Workforce Wise™

During our podcast, our guest, Maria Hayes, Vice President of Digital Strategy at Equifax Workforce Solutions, shares insights about APIs (Application Programming Interface). Topics include:

-Understanding what APIs are and why HR should care
-How HR can think about API technology for existing processes
-De-mystifying the technology needs for an API integration

Maria gives examples of APIs you use every day and explains how valuable they can be to HR teams from companies of all sizes. Listen today to learn more about how your organization and your employees can benefit.

What is Workforce Wise™?

The Workforce Wise™ Podcast from Equifax Workforce Solutions helps employers save time, reduce risk and increase profits. Our experts and industry leaders reveal insightful human capital solutions for HR, payroll, tax and compliance needs. Listen now and get empowered to deliver immediate value to your organization. Learn more and listen to other episodes at workforce.equifax.com

Announcer (00:00):
You're listening to the Workforce Wise Podcast from Equifax, where we help you better manage your workforce by saving time, reducing risk and focusing on increasing profits.

Jason Fry (00:17):
Hello and welcome to the Workforce Wise Podcast. I'm your host, Jason Fry. In this episode, we're going to dive into a discussion around HR technology and how employers can get the most out of the connections between their various HR technology platforms.

Jason Fry (00:32):
We're going to talk about application programming interfaces. Some big words for HR folk, but you'll probably hear them referred to as APIs in the marketplace. We're going to talk about what they are and why HR folks should care. We'll also discuss the technology needs for an API versus a traditional integration. What's best, what's better and how they both work.

Jason Fry (00:54):
Maria Hayes joins us today to help us walk through this conversation. Maria is the Vice President of Digital Strategy at Workforce Solutions, has a real passion for both technology design and making sure that HR users get the most out of their daily interactions with technology. Thank you for joining us today, Maria.

Maria Hayes (01:12):
Thank you so much for having me, Jason.

Jason Fry (01:14):
So, let's start kind of with the biggest question I think that folk are going to want to know, what are APIs and why should they matter to HR users?

Maria Hayes (01:24):
Yeah, absolutely. So as you said, an API, it stands for Application Programming Interface. An API is really a way for developers, those technical folks to create a recipe for other developers to follow. It is not necessarily something you in HR will use on a regular basis, but it is certainly something that you as a decision-maker, as an individual who may be selecting a vendor should understand your vendor strategy around APIs. How they leverage them, whether or not they have closed or open APIs, and how that might impact your ability to integrate that specific vendor solution with your larger HR ecosystem.

Jason Fry (02:20):
So, I've heard you talk about APIs a couple of times in the past and the way that you explained it when you talked about them, like dining at a restaurant, really helped me understand what they are and how they work. Can you talk a little bit to the audience about that analogy?

Maria Hayes (02:39):
Yeah, absolutely. So if you think about an API as a waiter at a restaurant and your application, whatever it might be, as the person who is choosing to place an order at that restaurant, and then another system, another computer, another interface as the kitchen, that can really help you understand the connection between an application or two applications and an API.

Maria Hayes (03:15):
So, think about it this way. Your application places an order with the API, the API goes back to the kitchen and says, "Hey, this is what I'm looking for." The kitchen knows exactly what that dish is, and so is able to serve that information up and then send it back through the waiter to that individual who is looking for hopefully some sort of delicious meal.

Jason Fry (03:42):
Honestly, I think that's a really interesting and good way to explain how they work and what they do. So now that we know kind of the landscape of what it is we're talking about, where would we have seen APIs at play in our daily lives where we may just not have noticed it, just as a consumer or as user of technology out there?

Maria Hayes (04:00):
Yeah, absolutely. So, a lot of actually APIs are powering the world all around us. APIs are a part of our everyday life and they have really helped the Internet of Things explode. So as you think about all of those connected solutions that you have in your home, your car, really on your person, a lot of those are honestly enabled as a result of APIs.

Maria Hayes (04:32):
A really good example I like to think of is all of those traffic apps that you may use. Whether it's Waze or Google Maps or Apple Maps, a lot of them are integrated with other applications. So for example, today on my way into record this podcast, I hit some traffic, so I loaded up my Google map. As I was driving through traffic, it asked me if I'd like to play some of my favorite music.

Maria Hayes (05:03):
Well, the thing about it is is that Google Maps doesn't have a music library at its fingertips, instead what they've done is they've integrated with Spotify. So, I can listen to Spotify while I'm driving and navigating the traffic. That is all enabled through APIs. Without APIs, you wouldn't be able to create such a tightly coupled integration.

Maria Hayes (05:29):
I think that brings me to sort of my next point, which is APIs enable integration. There are other types of integration that are out there, some of which you may be very familiar with like flat file data exchanges. Those still exist, and for some reasons for some activities that you might be doing, they're still probably your best bet. But when you want real-time data exchange, that is typically only enabled through some kind of API.

