The people’s software: Adel Al-Saleh

Where once a company’s capital was measured in revenue, investments, shares and assets, many have also begun to appreciate the impact that its people have on the bottom line. Around the world, ‘human capital’ is increasingly regarded as a critical asset for success.

Popularised by economists Gary Becker and Jacob Mincer more than fifty years ago, the term ‘human capital’ refers to the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes that contribute to an employee’s ability to be high performers in their role. Human resources (HR) has therefore grown into a critical business function to ensure that the quality of employees can be improved through strategic recruitment, employee engagement and ongoing investment and development.

The right talent in the right place?

"Companies today are always asking: do we have the right talent; are those talents in the right place; and, do we have the right services for their talent? Then also, are we paying people correctly; do we have the right controls and compliance; and, do we have the right tools for our managers to use in order to manage performance and help employees develop?" says Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of NGA Human Resources and Northgate Information Solutions Group.

Humans are uniquely complicated

Just as market analysis involves strategic techniques, human beings are uniquely complicated and require methodical planning. When it comes to employees, keeping abreast of training, engagement, remuneration, as well as mental and physical health initiatives will ultimately form an integral — yet complex — key to success. Managing human capital is not a simple endeavour, nor is it one that will go away any time soon. In fact, where people can easily be separated from financial and physical assets, they keep their knowledge, skills, health and values with them always.

Somewhat ironically, uniquely human challenges form a perfect example of how organisations can best harness technology. HR departments can supplement their services with software solutions that simplify and manage human capital, automating the nitty gritty and freeing up more time and resources for a more human approach.

"Throughout the past 25 years, the majority of software investments in the enterprise have been on ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems to manage finance, accounting, supply-chain management, core systems and so on," says Adel. "In the past 5 years, however, things have shifted dramatically, with HR- and human capital-related SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) starting to dominate. We are a key player in that space, and it’s evolving very fast."

Sophisticated software to make the most of human resources

NGA Human Resources works to help companies and HR directors to implement software that allows visibility into what talent they have, while also providing the tools to manage and develop that talent in a more sophisticated and precise way. The companies service an array of different businesses, from smaller enterprises to large multinationals, with the software offerings differing depending on how it is used across the corporate spectrum.

"In the SMB space we serve clients that are very small, with fewer than 200 employees," says Adel. "We provide smaller players that otherwise couldn’t afford a full-time human resource function with a one-stop-shop HR capability. We provide them with web-based software that they can access and customise into a fit-for-purpose HR platform to help manage their people, pay their people and provide the support necessary to develop their human capital."

For the medium-sized players across markets like the UK and Australia, NGA Human Resources provides robust and mature platforms to cover complete human resource information systems, featuring core HR functions and relevant employee data, payroll systems and training and development capability. In the broader global space, the HR software market is mature, providing fierce competition from established ICT players like SAP and Oracle. However, the key to NGA Human Resources’ success comes from forming strong partnerships with these leading players rather than competing against them.

Not everything has to be invented by NGA Human Resources, we encourage innovation to come from many different places … those are really important benefits of having a very strong partnership ecosystem to drive success.

"When working in the top end of the marketplace for global companies, we can partner with the likes of SAP SuccessFactors, Workday and Oracle to provide middleware software instead of the application itself," explains Adel. Middleware serves a vital function in today’s rapidly evolving ICT landscape, where new technology offerings often won’t easily integrate with existing platforms. Middleware serves as the glue between the two systems so that an organisation’s existing technology investments can function peacefully with newly introduced HR systems from dominant players.

"That’s often where the majority of the IT investments go when people try to implement new applications and services because that integration of different systems is the biggest challenge," Adel says. "We provide our clients with software platforms that ensure the enterprise continues to operate as necessary, rather than have this island-based infrastructure with applications that don’t talk to any other critical applications."

NGA Human Resources also uses third party technologies to improve services, having recently partnered with software robotics company Blue Prism to automate several processes that drive efficiencies to clients at a lower cost of ownership. "Innovation comes from many different places in the IT and HR ecosystem; having very close working relationships with your suppliers and partners when going to market gives you access to a much broader innovation pool," says Adel. "Our people get an advantage of working with market-leading providers that give them a sense of development and a sense of learning. Not everything has to be invented by NGA Human Resources, we encourage innovation to come from many different places and give our people an opportunity to learn. Those are really important benefits of having a very strong partnership ecosystem to drive success."

An interest in IT

Adel’s interest in software dates back to his almost 2 decades spent working for IBM. He entered the business as a systems engineer and worked his way up to hold several senior positions, including General Manager of Sales and Industries in the Group’s European region, General Manager of Global Wireless Business, Vice President of Communications for the Americas, and Vice President, EMEA Sales and Industry Solutions.

He then went on to join IMS Health in 2007, where he spent 5 years helping to develop and distribute a leading technology-based analytics company serving the healthcare industry, proving his strategic leadership in roles such as President of US operations, Senior Vice President for Global Pharma Solutions, and President of EMEA operations. Adel then left the business to join Northgate Information Solutions as Chief Executive after being invited to lead the strategic growth of the business in 2011.

Better every year

"When I did my external research before accepting the role, it was evident that whatever markets Northgate Information Solutions participated in, it was a leading business," says Adel. Two years after accepting the role, Adel was also appointed CEO of NGA Human Resources, assuming the function in addition to his leadership role with Northgate Information Solutions. Following his new appointment, Adel began making strategic divestments from existing subsidiaries that lacked synergy with the core business functions in a bid to simplify the management structure and move its resources closer to its clients. "I saw there was an opportunity, first of all, to come into a company that requires strategy and the repositioning of what it does and how — but I also saw an opportunity for this leader in the marketplace to start growing and building better businesses in the future," says Adel. "The first and the most important thing I did was make a decision on whether or not the three businesses that we had under the Northgate Group umbrella truly belonged together."

Following some strategic decisions by Adel, Northgate Managed Services, which specialised in managed IT services to the UK mid-market, was acquired by Capita in February 2013, while Northgate Public Services was acquired by Cinven in December 2014.

The human capital marketplace is constantly changing and growing and Adel says he is very excited to discover what further opportunities there will be to scale the business as well as provide new offerings for clients. "Our success is based on the fact that our business fundamentals are completely client-centric. And we aim to be better every year in order to continue achieving operational excellence — that’s what our clients expect," says Adel.