As all those accountable for an #HRTech selection decision within their organization are acutely aware, the standard playbook usually involves a detailed assessment of fit against relevant and prioritized business requirements, various architectural considerations, surveying credible industry analyst reports and customer review sites, and speaking with customers of the shortlisted solution providers. All makes good sense and is the path traversed by thousands of HR and IT departments every year. Nonetheless, it’s also a fact that the vendor/ customer churn that existed in the market several years ago (when my global HRIS teams were deploying solutions) is every bit as pronounced today.

One of several industry research firms reporting such findings this year, PWC, highlighted that “more than a third of HR leaders (36%) say it’s ‘somewhat or very likely they’ll switch HR Tech vendors at the end of their cloud subscription term.” But why? Has the customer outgrown the system? Were capabilities perhaps overstated? Did the company’s needs and requirements change? All of these might also suggest a lack of system flexibility, which one could argue has plagued many HCM solutions over the years.

As it turns out, the very first HR tech selection and deployment I had an opportunity to preside over did include a few other considerations not explicitly included in the so-called standard playbook. Examples were such factors as the perception of which potential vendor partner seemed to value our business the most, based on data points like intention to position and promote us as a marquee customer – but only if/when broadly satisfied and after realizing our business case. Another perhaps less common factor we placed in the selection decision hopper was a consistent record of great execution and satisfied customers, even if operating in a somewhat adjacent enterprise software market or having more experience in other verticals.

I was reflecting on this approach, essentially a combination of more traditional HR tech selection methods and considerations of some other inputs (maybe instincts) that have also served HR tech customers well at times - when I happened to virtually meet an HCM player a couple months ago that I had no previous knowledge of, or interactions with. That solution provider is called Workuments; and not withstanding my lack of any previous exposure to this company, I found a few things about them particularly intriguing.

First,this HCM vendor was founded by the same people that had evidently launched very successful public sector technology and services businesses, and not just in terms of revenue performance, but also (as proudly pointed out by CEO, Joe Mancuso) those businesses have “positively impacted the lives of literally millions of end users in segments such as health care.”

Based on being intrigued enough to see a Workuments product demo,here’s a quick recap: Evidence of reasonably well-designed HR process automation across multiple HR processes: Check. Intuitive UX even though room for improvement like many HR tech products in the market: Check. Demonstrated ability to handle complex (or very complex) and idiosyncratic customer requirements: Check. Innovations such as the ability to seamlessly integrate and leverage Sales data and Ops data resident in other systems: Check. And above all, what I view as their biggest differentiator: a very modern, low-code development environment. This flexible platform enables them to quickly build out complex customer features with no impact to the core system. This sets them apart from many other HR vendors.

Visiting the Workuments web site today still generally gives the impression of a startup, because in various key ways (e.g.,the absence of HCM customer logos and a fully built-out team) it is. Will that impression materially change as this HCM vendor is able to bring to bear the same tools of a successful business that served it extremely well in other operating constructs and industries? Personally, based on what I have seen and heard from this emerging player so far, I would not be surprised at all.