How to Find the Best Workforce Operating Platform

Modern HR systems have evolved far beyond simply managing your processes and systems; it’s about understanding your people and business needs. Today’s most successful organizations don’t just use technology; they connect it to all business operations. That’s where a workforce operating platform comes in: a single, unified system that brings together people data, daily operations, and business outcomes to help organizations make smarter, AI-led decisions.  

Following the 6 steps in this guide will help you choose the right platform to build trust, drive performance, and empower your workforce to work better together. 

Step 1: Identify what your organization really needs 

When starting the journey of buying a workforce operating platform, first assess your organization’s current systems and challenges. Understanding which processes you currently use and the challenges you’re facing will help you identify platforms that solve those issues. 

Here are some key questions to consider: 

1. What business outcomes do we want to improve? 

2. What are our departments’ most pressing daily challenges with managing our existing HR processes? What are the costs associated with these challenges? 

3. Does our organization need AI-guided insights and automation to drive better business outcomes? 

4. How do we define success? Is it employee engagement, efficiency, retention, or something else? 

Additionally, consider your organization’s global readiness as part of the needs assessment process. If your workforce is growing or you’re hiring people from multiple countries, you should explore a workforce operating platform that will scale up with you. 

Step 2: Build a cross-functional buying team 

Your organization’s workforce operating platform affects many different people across departments. It’s important to be transparent and encourage collaboration across HR, payroll, finance, operations, and IT teams, choosing key stakeholders who understand their teams’ needs the most. 

• Your HR team focuses on employee experience and trust; these individuals can see which solutions boost engagement and drive meaningful results for your long-term business needs.  

• Payroll and finance teams prioritize accuracy, compliance, and cost, understanding efficiency improvement needs in your current system and how integration works. 

• Your operations team seeks efficiency and productivity and is familiar with time, scheduling, and workload management. They can identify the best opportunities for automation and daily process improvement.  

• Your IT team manages organizational security and smooth system integration to ensure any new HR technology will work well with the systems you already use. 

Including each of these perspectives allows for smarter, people-first decisions that ensure everyone is heard and that needs are met organization-wide. 

Step 3: Ensure employee and manager buy-in 

Once you have your buying team solidified, the next step is to ensure employees and managers see the value of your new workforce operating platform. Even the best platform won’t succeed without user adoption, so make sure you engage your employees, managers, and administrators early in the buying process to understand what they value most in tools. 

Provide opportunities for your employees to give feedback and feel heard during the buying process. Consider setting up listening sessions, surveys, and pilot programs to see what they like or dislike about your potential system. Also, take the time to understand how your workforce uses your current systems, what challenges they experience, and what would compel them to use a new system. 

Step 4: Define your must-have features 

Your next step in buying a workforce management platform is to turn insights into actionable requirements by defining what’s essential for your organization’s solution. Here are some key factors to use as your baseline for priority areas:  

• People-first design and mobile self-service. 

• Real-time analytics and proactive AI insights. 

• Seamless integration with existing systems. 

• Reliable security and global compliance. 

• Strong vendor support and partnership. 

An effective platform connects employee experience to business outcomes, as it combines a positive user experience, functionality, support, and long-term strategy. 

Step 5: Evaluate vendors by asking the right questions 

When choosing your potential workforce operating platform, ensure that each key stakeholder is asking the right questions for their specific teams. HR stakeholders should focus on asking about people-first solutions to build trust and belonging. Payroll and finance representatives should focus on perfect paychecks, seamless processing, and budget management. Operations stakeholders should focus on efficiency and bottom-line impact. IT representatives should focus on security and seamless integration. 

Here are some essential questions that should be asked:  

• How does this platform measure trust, engagement, and productivity? 

• Which AI features support managers and employees? 

• How often is the platform updated and supported?