Jason Fry (06:04):
So can you talk a little bit too about, and I love the example of the Google Maps and being able to pull in the music library and touch all the things and do all the things and deliver up all the things, but now let's talk a little bit about our daily work tasks. How would we be able to use, or how could we see APIs in our daily work activities, either in HR or just kind of doing the normal tasks that we do every day at work?

Maria Hayes (06:31):
I think a really great example in the HR space is with your HCM solutions. So, that's your core HR platform, right? I think for a lot of folks in HR, you're often tasked with the decision of do I pick the thing that does everything and that thing does it okay? Or do I pick the thing that does the core thing that I want it to do really well, and then do I go out and do I find vendors that do the other things equally as well, right? Am I picking best of breed for a very specific solution, or am I saying, I want a one-stop shop and I don't want to deal with it?

Maria Hayes (07:13):
Well, I think the nice thing about APIs, especially as the HR technology space modernizes, I think as organizations who are looking at what they're offering to HR organizations are thinking about how they need to exist within that broad technology ecosystem, they're realizing the importance of these APIs.

Maria Hayes (07:41):
So, if you think about that core HCM and you think about all of the data that exists there and all of those activities that you may need to trigger based on some certain event that happens within that HCM or HRIS, you can then use that data to trigger those activities taking place outside of that core HCM with a third party vendor, assuming that they have the ability to both consume and share information back by APIs.

Maria Hayes (08:16):
So, I'd love to give you a really great example of how an API might work in your everyday work life. So if you think about the process of onboarding somebody, and you may have some information that exists within your applicant tracking system, and you might have some task or activity that you in HR complete to say, "Yep, this is the person I'm going to hire." Well, in kind of the old days before APIs, you might have shared that information to a third party vendor via flat file, and it might have happened once every 24 hours.

Maria Hayes (09:00):
But the importance of speed in hiring, the importance of being able to move that individual from applicant to new hire that you're in the process of onboarding is really powered through the ability to leverage APIs, because that can allow you to share that information in real-time to a vendor who may have all of that information that you need to actually onboard them.

Maria Hayes (09:28):
The great thing about this is it means that you don't have to make a selection on is this an individual who, or is this an organization I should say who has the ability to send those things in real-time? So, maybe I'm making a selection to just use my ATS to onboard the new hires because it's easy. But with an API, what you can really do is make a selection based on what's best for your organization. Whether it's compliance features you're looking for, whether it's a really great new hire experience. Whatever it is that's important to your organization, assuming that vendor has an API that you can connect to, it will allow for that real-time data passage of information.

Announcer (10:21):
To get even more out of today's episode, make sure you get your free tools like webinars, eBooks, videos, and more at equifax.com/wise.

Jason Fry (10:33):
Yeah, and honestly, that's awesome, because I know a lot of our employer clients, and when I talk to HR, speed has become the new normal and everything has to happen as quickly as possible. So, the ability for that real-time exchange of data is moving to a place where it's just table stakes for all organizations, not just inside HR.

Jason Fry (10:58):
But you've talked a lot about flat files and data transfers and how to move information back and forth, which makes me think that we may need technologies involvement when we're talking about APIs and setting up transactions. Can you talk a little bit about how technologies groups would get involved, either for an HR user at their organization? How much work is it? Is it a heavy lift for those technology groups to set up or use or utilize APIs? How does that structure work?

Maria Hayes (11:30):
That's a great question. What I'll say is probably in some ways the worst answer, but it really depends. It really depends on the organization that you're looking at and their API strategy. So there are some things that an organization can do to really make it plug and play, make it something out of the box. So in that example of an onboarding vendor who has a solution available, they can choose to create out of the box integrations using their APIs with common HRIS or ATS applications.

Maria Hayes (12:09):
Basically that allows for non-technical folks to be able to create those connections. It's still leveraging APIs, it's still sort of the automatically creating that real-time connection, but you're not having to invest in that technical resource to then create that connection. That is really great for you. It's a win for you, it's a win for the organizations, it makes it super simple, super streamlined.

Maria Hayes (12:39):
But there's also this concept of open APIs. Open APIs really means any developer who has a key, which is a key that gets assigned. It ensures security, it prevents truly just anybody from connecting to it. But once they get that key, they can actually leverage that API to create a unique bespoke, whatever you want to call it, integration or interface. So for some organizations, that makes sense.

Maria Hayes (13:12):
If you've got a really complex scenario that's really unique to your organization, you want to be able to really fine-tune what triggers what, what happens after this, having access to those open APIs and allowing your developer to basically go in and say, "I'm going to play around in the sandbox and figure out what works best for my company," is also really an excellent option for some organizations.

