What are the top 5 product categories at HR Tech this year?

On this the eve of the 2016 HR Technology Conference and Exposition, I thought it would be interesting to see what types of HR technologies will dominate the exhibit hall  in Chicago.  418 vendors are making the trip to showcase their solutions to the 8,500 HR professionals who’ll be attending.  There are 36 product categories on exhibit.

The Mission

To find out which product categories will dominate the show floor.

Before we get into the numbers, let’s address an important assumption:  the HR technology market is tuned into the needs of the HR industry.  Therefore, the HR technology market is delivering products that are, or will be, in greatest demand by the HR industry.  If this assumption is true, the leading product categories at HR Tech will indicate what challenges employers are most willing to invest in solving.

The Methodology

The methodology was straight-forward: Run a search on each of the 36 product categories, and tally the total number of vendors in each.  Then sort the list from highest to lowest.  The highest would be the hottest; those solutions that address the most pressing needs of today’s employers.  The lowest would be the solutions which occupy minimal mindshare of the CHRO’s.  Now, onto the numbers…

The Numbers

The highest, hands down is Talent Management with 117 vendors represented.  Talent Management is followed by Recruitment at 82 and Employee Engagement & Recognition at 74.  Rounding out the top 5 are Workforce Planning & Analytics with 63 vendors and Performance Management at 54.

The Focus

If the above assumption is accurate – that the technology market is delivering solutions that align with the needs of employers – then what the HR Tech exhibit floor tells us is that employers are most concerned with finding, engaging and retaining the best employees.

The core administrative technologies –  the must-haves - HRMS, Employee Benefits and Payroll are well behind, at 45, 40 and 39 vendors, respectively.