Imagine that you just bought a new bike. You want a good bike — something versatile and reliable. There are tons of great options in this range. These models come with a lot of features, but probably not anything top of the line.
The manufacturer’s goal is to create a product that performs most everyday tasks at a dependable level. In order to make it affordable and easy to use, they need to level off the quality of all the components at the quality/price range that will maximize their addressable market.
Now, imagine that the one thing you plan to do with your new bike is to go down really, really steep hills all the time. While you bought a good-quality bike overall, your planned usage might exceed the specs or capacity of the braking system. It wouldn’t be unusual for you to go out and buy top of the line brakes for your new bike just to make sure you’re safe.
Thanks for bearing with the extended metaphor. Now let’s zoom out and look at the big picture as it relates to HR technology. I often position “Best of Breed” software with this example. Software, in particular, will often have a range of turnkey solutions that can give you “most” everything you need, and then there are niche providers that offer top of the line products in their specific space. It’s not uncommon for firms today to have at least one additional HR technology solution in addition to their existing HCM or HRIS.
After all, HR teams need to support their employees with additional tools in order to effectively track payroll, benefits, insurance and of course, compensation.
However, many firms are running very complex compensation programs which include merit, bonus, and long-term incentives, and are trying to do so with their HCM’s out-of-the box comp module. In other words, they are riding their bike down steep slopes with the factory installed brakes. While the compensation module in their HCM may be good enough for the short-term, what happens if their program needs more?
This is the use case for bringing in best of breed solutions. Having a compensation automation solution that meets (and can be configured to) your needs does not negate the value of your overall system. In fact, it bolsters it and makes it a more comprehensive solution. All of our clients use our compensation management solution in conjunction with their existing HCM, and in fact will feed the compensation results back into their existing solutions as part of the operational flow.
This kind of synergy is a perfect example of when SaaS solutions work at their best. As a user, you get the best overall solution to solve most of your needs. However, confronting the reality that you could benefit from a very specialized piece of software to address an area where you are coming up short will have a huge effect on your success.
From my professional perspective, there are 5 benefits of working with best of breed software:
1. A solution that does exactly what you need it to do.
2. ROI and gains in resources in months, not years.
3. Better user experience.
4. More agile and secure.
5. Integrated with existing solutions efficiently.
The next time you set out for that Saturday afternoon bike ride down your favorite hill, make sure you’re configured just right!
