy to use is that adoption and utilisation metrics skyrocket. Increased visibility into workforce data for HR professionals and the heightened engagement in HR platforms will exponentially help organizations make strategic, data-driven decisions. Over time, these decisions can positively impact the bottom line and the employee experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, the process of implementing powerful integrations and automations has never been easier. Applaud has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applaudhr.com\/resources\/applaud-partners-with-workato\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently embedded Workato<\/a> into its platform, allowing organizations to implement integrations and automations without writing a single line of code. This enables lines of business to play a bigger role in the process (while working within a secure, governed environment), and it allows IT to focus more on other critical business initiatives. Moreover, using Applaud\u2019s pre-built connectors and customizable automation templates, builders can implement their integrations and automations in minutes\u2014versus weeks, or even months.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n    <div class=\"article__cta\">\r\n\t\t            <div class=\"article__cta-no\">\r\n\t\t\t\t                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.applaudhr.com\/request-a-demo\">Learn more about Applaud and how it can help transform your employee experience by scheduling a demo with a member of our team.\u00a0<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t            <\/div>\r\n\t\t    <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the pandemic arrived, many HR teams didn\u2019t have a remote working strategy in place, let alone a crisis management plan for getting their employees working from home with next to no notice.&nbsp; So how did HR teams respond? Many added more technology, apps, and channels of communication, despite already having between 6-15 HR systems [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":1868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company-product-news","category-solutions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The simplification agenda: enhancing the employee experience using HR automation and a workforce experience layer - Workato<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Marketing Director at Applaud breaks down the challenges employees face with their HR tech stack, and the role workforce experience layers play in addressing them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog2workato.wpengine.com\/workforce-experience-layer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The simplification agenda: enhancing the employee experience using HR automation and a workforce experience layer - 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