Towers Watson, a global professional services company, conducted an annual survey that found talent and performance management technology for HR departments will play a significant role in 2011, as U.S. companies expect to be hiring in within one to two years.

According to the survey, 41 percent of the 444 companies surveyed reported talent/performance systems as one of their top three HR service delivery issues for 2011, along with streamlining HR systems and greater involvement in strategic business-driven issues.

Greater investments in HR technology is also seen in the survey, as 34 percent of respondents said they are planning to spend more on HR technology within the year, and one in eight expect that increase to exceed 20 percent from the previous year's spending.

The top initiative for the year reported by 62 percent of respondents is re-engineering key HR processes. Other initiatives included refocusing the role of HR business partners and implementing self-service technologies within the department.

Companies that have begun to work on these initiatives already reported great success with 84 percent saying that re-engineering processes met or exceeded their expectations.

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