This article was co-written by Margaret Godwin, HR Technology Consulting Practice Leader/Principal Consultant supporting the Benefits Broker community, and Robert Huston, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Benefitscape.

When organizations evaluate HR technology, the conversation often centers on the big picture: efficiency, integration, compliance, and ROI. Executives want scalability. Brokers and consultants focus on cost control and alignment with benefits strategy. Vendors highlight their platform’s capabilities.

But one group often gets overlooked — the individuals within the employer who will be living with the technology every single day.

Whether it’s the HR generalist managing enrollments, the payroll administrator reconciling deductions, or the benefits manager fielding employee questions, these professionals have a front-row seat to how the technology truly performs. Their perspective isn’t just important — it’s essential.

Why the Individual Voice Matters

We’ve seen too many technology decisions fail not because the platform was inherently flawed, but because the voices of day-to-day users weren’t included in the selection process. When that happens, adoption lags, frustration builds, and the system is often blamed when the real issue was a misalignment between needs and capabilities. So, even before the evaluation process begins, there needs to be open discussions internally around what pain points are you solving with the search. In addition, there should be consideration to what are “must have” features vs. “nice to have” features across modules.

HR technology doesn’t live in boardrooms or RFP responses. It lives in the daily workflows of people trying to onboard a new hire, adjust a dependent’s coverage, or run payroll accurately and on time. Ignoring those voices is like designing a car without asking the driver how they plan to use it.

Also, one key component that often gets overlooked, is the service model. A lot of HR professionals enter a new agreement with the assumption that the service model will be the same or similar to the platform they left. That assumption, oftentimes, cannot be further from the truth. Whether the company offers a managed service offering, SaaS model, base with buy up options, etc., this can impact anticipated annual pricing significantly if chosen incorrectly. So paying attention to the individual users, and identifying who possesses the skills needed or the need to upskill staff, is pertinent for this process and must be heard.

Balancing Strategic Vision with Practical Reality

This isn’t to say executives and consultants shouldn’t lead or be included in the process — they absolutely should. But the most successful implementations I’ve seen are those where leadership combines strategic vision with frontline insight.

• Executives provide the “why” — the business case, the growth strategy, the ROI expectations. But the timing and interactions of these executives are important within the process.
  • When should the CFO be engaged? What role do they play in the process?
  • When should IT be involved and what responsibilities should they hold during both selection and implementation?
• Brokers and consultants bring the market perspective — vendor options, industry best practices, compliance considerations.
• HR leaders define the “what” — the outcomes they want to see across talent, benefits, and engagement.
  • Operational stakeholders of creating policies – PTO, Leave,
  • Timekeepers, Payroll for union rules and considerations as they relate to MOUs.
• And individuals within the employer contribute the “how” — the real-world workflows, challenges, and pain points that determine whether the technology will succeed in practice.

When all four perspectives are present, technology decisions move from theoretical to actionable — and adoption skyrockets.

How to Bring Individual Voices into the Process

Bringing individuals into the selection process doesn’t have to slow things down or complicate decision-making. In fact, it often clarifies the process. Here are a few practical ways to make it work:

1. Create user focus groups early in the evaluation stage to understand daily challenges.

2. Invite frontline HR staff to demo sessions and ask them to run real scenarios, not just watch presentations.

3. Ask for feedback loops during pilot phases or trials.

4. Build champions — identify employees who are excited about new technology and empower them to help with rollout and adoption.

These steps don’t just ensure better alignment — they create a sense of ownership that smooths the path for change management later on. In addition, this process cues the individuals to begin the process of documenting the rules and processes that are followed within each of their centers of responsibility. This will help alleviate wasted time and potential errors during the implementation phase.

The Bigger Picture

In HR technology, success isn’t defined by the feature set on a sales sheet. It’s defined by how well the system supports the people who use it day in and day out. Leaders who embrace that reality see stronger adoption, higher ROI, and — most importantly — more engaged employees.

At the end of the day, HR technology is about people, not just processes. And if we fail to give a voice to the individuals on the ground, we miss the very point of what this technology is supposed to deliver.t