Estimates of venture capital funding for HR technology point to record levels of more than $5 billion in 2019. Some of the recent activity in talent acquisition includes: Entelo acquired ConveyIQ along with new funding and management changes; HireVue received another round of funding via new majority investor The Carlyle Group; Jobvite received a $200M majority investment from K1 Investment Management and is merging Jobvite with Talemetry, RolePoint, and Canvas; and iCIMS acquired Jibe. Other areas in the human capital management (HCM) market are experiencing the same activity. In the performance management area, Culture Amp just closed $82M of funding.

Considering that HR and HCM technology are generally mature areas, it begs the question: Is there that much left to do for HR professionals, executives, managers, and employees?

While company valuations for investment are always debatable, the fact remains that there is more to do — a lot more. In fact, the combination of external and internal forces continues to create a frenzy of HCM solution innovation.

External forces put pressure on HR software innovation, such as evolving workforce expectations shaped by continuous changes to workforce composition, global political and economic conditions, consumer technology influence combined with faster software innovation cycles, increased data security and regulatory concerns, and the continued evolution of business goals and corporate values.

As these external forces mount, HR pros, managers, and employees are faced with internal challenges that have yet to be really solved well, such as: “How do I continuously attract the best talent? How do I get a clear understanding of my workforce composition? How do you remove HR ‘speed bumps’ that slow down employee productivity? How can I understand my organization’s skills so I can clearly see the gaps and provide learning? How do you make learning flow in the course of everyday work? How do I better understand the employee experience and improve engagement and retention? What’s the best way to provide HR services for managers and employees? Can I really take a data-based approach to HR? If so, how?”

To help you make sense of this market and flourish in this frenzy, I will be releasing the Forrester Tech Tide™: Human Capital Management, Q3 2019. It will provide a road map to the current HCM landscape so you can better navigate your HCM investments. In fact, there has never been a better time to rethink your HCM technology.

As we move into the fall events season, with HR technology conferences and vendors looking to create some customer magic, it will be interesting to see how this all shapes up. To learn the results of the Tech Tide and get some firsthand insight on how the events and innovations are unfolding, be sure to sign up for my webinar on Thursday, September 26.