Buying HR tech shouldn’t feel like gambling with your budget and credibility, but too often, it does. Flashy demos, endless feature lists, and vendor charm offensives can easily distract from what actually matters: does this tool work for your people, your workflows, and your organisation?

At Thesmia, we’ve helped HR and Comms teams roll out countless platforms, from HiBob to Workday to Lattice, and we’ve seen what separates smart purchases from expensive regrets. Here’s how to make sure your next HR tech decision doesn’t suck.

Start With Your People, Not the Platform

Before you look at a single vendor, map out what your people actually need. What pain points are you solving? What processes are broken or bloated? Whether it’s onboarding, performance reviews, or internal comms, clarity here will stop you from being seduced by features that sound good but solve nothing.

Pressure-Test the Use Cases

Most vendors will show you the most polished, high-gloss version of their product. You need to dig deeper. Ask for live walkthroughs based on your specific scenarios:

• Can a manager easily run a performance review?

• How does onboarding work across remote teams?

• What does reporting look like without custom dev?

If it’s clunky, manual, or “coming in Q4”, walk away.

Look Beyond the People Team

If a tool doesn’t integrate with IT, Legal, Finance, or your internal comms platforms, you’re buying yourself more work. Involve key stakeholders early and pressure-test adoption: will they use it, support it, or push back?

Buy for Adoption, Not Just Features

A feature isn’t valuable if no one uses it. The best HR platforms make it easy for employees and managers to engage with minimal training. Prioritise UX over edge-case functionality.

And once you’ve chosen a tool, adoption isn’t automatic. That’s where Thesmia comes in. We help you launch with clear, sequenced communications aligned to the platform’s rollout phases and feature sets. Whether you're deploying HiBob in three regions or running a pilot of Lattice, Thesmia makes the comms side simple, smart, and scalable.

Measure What Matters

Don’t rely on vanity metrics post-launch. Set clear adoption KPIs:

• Are managers actually using the platform?

• Are employees completing tasks without nudges?

• Has HR workload reduced, not increased?

Tech should create clarity, not complexity.

Final Thought: You’re Not Just Buying Software, You’re Buying Change

HR tech isn’t a plug-and-play solution. It changes workflows, behaviours, and expectations. The buying process should reflect that. Get clear on outcomes, test for usability, and plan your rollout like it matters, because it does.

And when you’re ready to launch, let Thesmia.ai handle the comms and your search. So your new HR tech actually gets used, and your team doesn’t hate you six weeks later.