Is there a way to measure the ROI of HR tech solutions? Before implementing HR tech solutions, it's crucial to understand the common methodologies for measuring ROI and the existing studies.
ADP Canada commissioned Forrester Consulting to analyze the impact of its payroll and HR application on organizations. The results, based on direct user feedback, were published in 2024 and revealed insights quantifying:
- Payroll productivity savings
- Compliance savings
- HR productivity savings
- Savings from retiring legacy systems
- HR productivity improvement
- Overall ROI (return on investment)
Forrester found that clients using ADP Workforce Now saw a 136% return on investment.
“ADP has provided the best value for the money, and I think we’ll continue to see its financial benefits.” — VP of HR, healthcare, British Columbia
Forrester's Total Economic Impact™ methodology has been utilized by hundreds of technology companies over the past two decades. In 2024, The Total Economic Impact™ of ADP Workforce Now study compared the costs clients incurred using legacy systems and disparate applications vs. ADP Workforce Now.
The results emphasize the quick return on investment of ADP Workforce Now, as companies have seen a positive ROI in less than 6 months after implementation. Furthermore, companies have achieved substantial cost savings totaling over $500,000 within the first three years across their organization.
Betsy Summers, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research's Future of Work Team, stresses the significance of adopting a comprehensive approach to workforce planning goes beyond just cost savings. She emphasizes that this approach is vital for nurturing a culture of trust and accountability, which are essential for enhancing productivity, planning, and growth. Additionally, she suggests leveraging HR technology and workforce analytics to better plan for scalability, consistency, and fairness.
“We want to look at what technology we can use to help us scale. Technology helps us scale any of the cultural norms that we have put in place. There’s an assumption that culture has nothing to do with technology, but that is an absolute myth, because our values and what we expect from people in terms of their behaviour - all of that is culture, and all of that is also scaled through the technology that we choose for the organization. We want technology to help us scale our culture positively to provide consistency and equity in all of the experiences for all of the workforce.”
Before implementing an ADP payroll and HR solution, organizations faced several primary challenges, including:
- Manual HR and payroll processes
- Lack of self-service features for employees
- Difficulties with regulatory compliance
- Absence of real-time data insights
- Poor customer service
All four organizations chose ADP Workforce Now to help address these challenges. The VP of HR of a healthcare company in British Columbia was interviewed by Forrester for the study, and says, "ADP has offered the best value for money, and I believe we will continue to see its financial benefits."
ADP Canada
ADP Canada processes payroll for one in five Canadian workers, which is 20 percent of the Canadian workforce.
Globally, ADP invests USD 1 billion in system development and programming, demonstrating a strong commitment to technology investment.
In addition to payroll solutions that are among the best in the industry, ADP also delivers HR, time and attendance, talent management, reporting and analytics, and benefits administration – these are the primary capabilities organizations need to manage their workforce.
The ADP mobile app works alongside ADP Workforce Now to help users manage shift change, schedules, and pay information. The app can give employees a sense of empowerment, knowing everything they need is right in their hands.
“We walk the walk,” said Heather Haslam, Vice-President of Marketing, ADP Canada, in a webinar discussing the Forrester study.
Workforce productivity savings
According to Summers, the top 2024 future of work challenge trends are:
- Talent shortages
- Productivity pressures
- Pressures and opportunities of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- High cost (and expectations) of labour
Summers explained that in Forrester’s 2022 and 2023 Future of Work Survey, addressing challenges starts with tackling burnout and increasing employee engagement. Employee engagement dropped from 48% to 44% between 2022 and 2023.
Culture energy, defined as a team’s ability to adopt and sustain innovation, creativity, and customer obsession, dropped from 69 percent in 2022 to 63 percent in 2023.
Summers suggests that these declines will continue in 2024. “Both are on the decline as people are increasingly burnt out and pressured to do more with less,” says Summers in the webinar.
She also notes that research findings show that business leaders believe AI will change everything. It would be beneficial for them to consider how AI will be integrated into the applications they use and what capabilities would be right for their businesses. “People are both excited and worried about this new technology,” said Summers.
According to Forrester’s Future of Work survey from 2023, it was found that HR is one of the least trusted groups to follow through on promises. The survey revealed that 17 percent of workers do not trust their internal HR representatives. To address and ideally reduce this mistrust, Summers suggests that HR executives will need to put in extra effort when implementing changes.
These trends may be crucial for HR leaders to consider as opportunities for implementing new technology and analyzing workforce analytics.
“We’re seeing a lot of performance enhancements through automation of routine tasks. It’s a necessity and definitely a benefit of HR technology we’re seeing today,” says Summers. “Do what you can to instill a level of trust in your workforce as you onboard new technologies and (your workforce) becomes proficient with them.”
Learn More
Watch the on-demand webinar at to learn more about HR trends and how to measure the ROI of payroll and HR systems.
For more product information, go to ADP.ca/WorkforceNow
