Ventana Research Analyst Perspectives

The pandemic has had many profound impacts on organizations and their workforces, particularly the need to manage workers differently. Fewer face-to-face interactions make it difficult to “read” employee sentiments and reactions, even with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Employers are faced with the challenge of managing engagement more closely given unprecedented levels of change in policies and corresponding practices.

Within the Human Capital Management software market today, capabilities such as real-time, more integrated and prescriptive analytics, personalization across a broader spectrum of HR and workforce-related processes and activities, more robust planning and modeling tools, and the infusion of AI/ML to make systems much smarter has become the focus of both vendors and customers. The critically important role that HCM technology plays in delivering a great employee experience was outlined in more depth in my analyst perspective, “A Superior Employee Experience: Where HR Technology Matters Most.”

HCM software vendors are thinking much more in terms of tools for their customers that will elevate the employee experience, even in areas like payroll. As we asserted, by 2022, one-half of organizations will include on-demand payroll capabilities among their key vendor selection considerations.

Ceridian’s cloud HCM software called Dayforce is a global platform that includes human resources, payroll, benefits and workforce and talent management solutions.  However, expansion is often a key driver for success and longevity, and Ceridian appears to be doing exactly that by expanding into the enterprise market for greater global presence.

Value is the key theme of this expansion. The notion of value realization in HR technology has been predominantly connected to user adoption and usage and the ability to interoperate with other enterprise systems, tools and data repositories. An updated view is that HCM systems that provide a great experience for workers, as opposed to adding demands to their day, help customers derive maximum value from HR technology investments.

How can Ceridian increase the value delivered to customers through innovation and adding new product assets to its portfolio? To continue to grow its customer base, Ceridian needed to expand some of its current capabilities and create new, differentiated ones as well.

Ceridian is no novice to this evolution. It was the first HCM organization to bring on-demand pay to the marketplace in 2019. This is a game-changing feature that sets Ceridian apart from the competition, especially during market disruptions such as a pandemic. On-demand pay is a unique function that allows employees to access a portion of their earned wages at any time rather than waiting for the next pay cycle. This appeals to employees who are stressed about finances, allowing them to receive pay when needed. On-demand pay helps increase overall employee productivity and satisfaction.

Other Ceridian innovations that deliver customer value include an employee safety monitor, which allows employers to check the health and safety of employees across all locations, managing risk from exposure during a health crisis. Facial recognition and verification for clocking-in reduce the “touch points” of certain devices, practical for maintaining distance when workers are in close contact. These innovations can clearly contribute to bottom-line success.

Ceridian's direction on people analytics, which is aimed at differentiating from competitor’s offerings, is to guide customers in the incremental value created by various workforce-related actions, decisions and improvements. For example, incrementally improving the quality of hire or employee retention by a certain percentage.

Ceridian’s market growth is dependent on cementing its presence in existing markets; by expanding and making better what it already has, it can use this as a springboard into the enterprise segment. Traditionally catering to small and medium-size organizations, Ceridian’s expansion goals tell us the organization is ready to help potential buyers maximize their success in the HCM space by adding new functionality and innovation in their product.

As I alluded to earlier, Ceridian is taking the right steps to extend the Dayforce platform. Ceridian is clearly anticipating the needs of its customers, as shown in the updates to its software. Many of its new functionalities cater to the hourly workforce, which was so heavily impacted by the pandemic. According to Ceridian, the new Dayforce Wallet feature “offers the flexibility and convenience of processing and disbursing your different payment needs, including off-cycle pay and on-demand pay requests.”

We find that Ceridian is meeting the needs of organizations facing requests for alternative pay methods through features that create better worker experiences. By adding new features within its already robust platform, Ceridian is enhancing customer ROI. Any organization that employs many hourly workers will derive value from Dayforce’s features specific to this workforce segment.

Ceridian should continue to innovate in meaningful ways for their target markets. A continued and prudent expansion into the global market is also included in this recommendation. As Ceridian is helping its customers find greater value in their HCM software, maintaining service and support quality during this expansion is also essential.

Organizations that may not have previously considered Ceridian Dayforce, including for remote and virtual workers, should re-examine the value they can derive from the vendor’s recent product enhancements.