Dive Brief:

• Human capital management platform Workday announced a partnership with the work chat platform, Slack, on Wednesday, bringing together their individual expertise to reach employees during a time of "profound change" in the way people work, the Workday announcement said.
• The partnership will allow employees to request time-off via Slack, allow real-time peer feedback and make looking up coworker info simpler, according to Slack. Eventually, the platform will offer customized notifications and simplified Slack channel assignments.
• Workday expects to add new capabilities over time in its attempt to "turn collaboration and connection into better business outcomes."

Dive Insight:

As the HR tech market reaches its zenith, various platforms have begun partnering — or even merging — to better reach a wide HR audience. This combination represents yet another attempt to streamline HR processes and free up HR managers to focus more directly on people, analysis and strategy rather than the day-to-day issues that plague workplaces.

The distributed workplace — a combination of remote work and alternative office arrangements — has challenged HR managers to find better ways to reach their workers.

Thanks to the growing acceptance of instant messaging, workplace chat platforms like Slack, HipChat and Skype have found their niche particularly in workforces that need continual check-ins but don't want a flood of email. 

While these platforms won't replace email anytime soon, a recent study found that 43% of employees used some form of instant messaging during work hours.

Content management and communication providers are starting to look toward SaaS platforms for in-depth integrations. Dropbox, for example, is partnering with Salesforce to integrate its CRM across the content management platform. Dropbox is also looking to integrate with other back office systems, such as HR or ERP, in the near future.