Maria Hayes (13:43):
So I think that's really important as you think about vendors, you want to talk to them about their API strategy. Are they looking at offering open APIs that folks can connect to? Are they thinking about how they can enable out of the box integrations? For some companies, it may not be an either or. For some companies, for you, you may think, "Well, sometimes I have a very kind of cookie cutter out of the box scenario that I want to use your of the box integration with." Great. Then for some, you might say, "Nope, we need a really specific integration that makes sense for us. In that scenario, I'm going to enable my developers or get on my developers' roadmap to enable that kind of integration or connection."

Jason Fry (14:35):
So when you were talking about examples, you talked about onboarding and the ability to move somebody from kind of applicant status to new employee status, which makes me think that we're moving a lot of data back and forth through these APIs. If we're talking about specifically onboarding data, some of that is going to be their personal information, so we're going to be moving some fairly sensitive data across APIs. So, can you talk to me a little bit about how secure they are and what security measures are set up around maybe specifically our API structure at Equifax?

Maria Hayes (15:14):
We absolutely understand the importance of security with data being exchanged, and we treat an API the same way we treat an application with a UI attached to it, which means it goes through the same level of security scrutiny and review. As I was talking about those keys, right? So a key is really enabling that developer to connect to that API, and for us, we actually have a process in which developers have to register to get access to our API keys, we vet all of those users before they can actually get access to it. Then if it's connecting to an API that is connected to a data source, we also have a process to make sure that those individuals are legitimately associated with the company as well.

Maria Hayes (16:17):
So, those things that we put in place ensure that there is the proper amount of scrutiny and security placed on any API that we're developing. We, again, follow very strict security protocol for all of our applications, and we make that available to our customers if they're interested in that to see information around how our security personnel routinely test and check, and really monitor for any kind of malicious activity against any of our systems, our API's included in that.

Jason Fry (17:06):
So, it sounds like APIs are our future and everything we do is going to be connected in some way in the near future, but can you kind of just one or two additional things that listeners in HR may need to know about APIs? As they move through the next six months, the next 12 months, the next five years, what can they expect?

Maria Hayes (17:29):
I think as I said earlier, APIs, depending on the strategy for the vendor that you're working with, may be different. So APIs are not magic in and of themselves, the magic that really comes with APIs comes from the development that happens using those APIs. So what I would say to HR is, as you're having conversations with vendors, make sure that you're including that question in your RFP, your RFI, whatever it may be, you're having conversations with your relationship managers. What is your API strategy? What is your API strategy today, and what do you see it evolving to in the next two, three, four, five years?

Maria Hayes (18:15):
Because it's important for you to understand that, and understand that the vendors you work with are not just thinking about how you do business today, but how you're going to want to do business in the future. The sooner that you're having those conversations, both to understand what that strategy is to vet what that security looks like, the sooner you can then begin thinking about how you can unlock sort of the potential of that fully integrated HR ecosystem, which I think has really been the promise of HR technology for so long, right?

Maria Hayes (18:49):
I think I've been going to HR tech for at least seven years now, and I feel like now we're really on the precipice of HR technology to really unlock the potential of what has been said for so long. Because there is really, I think, a big push by a lot of vendors to understand how HR really wants to use tools and how the folks that are using those tools no longer want to accept experiences that are a little clunky, right?

Maria Hayes (19:27):
Everybody wants really great experiences, everybody wants experiences that feel as seamless in our personal life kind of experiences. Everybody wants the Google Maps and Spotify integration, and they want it for HR technology, and I think that we're really on the precipice of that happening.

Jason Fry (19:47):
I would 100% agree. It's a very exciting time, because of realizing that promise that we've heard so many years and being in a place where that promise is becoming more and more a reality for HR and HR technology users specifically.

Jason Fry (20:07):
Maria, thank you for joining us today. It was some really great information, I know that the listeners have learned a lot. For the folk who are listening in today, I hope you enjoyed today's discussion. I hope you're walking away with some additional information that you can use when you're evaluating HR technology for your organizations.

Announcer (20:23):
Thanks for listening. If you like what you heard today, be sure to subscribe to the Workforce Wise Podcast, and don't forget to download your free tools at equifax.com/wise. While you're there, check out our other episodes and sign up for a live tech demo to see our solutions in action.

Announcer (20:45):
To keep our lawyers happy, you should know the information provided on the Workforce Wise Podcast is intended as general guidance and not intended to convey specific tax or legal advice. For tax or legal information pertaining to your company and its specific facts and needs, please consult your own tax advisor or legal counsel. The views expressed are those of the discussion leaders and do not necessarily reflect official positions of Equifax. Investor analysts should direct inquiries using the Contact Us box on the investor relations section at equifax.com.